We’ve just reached the end of a sitting fortnight in Parliament, and it has been a very busy few weeks.

It has also been an emotional couple of weeks for many in our community. I have heard from Canberrans feeling concerned, anxious, frustrated and, in some cases, deeply affected by recent events. I want to acknowledge that and thank everyone who has taken the time to write, call or speak with me.

I thought I would use this update to run through some of the big issues that have been front of mind, provide a few updates from what has been happening in the Senate, and let you know about some upcoming events, including my first town hall for 2026.

At the end of next week I’m doing a quick trip down to Dr Helen Haines’ electorate of Indi for a couple of events around housing and I’ll also be catching up with Michelle Milthorpe - the community independent running in the upcoming byelection for the seat of Farrer - and lending my support for her grassroots campaign.

Congrats to those honoured on Australia Day

I want to congratulate the Australians who received Australia Day Honours this year, including the 51 Canberrans. From volunteers and frontline workers to leaders in defence, science, education, the arts and public service, this year’s list shows the ACT is full of dedicated, intelligent people working to make our community and our world a better place to live. Congrats to you all!

Attack against First Nations people on 26 January

I also wanted to take a moment to again call out the attempted terrorist attack that occurred in Perth against the First Nations community.

An attempted terrorist attack targeting First Nations people should have been unequivocally condemned by everyone, and the muted language and indifference we saw in parts of the response was deeply troubling. I supported a motion in the Senate and also gave a speech condemning this attack and calling on national leaders to continue addressing racism in our communities. We cannot look away from the reality that First Nations people still face hate and discrimination, and we all have a responsibility to call it out and stand together against it.

Ending placement poverty for all medical and health students

I have been continuing to push to end placement poverty, working with Dr Helen Haines to show that expanding the Commonwealth Prac Payment to medical and allied health students is both affordable and necessary. 

Too many students are struggling financially while completing mandatory unpaid placements that are required to finish their degrees, even as we face serious health workforce shortages (which we know about all too well here in Canberra). Helen and I recently hosted students in Parliament House to share their firsthand experiences, and we were able to spotlight a Canberran, Laura, in the Sydney Morning Herald whose story shows just how hard it can be to balance study, unpaid work and the rising cost of living. Thank you to Laura for sharing her story!

Funding for ovarian cancer

On World Cancer Day and during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, I was able to get support in the Senate from every major and minor party and independent Senator for a motion and gave a speech in the Senate on behalf of a Canberra family who recently lost their much loved daughter-in-law, Heidi, to ovarian cancer. Heidi was just 35 when she passed, only three months after being diagnosed. Her story is a heartbreaking reminder of how little progress we have made in improving outcomes for women with ovarian and other gynecological cancers. Unfortunately, almost 2,000 Australian women are diagnosed each year, and five-year survival rates for many gynaecological cancers remain below 50 percent, largely unchanged for decades.

I have written to the Health Minister in support of an Initiative being put forward by Ovarian Cancer Australia, the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation and the Australian and New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group and included this in my pre-budget submission which I’ll be releasing shortly. If funded, this would see more money put into research, so that we can develop the next treatment or even the next diagnostic test. We know that ovarian cancer has received less than 1% of medical research funding over the past 15 years - it’s time to change that.

Six women have been murdered this year

We are less than two months into the year and already six women, including at least three First Nations women, have been murdered. This is not something we should accept as a country. Men’s violence against women is a men’s issue, and it requires men to stand with experts and with women to bring about change.

I spoke about this in the Senate during the fortnight, calling for greater urgency in how we respond. As Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Ending Violence Against Women and Children, I will continue working with colleagues from across the Parliament to build consensus on evidence-based steps to prevent violence.

President Herzog’s visit to Australia

Over the start of this year, it has been an incredibly difficult time for Jewish Australians, including here in Canberra. In speaking with members of the Jewish community in the ACT, I have heard clearly that there is still fear and anxiety. Everyone in our country deserves to feel safe and able to live authentically, and we must continue working to ensure that is the reality for Jewish Australians and for every community.

I also heard strong and differing views about President Herzog’s visit to Australia. From early on, I made clear that I believed extending the invitation was the wrong decision and one that risked increasing social division at an already fragile time. While we can recognise that many Jewish Australians received solace from the visit, we must also recognise that people had a right to peacefully protest.

In relation to President Herzog, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that he “incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement.”

The scenes we saw in Sydney were appalling. The use of violent force by NSW police against peaceful protesters was disturbing, which included footage of people with raised hands being struck. Restrictions on peaceful protest and heavy-handed responses clearly inflamed tensions.

At a time like this, the Government should be focused on promoting social unity in a way that is consistent and principled. That means being consistent in our commitment to human rights and international law and responding to and funding the National Anti-Racism Framework, which has been sitting on a shelf since 2024.

