ADJOURNMENT

Ms SHARKIE (Mayo) (19:30): Mayo spans over 9,000 square kilometres. It covers the Adelaide Hills, the Fleurieu and, of course, Kangaroo Island. I have a very diverse electorate.

We take in highly populated centres such as Mount Barker and Victor Harbor, as well as many small rural communities and townships. In fact, if you were to get in a car at the very top of my electorate, past Kersbrook—where there's Humbug Scrub—and go all the way down, not even stopping for petrol, and get all the way to the end of the electorate and then get on a ferry and go down from one side of Kangaroo Island to the other, you really are looking at, at the very least, at least six hours of travel.

Now, what does that mean? That means that many people who live in Mayo can't get into my electorate office at Mount Barker or, indeed, my satellite office at Victor Harbor, so it's very important that I bring my electorate office to other parts of my community that can't physically get to me. So I recently held some mobile electorate office meetings in the southern part of my electorate: in Willunga, McLaren Vale, Aldinga and Sellicks Beach.

Much like many British members of parliament, I hold surgeries—one on one, 15 minutes at a time—and meet with scores of people about what issues are important to them and how I can best assist them as a federal member. So it was a great opportunity, during a couple of weeks break, to hold those surgeries. I met with regional sporting clubs seeking support for facilities they need.

I met with a clinical counsellor wanting to provide more affordable and accessible mental health services for her clients—but she can't access the medical rebate, and this is despite holding bachelor and masters qualifications. And we know that we need more and more people to be able to provide mental health supports. I met with some young women, in particular, who are concerned about birthing choices, particularly with respect to qualified-midwife supported homebirths becoming more restricted.

I heard about concerns people have with AI data centres and their environmental and social impacts. And I met a financial sector worker who's concerned about the employee share scheme limit of $1,000 worth of tax-free shares, which has stayed at that amount for over 20 years. You learn so much about issues that you perhaps were not aware of.

There are hundreds and hundreds of people in my electorate who take the time to come and meet with me in these one-on-one meetings. One meeting in particular that has stayed with me since I held my electorate office was a meeting with a veteran. It took this wonderful gentleman, quite a young man, a very long time to get a gold card.

He came to talk with me about the proposed $5,000 limit for veterans. He was not worried about himself so much. He was very worried about his friends and his mates who live in other states and, if the government does follow through with its plan for a $5,000 limit for allied health care, what the future will look like for his mates.

I've got to say, like all of us in here, I put out my hand for a handshake with the people I meet. You shake hands with thousands of people in this job. This one veteran—a wonderful man—had the strongest and most sincere handshake, I think, of anyone I have ever met in my community.

And his earnest nature really has haunted me since I met him. So I just implore the government: Really, this is hurting so many people. Please, roll this back.

And think about our veterans.