Trish Draper (Makin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Health Insurance Amendment (Medicare Dental Services) Bill 2007, but I ask the indulgence of the Speaker of the House to present my valedictory speech to the chamber.

As a member of the class of ’96, with over four elections, 11½ years of service and over 13 years on the campaign trail in an extremely marginal seat, I am truly blessed to be able to stand here today and honestly say that I am most grateful for having had the opportunity to serve the electorate of Makin and the Australian people. It has been a great honour and a privilege and an extraordinary journey. I am extremely conscious that the electors of Makin have continued to support me as their local representative over the past four elections, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the greatest Prime Minister in Australian history, the Hon. John Howard MP, member for Bennelong, and of course the greatest Treasurer Australia has ever had, the Hon. Peter Costello, member for Higgins. I would like to thank them both for their guidance, friendship, support and leadership since my election. Through my close working relationship with the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, I can testify to their genuine and great passion for the Australian people.

I have witnessed firsthand the admiration and affection of the electorate towards the Prime Minister during his many regular visits to the Makin community. As I mentioned in my maiden speech, in the lead-up to the 1996 election, parents expressed to me that they had worked hard for many years to give their children better opportunities in life but, after many years of struggling and ‘the recession that we had to have’, their children were left without jobs or hope for the future and were becoming yet another statistic. What the former Labor government managed to achieve, even with the much-heralded accord, Working Nation, the infamous unfair dismissal laws and a so-called justice platform was a lost generation of youth—lost not to a war or a catastrophe but to the despair and hopelessness of unemployment. That was one of the many legacies left by the Hawke-Keating Labor government, and what will be wreaked upon us again if Labor, heaven forbid, are elected at the next federal election.

It seems to me that some people have forgotten what it was like when unemployment figures were measured in double digits, mortgage rates were 17 per cent and business loan rates were above 20 per cent. People believed Mr ‘l-a-w law’ Keating, when he promised that he would deliver and that he was ‘bringing home the bacon’. Well, he did not bring home the bacon. In fact, the cupboard was left bare, with an $8 billion deficit to boot. Fast forward 12 years and there could not be a more contrasting picture. Unemployment continues to remain at record lows of around four per cent, and real wages have increased by 19.8 per cent. The Howard government not only has repaid Labor’s $96 billion legacy but is now saving for future generations.

A strong economy creates optimism and hope for individuals. I am proud to have been a member of the Howard government, which has seen total spending on health increase from $17.9 billion in 1995-96 to $51.8 billion in 2007-08. As someone who places great importance on support for families, I am delighted to see GP and specialist bulk-billing rates at a national all-time record of 73.4 per cent. As a mother, it gives me great comfort to know that, under the Howard government policies, child immunisation rates have improved from 52 per cent in 1995—it is incredible and unbelievable to look back and see that only 52 per cent of children were immunised in 1995—to 91 per cent now. What a great policy, what a great achievement, by the Howard government.

As a former aged-care nurse, I am delighted to see such tangible benefits to older Australians as the exponential increase in aged-care places which has occurred in the past decade, ageing in place and home care packages. The Medicare safety net and the increase in the Medicare rebate for GPs were policies that I had the great privilege of working on as Chair of the Government Committee on Health and Aged Care.

I am also proud to have been involved with another hugely successful program, Work for the Dole. In my electorate, we have had some excellent community projects with this program, which have given participants valuable skills to assist them in moving into employment. I would like to congratulate David Garrard, his family and staff, in my electorate, for their recent win of the Supervisor of the Year award.

The Howard government’s Investing in Our Schools program is another policy which I am proud to have contributed to. This program has funded schools where the states once again have failed. Mr Rudd talks the talk about the education revolution, but parents who have sacrificed and chosen to educate their children at an independent school are sweating even as we speak about the possibility of the return of Mark Latham’s infamous hit list.

I believe one of the government’s greatest successes is its continued zero tolerance approach to combat illicit drugs through the Tough on Drugs initiative. Since its introduction in 1997, when it was launched in my electorate of Makin, this very important government initiative has seen more than $1.4 billion invested to combat the evils of illicit drugs and has prevented more than 14 tonnes of illicit drugs reaching our streets. I would like to congratulate Bronwyn Bishop on her recently released report entitled The winnable war on drugs: the impact of illicit drug use on families. We must continue to fight drugs in our community to stop the destruction of families and their lives. As the Prime Minister recently said in question time:

We are making progress in the war against drugs, but we have a long way to go.

The government will never give up in the fight against drugs. We will never adopt a harm minimisation strategy. We will always maintain a zero tolerance approach. I would also like to thank and congratulate my friend and colleague Ann Bressington, MLC for South Australia, for her work in this area. Very well done, Ann. Her comments are on the back of that terrific report.

