Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is indeed an honour to be elected to the chamber and, more importantly, a privilege to be here representing the people of Forde. However, before indulging too much in my own views and perspectives, I would first like to congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your appointment and likewise congratulate all the members of the House for their success in the election, either as new or continuing members. This 42nd Parliament coincidentally includes 42 new members who, like me, are only too aware of the responsibilities that have now been imparted to them. The 24 November election was a historic victory for Labor and a well-deserved outcome for the honourable member for Griffith and our new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who as the leader of the Labor Party for only 11 months prior to the election created a viable and palatable platform and gave voters of Australia confidence in a new era of leadership that resulted in a transition to the Labor government.

As a new member from Queensland, it was clear from our results that voters wanted change. The seat of Forde recorded a swing of 14.43 per cent, the largest in the 2007 election and one of the largest since Federation. Many have speculated on what caused the extent of the swing. I believe many factors played a part in the final result, in particular the strong message delivered during the campaign that Labor could deliver on a preferred new future for us all. We as a party, and now a new government, have built expectations, and we now need to work towards delivering on those expectations. Having been a regular business traveller to Canberra in the mid-1990s, I would always include a self-imposed visit to Parliament House and this chamber. On one memorable occasion, in December 1996, after parliament had adjourned for the year, I stood in the public gallery where my friends and family gather today. I was quietly reflecting on the importance and the reverence of the House and the thought of the enormous privilege it would be to one day sit as a member in this chamber. But, to me, that seemed like an impossibility, with family commitments, business commitments and a stringent party process that would determine the person most appropriate to represent an electorate. It seemed daunting and sometimes I believed it was something I would never really have the opportunity of achieving.

Despite the enormity of the task, my own Pygmalion or self-fulfilling prophecy must have subconsciously started me on that journey. In fact, if you ponder the logistics of such adventure, it is one of Himalayan proportions. I say ‘Himalayan’ with the utmost respect and admiration for those who have scaled the famous Mount Everest. In effect, many more people have conquered the summit of Mount Everest, some 3,500 in the last 55 years, than have had the honour to serve in this chamber—1,059 Australians in 107 years. However, despite those sobering statistics, 11 years after my realisation in 1996 I became a proud new member who is so very honoured to be here to serve the people of Forde. Besides that, I would not make a good mountain climber anyway!

Forde is a hugely diverse electorate, with very little profile in the wider Australian community. This is something I intend to change—to put Forde on the map. Forde is named in honour of Francis Forde, better known as Frank Forde, who was Prime Minister for only eight days, from 6 July to 13 July 1945, following the sudden death of the Labor Party Prime Minister John Curtin. It is important to note that Frank Forde was the last Queensland Prime Minister prior to Kevin Rudd—63 years ago—and was the father-in-law of Queensland’s first woman Governor, Leneen Forde, who served Queensland from 1992 to 1997.

At 3,167 square kilometres, Forde is geographically large compared to neighbouring electorates but, as a south-east Queensland seat, also known as the Gold Coast hinterland, it is nestled against the neighbouring federal electorates of Rankin, Fadden, Blair, McPherson, Moncrieff and, over the border in New South Wales, the seats of Richmond and Page. Forde is geographically and demographically diverse, from high urban density in the north to large farmland and rural holdings in the south-west. It finishes at the New South Wales border, on the beautiful Border Ranges.

The seat of Forde involves parts of seven state electorates and three local government authorities: the Gold Coast City Council, the Logan City Council and the Beaudesert Shire Council. It includes the traditional lands and custodians of the Mununjali and Yugambeh nations and their elders—proud and productive Indigenous people who have pragmatically worked towards building a strong and enduring community. Due to the increasing demand for urban land in south-east Queensland, the areas of future potential development in Forde will become critical areas of growth and an economic powerhouse for the greater south-west of south-east Queensland. But, to do this in a way that makes economic sense, it must include a stringent planning regime to ensure environmental, social and economic imperatives to deliver long-term benefits. We must ensure that existing rural industries are supported and that good-quality agricultural land is enhanced. The farming sector to the south-west of Beaudesert has weathered torrid times, with the long period of recent drought making life difficult for farming families who had not had the level of government support they needed.

We must lock up areas of high environmental sensitivity while making sustainable, efficient and sensible decisions on areas of development. To do this means a plan of action between Commonwealth and state governments and the private sector, with the cooperation of the local government authorities in facilitating planning and progressing appropriate development approvals. The electorate at the moment has some of the largest areas of proposed development in the nation—from the large industrial estate of Yatala, just south of Beenleigh, which is regarded as the fastest growing industrial development in Australia, to the proposed intermodal transport and logistics areas of Bromelton to the west of Beaudesert. Bromelton is cited as being the largest inland port in this country, connecting the planned major road and rail freight corridors. Billions of dollars of investment are planned over the next decade. To ensure sustainability we need to understand the integration of needs for an area ready to undergo massive expansion. Industrial centres require a ready workforce, and a ready workforce requires well-planned residential communities planned around lifestyle.

Housing supply and demand in Queensland and particularly in Forde at the moment is volatile. Increased demand for housing is being driven by intense economic growth but is also due to the tardy sequencing of land release, which unnecessarily inflates the cost of housing. The integration of planning to provide appropriate health, public transport, education and community services is essential, along with the provision of timely infrastructure. A planning commitment by all levels of government is necessary to enable the timely sequencing and rollout of these new communities.