Throughout the week I spoke publicly about these issues and will continue asking questions about a number of outstanding concerns.

Raising concerns on behalf of the Iranian community

What is happening in Iran is deeply disturbing. Despite communications blackouts, reports and images continue to emerge of peaceful civilians, including women, young people and children, facing brutal and, in many cases, deadly violence simply for demanding dignity.

I have been engaging with the Australian-Iranian community here in the ACT, and working with colleagues across the Parliament to call out the Iranian regime for punishing Iranians standing up for their fundamental rights. No regime has the right to silence its people through fear.

During the last sitting period, I was able to secure agreement from across the Australian Senate for a formal motion of solidarity with the people of Iran and the Australian-Iranian community. It was supported by every party and every crossbencher. The motion condemns the violence against peaceful protesters and affirms the universal right to protest peacefully, to access information, and to live free from state-sanctioned brutality.

I have also spoken to the Senate about the issue and asked the Foreign Minister questions during question time. You can watch that speech here.

I will continue working with the community to push the Government to strengthen sanctions, support independent investigations, and work with international partners to ensure accountability.

Water for our forgotten river

There has been some long-awaited good news for the Murrumbidgee River.

Following years of advocacy from community members, scientists and river groups, and the deal I struck with former Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, additional water is now flowing into the Upper Murrumbidgee under the new drought framework. This is a welcome and hard-won breakthrough.

For too long, our river has been treated as an afterthought. The Murrumbidgee is central to Canberra’s identity as a river city. It supports recreation, biodiversity, cultural values and community wellbeing. In recent summers we have seen dangerously low flows, degraded water quality and real risks to aquatic ecosystems. Getting more water into the river during dry periods is critical to protecting its health.

But these releases are only a first step and more of an interim measure to improve river health.

There is still significant work to do to restore the long-term health of the river and to ensure that water governance arrangements are transparent, accountable and genuinely delivering environmental outcomes. 

I have made a detailed submission to the Independent Review of the Snowy Water Inquiry Outcomes Implementation Deed, which will soon be made public, and I will continue pushing for reforms that put the health of the river and the interests of the ACT communities.

Beer > Gas

In Senate Estimates this fortnight, I was able to have the Treasury confirm something that frankly stunned a lot of Australians: the tax paid by gas companies in PRRT for our offshore gas is less than the tax Australians pay on beer excise alone.

While families are under pressure from increasing costs of services like health and housing, the largely foreign-owned gas industry is making enormous profits selling off Australia’s resources. And under our broken Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) settings, they are contributing less than Australians pay collectively on beer.

When I asked those questions in Estimates, it clearly hit a nerve. A video of the exchange has now been viewed more than 8 million times at the time of writing. People across the country understand instinctively that something isn’t right.

I will continue fighting to fix the PRRT and secure a fair share of the huge profits the gas industry is making from our resources. It’s time to move to a 25% tax on gas exports. You can join me by signing my petition on this issue here: https://www.davidpocock.com.au/prrt_petition.

ACT issues at Senate Estimates

I’ve been using Senate Estimates to ask questions about issues that matter to Canberra.

One of those is the new pool planned for Commonwealth Park. Once Civic Pool closes, the ACT may lose access to its dive facilities and there is not currently a concrete plan to replace them. The ACT Government has said the new pool in Commonwealth Park would be like-for-like, but at Estimates I confirmed with the Federal Department that the ACT never asked for the diving facilities in the new proposal. This is a real missed opportunity, as the cost of this pool is being shared with the Commonwealth. I’ll keep pushing on this and meeting with pool users and the Canberra Aquatic Alliance to make sure our community doesn’t lose access to these facilities including at a public meeting tonight in the Belconnen Labor Club from 6pm. You’ve also got until Monday to sign Amelia’s Save Big Splash petition here.

I also asked about bulk billing in the ACT. While bulk billing has increased by around 6% nationally under the new incentives, the ACT has seen less than a 2% rise. Our rate of 53% is well below the national average of 81%. New fully bulk-billed clinics are expected to open soon, with tenders close to being finalised, so I’m hopeful we’ll see some improvement. But right now, the ACT is still a long way from the promise the Prime Minister made to all Australians that 9 out of 10 free GP visits would be free.

For Inner South residents, I have also been asking questions about the proposed amendment to develop a new precinct around Hume Circle, the large roundabout near St Edmund’s and St Clare’s on the way to Fyshwick.

The National Capital Authority has put forward a plan to consolidate land it holds with ACT Government land and open it up for development. Many in the community have raised concerns about how quickly this appears to be progressing and the fact that much of the consultation took place over January when many people were on holidays.