There are several challenges that we must confront if we are to provide opportunities for future generations. South Australians, as members of the downstream state, are parochial about their water security. That is our No. 1 priority. The Prime Minister’s $10 billion National Plan for Water Security, which was announced in January 2007, is the most significant reform of water management in our nation’s history. For over a century this issue has languished in the too-hard basket. It has taken the vision and courage of the Howard government to take action and end the political squabbling of the states and territories, which all have competing interests.

It is so disappointing to me as a South Australian that the Labor Rann government has neglected South Australian water for too long. Another important challenge will be to keep employment high and continue to move towards full employment. A record 10½ million people are employed in Australia and more than 2.2 million new jobs have been created since the Howard government came into office.

I said in 1996 that many people in Makin believed that the main achievement of the ACTU over the years has been the elevation of union officials into safe federal parliamentary seats. Rather than looking after the blue-collar workers and the unemployed, they looked after former ACTU presidents, treating the Labor front bench as a retirement home. Truer words have never been spoken.

So if Mr Rudd wins the next election—heaven forbid—he will not have a say in the industrial relations policy or any other policy. Instead, it will be left to the union bosses, who still control the Labor Party. The existing 70 per cent of the current frontbench, who are likely to be joined by union bosses Greg Combet, Don Farrell, Mark Butler, Dougie Cameron and Bill Shorten at the next election, are keen once again to ‘run the country’, if I can quote Mr Combet.

As I look back over the years, I cannot help but recall how my political journey began. Two catalysts got me involved in politics: firstly, the student campaign I was involved in to save Salisbury Campus after the announced closure by the then Minister for Employment, Education and Training, Simon Crean, and, secondly, the reversal of the longstanding ban against the film Salo. My very public stance against Salo led to my interest in classification issues, which I have continued to work on in my career in politics. Over the years, I have spoken up for my community, which continues to raise concerns about the content of films, television shows and video games. It has been a great honour to have been elected and to have served as chair of the coalition classification issues group during the last few years, and I thank my colleagues for their support.

I strongly believe the community faces new concerns with the growth of reality television, and I hope that community standards are able to be most vigorously defended. Music video clips, incorrectly classified TV shows and movies and the continued exploitation of young women and men are exposing our children to inappropriate behaviour, which is then replicated in our schools.

It has been a great honour to serve as the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Publications. During this term we held an inquiry into the parliamentary paper series, as well as releasing a report entitled Printing standards for documents presented to parliament, which will be tabled in the House on Thursday.

I have also enjoyed my time on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Procedure, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, the Trade Subcommittee and numerous backbench committees and my involvement in a number of reports. I am very proud of the inquiry that the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Services held in the last term. The report produced by that inquiry, entitled Every picture tells a story, ultimately led to the changes in family law and the Child Support Agency. I acknowledge the great work of Julia Irwin, the member for Fowler, and also Jennie George, the member for Throsby, both members of that committee. I am also proud of the report entitled Road to recovery: report on the inquiry into substance abuse in Australian communities, which was produced by the same committee in August 2003.

While our parliamentary work is important, looking after constituents at home is of the upmost importance and is my greatest priority. I am so proud of the achievements locally, in partnership with local people in my electorate of Makin. Without the hard work of all the volunteers, these projects would never have happened, so thank you to you all.

I have also been reflecting on the major historical and significant events that have occurred since my election in 1996. Domestically, the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania rocked all Australians and led to the Howard government introducing tougher gun legislation. In 1998 the government went to the election with the most fundamental reform to the Australian taxation system: the introduction of the GST.

Throughout the last decade, Australians have suffered the worst drought in 100 years, not to mention international economic recessions and the Asian economic crisis, which we were able to weather here in Australia due to great economic management by the Treasurer, Peter Costello—with a little bit of help from the Minister for Finance and Administration and Leader of the Senate, the Hon. Nick Minchin.

Events also include the liberation of East Timor and, six years ago last week, the sixth anniversary of 9-11, when democracy was attacked when terrorists targeted innocent Americans at the World Trade Centre. Five years ago next month, 88 Australians lost their lives in the Bali bombings. On Boxing Day 2004, Australians were called into action when the Indonesian region was hit by a tsunami which killed over 200,000 people and devastated the country. Stuart Diver beat the odds in the Thredbo landslide. Brant Webb and Todd Russell, great survivors of the mining accident, captured the nation with their courage and determination in April and May last year. Sadly, Larry Knight lost his life in that accident. We had the terrorist bombings in London and the plane crash in Indonesia on 7 March this year, in which DFAT officials, Australian journalists and others were tragically killed and horrifically injured. As recently as Sunday, there was a plane crash in Phuket. These memories will always be with us as Australians and are among a range of memories from my time in federal politics.

