John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in parliament today to tell all Australians, particularly the men who live in my electorate of Calare, that this is White Ribbon Day. This is the day when men around Australia should, by their very nature, stand up and take the oath not to effect violence against women and girls. It does not matter what ethnic background or what cultural background you are from or what age you are, men have a right to respect and protect women and to get up and speak against violence that happens at any level. As one of the original ambassadors for White Ribbon Day, I think it is a fantastic thing that Andrew and everybody got behind this quite a few years ago. It came out of the armed forces deciding to take a stand against it—not as soldiers; as people. The police have taken a stand against it—not as officers; as people. I think it is fantastic that it came out of there. It is one of the most important things that men can be involved in: stopping men using violence against women and girls. I call upon all the men of Calare to get up and take that vow over this time.

I would also like to talk about the youth allowance. I live in a part of Australia which is almost all inner regional. West of Molong, Forbes and Parkes are the only part of my electorate but also of New South Wales that is eligible now for the youth allowance. When the current Prime Minister was Minister for Education, she initially wiped it for everyone, but popular appeal, popular demand, people action, got it back for those in the outer regional areas. I have to call upon the people of Calare to once again do the same thing. The Labor Party, the Greens and Senator Xenophon have prevented this being voted on in the Senate, and I think it is disgusting. If you live in inner regional places like the electorate of Calare, unless you are very lucky and can perhaps get to Orange or Bathurst for your secondary education, you have to live away from home, the same as if you live out at Cobar or Condobolin. For somebody who said in this parliament yesterday that she was passionate about education to wipe—and I mean wipe—the students in inner regional areas, as they are in Calare, whether they are in Lithgow, Bathurst, Blayney—

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