I have confirmed with the NCA that they will be meeting with key Inner South groups and that they are open to further consultation. This is something that needs to be closely followed, and I will continue asking questions to ensure the community is properly heard as plans develop.

I’ve asked about job losses at the Australian Research Council, ongoing funding for the CSIRO and how things are tracking at ANU.

Losing the battle against a plague of rabbits

Through Senate Estimates, I’ve also been pressing the Government on the urgent need to get on top of the rabbit plague we all see around Canberra (including in the grounds of Parliament House!)

CSIRO confirmed it would cost around $3 million to develop a new rabbit biocontrol virus, yet we are still roughly 10 years away from being able to release one because research is only in its early stages. We knew resistance to existing viruses was building. We knew another plague was coming, yet the work wasn’t properly progressed.

In the meantime, we’re spending big on short-term fixes. The National Capital Authority has spent $320,000 since mid-2023 to remove about 3,000 rabbits (around $120 per rabbit) while rabbits cost Australian agriculture an estimated $200 million every year.

This is both a national economic issue and a local environmental one. Rabbits are hammering biodiversity around Canberra and across the country. I’ll keep pushing for investment in long-term solutions rather than scrambling once the damage is done.

Reform to property tax concessions

For years, I’ve been pushing for meaningful reform on property tax concessions, including capital gains tax settings on investment properties. The reality is that too many people are locked out of home ownership, rents are skyrocketing, and secure housing feels further out of reach for young people and low-income households than ever before.

Even though this is clearly some pre-budget kite flying it is nevertheless encouraging to see this conversation gaining momentum, and you may be seeing it more and more in the news lately. Senator Lambie and I commissioned independent costings that show sensible CGT reform could save billions of dollars and reshape incentives to support the construction of new housing, rather than fuelling price growth on existing properties while also grandfathering to protect people who invested in good faith under existing rules. Redirecting those budget savings into building more homes would be a practical step toward easing pressure in the market. I was pretty shocked to discover the Government plans to spend three times more building a single shipyard for nuclear submarines ($30 billion) than the total value of the Housing Australia Future Fund ($10 billion).

The Government needs to act. Housing policy should be designed around the principle that a safe, secure home is a human right, not primarily a vehicle for wealth accumulation. I’m looking forward to joining in the conversation more as this continues to pick up speed. And please, if you have any feedback, don’t hesitate to email me.

Fighting to ditch the Government’s flawed Freedom of Information Bill

In the last fortnight, I joined with every Senate crossbencher to remove the Government’s changes to our Freedom of Information laws from the Senate. Sadly the major parties didn’t get on board. In its current form, the Bill would make it easier for agencies to refuse or delay requests, increase barriers for applicants and weaken independent oversight, all of which risks undermining transparency and accountability.

We all know that changes to FOI laws are needed, but they must strengthen, not weaken, the public’s right to know. This BIll does not do that, and I will continue to loudly advocate for it to be dumped. We can’t take a step back on this.

First Town Hall of 2026

After two weeks of parliament sitting and a week of senate estimates I am hosting my first quarterly Town Hall for 2026 from 6pm on Wednesday 25 February at Verity Lane and would love to see you there. 

In response to community concerns, it will have a focus on some key ACT issues like support for local businesses impacted by the light rail construction and other major project works, the need for adequate social infrastructure provision such as aquatic facilities, the Hume Circle proposal and access to aged and healthcare services. 

I will be joined by Skye Cappuccio, the new CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, and Greg Harford, CEO of the Canberra Business Chamber. 

I’m really keen to hear your perspectives, questions, and ideas, and to have an open conversation about how we can work together for the benefit of the city we love and call home.

There'll be a chance to ask questions from the floor and online. The event will also be livestreamed for anyone who can’t make it in person. 

Please RSVP so we can let you know if there are any last minute changes.

Mobile Offices

Being accessible and accountable is a key part of my commitment to the Canberra community.

I hold mobile offices across the ACT for Canberrans to come and raise issues, share views or just have a chat about life in our community.

The next mobile offices have filled up quickly, but I have just opened up another on 17 April at Stella’s by the Lake in Belconnen. If you want to come have a chat, book a spot here.

Royal Canberra Show

If you’re heading to the Royal Canberra Show this weekend make sure to pop by the Team Pocock stall and say hi. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who have rostered on for a shift.

War on Ukraine 4th Anniversary

While I won’t be able to attend the commemoration event on Saturday 28 February,  as I’ll be travelling back from an event on housing with Dr Helen Haines in Indi so I will be sending along a statement to mark the 4th anniversary of the war on Ukraine. 

So many in our community have shown such steadfast solidarity over that time - please head along if you can.

Finally, wishing you Happy Lunar New Year of the Fire Horse.

Sincerely,

David