David Smith

Latest speeches

1. House of Representatives Chamber (part 1 of 2) · Australian Parliament · 14 September 2026

   • Private Health Insurance rebate bill: aged care funding trade‑off

     “Deputy Speaker, reducing the PBS co-payment to $25 is delivering real savings to people in Bean every time they visit their local pharmacy. Since the policy came into effect, residents in Bean have saved more than $800,000 on the cost…”

     Watch from 3:44:59

2. House of Representatives Chamber (part 1 of 2) · Australian Parliament · 10 September 2026

   • Question Time: housing, debt, social media regulation, superannuation

     “Thanks, Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How is the Albanese Labor government supporting older Australians in retirement? What impact would other approaches have?”

     Watch from 5:57:29

3. Federation Chamber (part 2 of 2) · Australian Parliament · 9 September 2026

   • Member for Bean: disaster timeline and Canberra community

     “Hear, hear. Thanks, Deputy Speaker. I rise to speak about the disaster in Nepal and Tibet and to add the voice of the people of Bean to the words of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. At…”

     Watch from 2:17:51

4. House of Representatives Chamber (part 1 of 2) · Australian Parliament · 8 September 2026

   • Members’ 90‑second statements: local projects, housing and digital safety

     “Deputy Speaker, 20 years ago, a young Canberra woman told her parents she wanted to work in aged care. They tried to talk her out of it. You'll never meet anyone your own age, they said. Nobody ever gets better.…”

     Watch from 1:44:42

5. House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs (part 1 of 2) · Australian Parliament · 3 September 2026

   • Economic coercion, partner program letters and cancellation thresholds

     “Thanks, thanks, Chair. How well understood do you think it is that economic or financial coercion is a form of reportable violence? It's, particularly thinking through that there's real vulnerability to economic pressures for many temporary visa classes.”

     Watch from 47:36

   • FCAN: challenges from men’s narratives and calls for child‑removal inquiry

     “Uh, thanks thanks Chair. Just on the information sharing issue, I'm certainly aware of some cases where information sharing has led to the disclosure of information about a third-party abuser who might be in the family network of the other…”

     Watch from 2:04:53

   • DSS: systems mapping, sustainability and early intervention opportunities

     “Uh, thanks, thanks, Chair, and thanks, thanks for the responses to initial questions. Just a basic question in terms of audience for the framework. It's obviously, it's a huge piece of work. How, what level, what levels of interaction in…”

     Watch from 4:34:04

6. House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs · Australian Parliament · 2 September 2026

   • Service needs and data: specialist vs mainstream capacity

     “Oh, thanks, thanks, Chair. Ms. Jeffries, I think you make quite a few good points, I think, about the challenges with the accuracy of data and the invisibility in reporting and also just that need to think about that wider…”

     Watch from 44:28

   • Mentoring Men operations: referrals, demographics and delivery

     “Oh, thanks, thanks, Chair. And firstly, a really interesting submission. And I just wonder, do you have any connections with younger programs? So obviously the program starting at 18 and above, I'm sort of reminded of the old dictum of…”

     Watch from 1:13:35

   • ADF culture, prevention points and service gaps for families and children

     “Thanks, Chair. And very, very quickly, if we're serious about early intervention, surely it means we need to work much better in service before defense members become veterans, if you like, and possibly even before they transition out of the…”

     Watch from 3:30:54