On a lighter note, most of my constituents would be aware of my admiration of the greatest team in the AFL, the Adelaide Crows. I congratulate Andrew ‘Bungy’ McLeod, who, last night, was named the All Australian Captain. I was looking forward to wearing my Crows scarf as I have in the past—and have been disciplined several times for doing so; however, we were robbed once again in our finals match this year. Rest assured that the Crows will be back in the hunt for the flag next year. Although I do not have my scarf, for the benefit of non-South Australian members I have circulated a photo of my three boys, with Graham wearing the blue, red and yellow colours of the Crows with Tony Modra. I have also distributed a photo of Graham with his lovely fiance, Lisa-Marie.

Like everyone in this place, I would not be here today if it were not for the continuing support of members of the Makin FEC and of the Liberal Party. I have been extremely lucky to have had wonderful members and a local network of volunteers, who have worked tirelessly both for me as the federal member for Makin and for the Liberal Party. I would especially like to acknowledge and thank Colin and Mary Kelly; Ben and Jeanette Martin; Lawrie and Jan Moon; Tom Javor; Trevor Johnson, who was my first campaign manager together with John Dawkins and set the standards for the campaigns to follow; and Bob Day, our wonderful new Liberal candidate for Makin. I am absolutely certain that he and the Prime Minister and the coalition government will win the next election and that Bob will be on his way here to Canberra. I also acknowledge the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, South Australia, and Senator the Hon. Nick Minchin for their friendship, advice, hard work and support.

All members would agree that we would never look after our constituents without the help, patience and care of our staff. I would like to thank my current staff members: Chris Evans, Todd Hacking, Jill Andrew, Shani Matheson and Maddie Jane. I would also like to thank my former staff members—in particular, Leonie Prosser-Haynes, Kirsty Haylock, Kim Murray, Alison Packer, Heidi Harris and the late Glenn Jarvis for their dedication and loyalty throughout their service. Glenn Jarvis passed away in July 2006 after losing a courageous battle against myeloid leukaemia. Glenn worked in my office for many years. He was loyal and such a wonderful electorate officer and friend and we all miss him greatly. He was a great loss not just to me and to his family but to the wider Makin community.

I could not leave this place without paying tribute to a few of my closest colleagues and confidants who over many years have always been willing to listen to me and assist me in my parliamentary endeavours. I understand that this is dangerous but it is something I want to do. Thank you to my wonderful flatmate, De-Anne Kelly and also to Kay Elson, Jackie Kelly, Sophie Mirabella, Kerry Bartlett, Alan Cadman, Warren Entsch, Gary Hardgrave—a lot of Queenslanders here—Margaret May, Senator Grant Chapman, Don Randall, Senator Guy Barnett, who does a fabulous job for Tasmania, Bronwyn Bishop, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Dutton, Greg Hunt, Louise Markus and Bruce Baird, who has done a fabulous job for Friends of Tourism. Well done and thank you, Bruce.

Thank you also to Brendan Nelson, Julie Bishop, Barnaby Joyce, Steve Fielding, Brian Harradine—before he retired—Patrick Secker and the Barker FEC, who have been a great support to Makin. Thank you to all of my South Australian colleagues—in particular, Alexander Downer, arguably the greatest foreign minister in our history and a legend in his own time; Steve Ciobo; Alby Schultz—thank you, Alby—Kym Richardson; David Fawcett; Barry Wakelin; Andrew Southcott; and my paired senator for many years, Nick Minchin; and former Minister for the Arts and Sport, Rod Kemp—a legend in his own time and I thank him for his service to the country and hope that he enjoys his retirement from July next year. I congratulate Alan Ferguson on his election as President of the Senate, Christopher Pyne for his elevation to the ministry and Amanda Vanstone for her great achievements for South Australia. I also welcome our newest South Australian senators: Cory Bernardi, Simon Birmingham and Mary Jo Fisher. Thank you to all of you.

I am now running out of time so the most important thing I have to do is thank the electors of Makin, the community clubs and sporting organisations, staff, Comcar drivers, security staff, the Clerk of the House, John Anderson, Jimmy Lloyd the Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, the Parliamentary Library Staff, the Hansard Staff and Pastor Rod Denton of the Clover Crest Baptist Church. But, most importantly, I want to thank my family. I would not be here without them. This speech is for my sons, Christopher, Graham and Michael, and for my husband, Don. Christopher, Graham and Michael were 5, 7 and 10 respectively when I was pre-selected. The going rate at that time for folding and stuffing envelopes was 50c per 1,000. So, guys, without you I would never have made it. For many days and many nights those kids worked their hearts and souls out for all of us.

I say to my constituents and to our defence forces, our nurses, our doctors, our police, teachers and to everybody who contributes to the community and to our great Australian nation: it has been an honour and a privilege to serve you all. Thank you and God bless.

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