CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr CALDWELL (Fadden—Opposition Chief Whip) (16:46): Today I'm proud to read into the record here in parliament the speech written by 18-year-old Ngarimu as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament program. He says: A society is judged not by how it responds to success, but by how it protects people in their most vulnerable moments. One of the biggest issues shaping our future is domestic and family violence, particularly the support available to women and children when they make the brave decision to leave an abusive situation.

This issue shapes our future, because it has the power to take our future. Queensland has standards and accreditation requirements for government-funded shelters, but many privately operated shelters are not required to meet the same level of consideration. This creates a gap where vulnerable women and children may be placed in accommodation that has never been independently assessed for safety, suitability or quality of care.

I want Parliament to make accreditation audits mandatory for all domestic violence shelters, regardless of how they are funded. Basic standards of safety, dignity and support should not depend on where funding comes from. Every woman who reaches out for assistance has already shown incredible courage, and seeking safety shouldn't be a gamble.

Parliament should ensure that when they take that step, the support waiting for them is safe, accountable and worthy of the trust they place in it. I was very proud recently to visit The Boat Works at Coomera, which is an amazing waterfront marine industry precinct delivered through the drive and vision of Tony Longhurst. I was joined there by the Boating Industry Association, including CEO, Andrew Fielding, and we were lucky enough to tour the precinct and meet some of the wonderful small businesses there.

There are about 100 small businesses operating from this precinct, and on any given day you might see up to 1,000 staff around the place. We went and saw Trent from AHI Marine, a marine mechanics business. There, we were able to present Jesse from AHI with a Highly Commended award from the Boating Industry Association, which was much appreciated by Jesse and well deserved.

We saw Gary Cooper and his team from Stella Marine. A big shout out to Gary and his team, who do stainless steel fabrication on many of the locally made boats, and to Stewart Humphries from Marine Solutions. This is an incredibly important part of the local economy, and it was great to visit the precinct.

Labor keeps telling Australians that they've never had a better time to buy a first home. Are they serious? They are trying to tell young Australians, who are being smashed by Labor's trifecta of housing—higher rents, fewer homes and confidence in the market being smashed—that now is the time to get ahead when we know, after 16 interest rate rises, and their failures, it is not.