Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (19:00):

 I cannot think of a lower person than someone who targets vulnerable people in our community and scams them out of their hard-earned money. Instead of getting a job done and working hard to make money for themselves—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:02 to 18:35

Mr REPACHOLI: As I was saying, instead of getting a job and working hard to make money for themselves, these scumbags think they have the right to lure people in and gain their trust and their bank details before stealing their money. Sadly, I see this all too often in my electorate. Regularly I have people who have been scammed come into my office. Not only have they lost almost everything that they have worked hard for, but they're also living in fear, worried it might happen to them again. This is the sad reality of the world we live in today, and urgent action is needed to make sure that fewer people are having to experience what it's like to fall victim to scammers.

Recently I received a message on my Instagram from Michael Jackson. It may shock some of you, but, according to his message, he's apparently alive! But the poor bloke is doing it pretty tough, and he needs me to send him some money. Even though he signed off with a 'hee hee', of course I knew this was a scam. But not everyone can so easily identify what is and isn't a scam. Last year also saw a number of people, including some media outlets, fall for a scam that involved the Big Merino being moved from Goulburn to the Hunter Valley. Many scammers come up with ways to get your money that are a lot more creative and more brilliant than pretending to be Michael Jackson or moving a giant sheep, and too many people are being taken advantage of.

Being scammed can impact more than just your money. I want to share with you the story of an older lady who came into my office not too long ago. She had been scammed and lost over $10,000. There was nothing she could do about that and the money, except to wait for the bank to go through their process. But the whole experience had such an impact on her that, during the weeks since the scam, she had been living in fear, worrying that every call could be a scam and not knowing who to trust. She explained to me that her whole life had been turned upside down. She went from being a confident social person to being someone who was cautious and often too worried to even leave her home. Stories like this one are the reason that this government has such a strong focus on preventing scams.

Before we were in government, scams were rampant. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of people that were losing money from scams doubled not once but twice. In fact, when the Albanese Labor government came to office, Australians were losing over $3 billion a year to scams. What these figures show is that the work we're doing to tackle scams is actually working. According to the National Anti-Scam Centre's second quarter report, scam losses from October to December 2023 reduced by 43 per cent from the same quarter in 2022 and by 26 per cent from the July to September 2023 quarter. This means that more money is staying in the pockets of those who have worked hard for it.

Our focus on this issue has been extensive. We've introduced a number of measures aimed at preventing scams and helping Australians to feel a bit more secure. This was one of our major commitments, and we have delivered on it. In total, we have invested over $86.5 million towards a coordinated whole-of-government approach which has seen the establishment of the National Anti-Scam Centre, under the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. We have also introduced Australia's first SMS Sender ID registry to prevent scammers imitating trusted brands, and we've boosted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's investment in scam disruption activities, making them able to identify and take down investment scams and phishing websites.

I am proud of the work that our government has done to prevent scams in Australia. Nobody deserves to have their hard-earned money stolen, and they certainly do not deserve the stress that comes with this situation. I hope the action we have taken as a government and the action that we'll continue to take helps people feel just a little bit more at ease when it comes to scams. So many are happening around at the moment. People just need to be aware. If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true. As much as 'Michael Jackson' would like to see my cash, with the little 'hee hee' at the end, he won't be seeing any of our money from the Hunter. Thank you, Deputy Speaker, and please make sure you watch out for scammers.