What I’m fighting for

According to research by ING, Australians lose billions of dollars every year on unused and hard-to-cancel subscriptions.

I’ve spoken with consumer law experts, seniors’ groups, and digital rights advocates and we all agree that the system is broken, and it’s time to fix it.

Did you know that 60% of households on JobSeeker are living below the poverty line? The current rate of $56 a day is simply not enough to survive on. Aussies should never have to choose between putting food on the table or paying rent. Yet that’s the reality for too many right now.

Coles and Woolworths control two-thirds of Australia’s grocery market, using their dominance to drive up prices, squeeze suppliers, and shut out competition. While they rake in billions, everyday Australians are paying more for food, and farmers and small businesses are being forced to accept unfair deals.

We need to introduce divestiture laws to break up this duopoly and bring real competition back to supermarkets. 

The major parties have allowed tax loopholes like the Capital Gains Tax discount and negative gearing to fuel a housing market that benefits investors while leaving everyday Australians struggling to afford a home.

With tax breaks covering their losses and reducing their tax bill, investors can afford to pay more for properties, pushing up prices and forcing first-home buyers to compete with people playing the system.

Politicians say we “can’t afford” housing, healthcare, or education yet they’ve found $368 billion for nuclear submarines we won’t see for decades. This isn’t about protecting Australia. It’s about locking us into U.S. wars while defence contractors cash in.

AUKUS sells out our sovereignty. We’ve seen the cost of following the U.S. into war. Now, we’re handing them control over our military future without a vote or any say from the public.

And let’s talk about the nuclear risk. Australia has no plan for nuclear waste. If you live in Perth or Adelaide, your backyard could become a dumping ground.Politicians say we “can’t afford” housing, healthcare, or education yet they’ve found $368 billion for nuclear submarines we won’t see for decades. This isn’t about protecting Australia. It’s about locking us into U.S. wars while defence contractors cash in.

Right now, one person, the Prime Minister, can send Australians to war without a vote, without a debate, and without any accountability. No other democracy hands this much power to a single leader, yet both Labor and the Liberals refuse to change it.

We’ve seen where this broken system leads: disastrous wars with no real scrutiny and thousands of lives lost.

Australia is already making a significant public investment in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), but this investment is failing to provide quality outcomes and lining the pockets of for-profit companies.

The issue is not simply the level of funding, but structure, distribution, and accountability surrounding
those funds. A nationalised, publicly-led system would better align investment with outcomes- supporting children, families, and the workforce more effectively over the long term – and ensuring that Australians’ tax dollars are supporting Australian families, not shareholders.

I propose a staged transition toward a national ECEC system, beginning with immediate investment in the workforce through the 2026 Federal Budget.

Family and domestic violence is a widespread crisis in Australia, with many survivors struggling to rebuild their lives and secure a future for themselves and their children.

Currently, victim-survivors can apply for superannuation splitting through family courts to regain financial control. But this process is complex, costly, and often requires survivors to face their abusers again leaving them vulnerable and retraumatised.

Right now in Australia, there’s no single system that lets police, child protection, family courts, and federal agencies share critical safety information about family violence.

Each part of the system holds just a piece of the puzzle. But no one sees the full picture.

In Australia, over 3.3 million people—including 761,000 children—are living below the poverty line.

Yet, astonishingly, our government lacks a clear definition of income poverty, leaving us blind to the true extent of this crisis. Without a national measure, we cannot accurately track or address the suffering of millions of Australians.

This oversight perpetuates a cycle of neglect, where policies fail to target those in need, and resources are misallocated. Establishing a clear definition and measure of poverty is a moral imperative. By acknowledging the reality of poverty, we can implement effective strategies to lift people out of hardship and build a more equitable society.

Thanks to out-of-control HECS debt, graduates are paying more and earning less. Meanwhile, politicians who got free university education in the past refuse to fix the broken system.

In the long term, university education must be free. But we know the major parties are years away from acting on this

Australia has grown up. Yet we’re still tied to a foreign monarchy. 

King Charles III is our Head of State, not because he’s elected or chosen, but because of birthright. He’s a British citizen, lives overseas, and has no direct connection to Australia. Meanwhile, every Australian in Parliament must be a citizen. It’s time for a change.

We need serious bank reform to stop the Big Four banks gouging customers, raking in record profits, and shutting down regional branches. We can achieve this reform through a government-back Public Bank of Australia and a Mandatory Banking Code of Conduct.

Last year, Senator Lidia Thorpe and I introduced the Genocide Red-Line Package — three Bills designed to make sure Australia never again turns a blind eye to genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.

Right now, there is no law stopping Australian companies or government bodies from supplying weapons, funding illegal settlements, or profiting from human rights abuses overseas. That has to change.