Newsletters 2024

Parliamentarians routinely vote on a great range of issues, from domestic violence to climate action, foreign policy and everything in between. These votes ultimately shape what we want to achieve as a nation and how. It's an enormous responsibility, and one I certainly do not take for granted.

For our votes to be meaningful, parliamentarians need to be able to critically review every piece of legislation, analysing not only what is said, but also what the legislation is trying to address, and how its effectiveness may be measured.

Frustratingly, this level of detail is often lacking. In the past 18 months, the House of Representatives has considered over 300 pieces of legislation.Frequently I've been asked to support legislation before the provision of substantive details, as was the case with the Help to Buy Bill 2023 this week.

While at a very high level the Help to Buy proposal looks good, there are still questions that need to be answered before we can be sure that it will have a genuine impact on housing affordability. I raised these concerns on Monday, and later backed an (ultimately unsuccessful) amendment that aimed to clarify who exactly the program would target, and assess its effect on this group. I will continue to push for clarity on this proposal and work with all involved towards an urgent solution.

A lack of clear legislation has also been a major issue in the medical sector, where patients and their doctors have been avoiding potentially life-saving genetic testing for fear of having their results misused by insurance companies. While the life insurance industry currently operates a self-regulated moratorium, I and ACT senator David Pocock this week called on the government to legislate a complete ban on the use of genetic tests in underwriting life insurance. We need to act quickly and decisively to give Australians the assurance they need to make the most of modern medicine.

Thank you to all who have shared your experiences, concerns and ideas with my team. Based on your feedback, this week I spoke in Parliament about Tax Office process changes that have been a bureaucratic nightmare for many of our small business, and also shared constituent and advocate Mark Tonga's wonderful idea for a more inclusive, dynamic and diverse economy that makes full use of our 'people with variability'.

Many in North Sydney remain very concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. My crossbench colleagues and I met with UNRWA director Thomas White, and have been advocating for a way forward through a joint statement and my question to the Prime Minister this week. I understand UNRWA has cooperated with international investigations and simply does not know what else it can do for Australia's humanitarian funding to be restored. I will continue to push the Government to urgently find a way to support the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by this war.

Thank you as always for your continued support. I hope to see you at one of the many community events coming up this week.

- KT

EVENTS WITH KYLEA

WHAT'S ON THIS WEEK

IN THE NEWS

Interview with Sarah McDonald about Fuel Efficiency Standards - ABC Sydney, 29 February. Kylea addresses some of the misinformation and fear mongering around the Government's proposed Fuel Efficiency Standards. Listen to the interview from the 1:38 mark on ABC Listen, or check out the clip on Kylea's Instagram.

Starvation in Gaza accelerates without Australian funds - Yahoo News, 29 February. Media coverage of a joint statement by Kylea and her crossbench colleagues calling for the Australian Government to urgently find a way forward to deliver humanitarian aid to UNWRA in Gaza. You can read the letter here.

Calls to ban life insurers from discriminating with DNA - The West Australian, 27 February. "People are effectively being profiled and treated differently based on their genetic DNA data," Kylea says. "We need to call it out for what it is, and that's discrimination."

Interview with Sky News on genetic testing - Sky News, 27 February. Kylea calls on the Government to implement a full ban on genetic discrimination by life insurance companies, to clear the way for people to use genomic science to live longer, healthier lives. The genetic testing discussion starts at the 1'13" mark of the news clip.

More media mentions here.