There are two major residential areas planned for Forde. Greater Flagstone, which lies to the south of Greenbank near the Bromelton development, will provide for 100,000 residents by 2030 and Yarrabilba, which lies to the south-west of Beenleigh and Yatala near the Yatala development, will provide for 70,000 residents by 2040. These developments will potentially deliver the lifestyle communities I mentioned. Better government understanding of the inflationary pressures caused by bureaucratic duplication and local red tape is essential to finding planning solutions that have a positive effect on economic outcomes, particularly outcomes that deliver the strict low-inflation regime sought by our Prime Minister and Treasurer.

Forde is diverse and includes parts of Loganholme in the north, Beenleigh and the beautiful Tamborine Mountain to the east, and the towns and shires of Beaudesert in the greater south-west. It is a unique place. With the retirement of my predecessor, Kay Elson, a long-serving Liberal member, the people of Forde had the opportunity to make a change. With this change I became the fourth member for Forde since its inception in 1984. The former Prime Minister, John Howard—who in his 11 years made only two visits to Forde, the latest being in October last year during the election campaign—said that Forde, to him, was where he could go if he wanted to know what was bothering Middle Australia. Well, on November 24, as we know, across the country and in Forde, Middle Australia resoundingly believed they had had enough.

The immediacy of my challenge is to ensure that we focus the attention of the federal government on needs and on the serious lack of both physical and social infrastructure in the electorate. The Labor campaign for the November 2007 election was built on the notion of a fair go—a fair go in work; a fair go for business; a fair go for older Australians; a fair go for our youth by providing opportunities in education and training; and a fair go for families. Every initiative of a new Labor government would find a point of reference within the electorate of Forde. Everyone was affected by the frustration of the lack of engagement by the previous government. Queensland was forgotten, and everyone on all sides of politics knew it. In my electorate, my support base straddled all sides of the traditional political fence. Both small and large business operators saw the opportunities presented by a potential Rudd government and got on board.

As I mentioned, housing availability and affordability are at critically low levels. The rate of mortgage stress and default of housing loans in Forde is one of the highest in the country. The previous lack of cooperation and coordination between the state and federal governments has meant that a number of communities in Forde are without basic transport services. For an electorate without adequate roads, transport infrastructure and services, the impacts have a dual effect on the people living in the various townships and communities across Forde. The cost of running two cars, because there is no public transport, is compounded by the effect of rising fuel and grocery prices. People in the electorate are hurting. One of my pledges to the people of Forde is to provide better opportunities to talk to their representatives in government. Coordination between the three tiers of government—council, state and federal—and regular community briefings will form part of our community engagement strategy.

High on my list of priorities is our youth. Our future is so much determined by how we nurture, support and mentor our youth. Education and training is paramount in providing them with the skills and strategies for dealing with their future lives while maintaining their individuality and motivation. Our understanding of the social aspects of their development through tangible and intangible support is critical.

I had a very humble and somewhat uncertain beginning. My mother, at the age of 17 in 1960, was pregnant and was not married. This was at a time when community perceptions and prejudices were heavily weighted against unmarried mothers. With no provision of support and a family that was not able to support her, it was decided before my birth that I would be adopted. I was very lucky to be adopted into a family who not only nurtured and raised me but imparted, amongst many things, the important values of life. I enjoyed a good public education. After graduating from high school in 1977, I took on an apprenticeship as a hand and machine compositor—also known as a comp—a trade within the printing industry. I am one of only three compositors that I am aware of who have served in this House. The two previous compositors were Australia’s third Prime Minister and first Labor Prime Minister, John Watson, in 1904, and Senator Bert Milner, whose untimely death on 30 June 1975 caused a string of events that saw the demise of the Whitlam government later that year.

For me, the events of 1975 were largely responsible for my political awakening. On 11 November, 1975—incidentally during my junior exams—the Whitlam government was dismissed. While history well records the conventional and constitutional explanations for such an action, the political cause can largely be attributed to the machinations of Queensland’s then National Party state Premier, Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, who appointed a less than Labor-friendly replacement senator. The conditions of this appointment were catalytic in bringing down the national government. In Queensland, without the existence of an upper house, some of the long-accepted conventions of the Westminster system were compromised, which further led to allegations of dishonesty and corruption throughout executive government.

If you were a Labor Party member in Queensland, you may well have found yourself on the Police Special Branch files with an offensive dossier. The democratic freedoms we all enjoy in this country were severely compromised with the denial of freedom of expression, the outlawing of public congregation and the restriction of choice in what displayed many aspects of a totalitarian regime. However, the questionable activities and the promotion of cronyism by that government resulted in the conviction and sentencing of a number of former state government members on fraud and a variety of other charges. These events firmly galvanised my concern about political conservatism.

The conservative actions of the Howard government on many social issues also became the antithesis of reform, particularly on the important social reforms that emerge through changing times and expectations. This cannot be better demonstrated than by the refusal of the former government and its stance on all matters related to the reconciliation and the now celebrated apology brought down by the Rudd government on that historic day last week. I am sure the academics and the historians will analyse the actions of the Howard government and the machinations that continued in order to find excuses for why an apology should not be forthcoming. The Bringing them home report clearly explained the purpose of saying sorry to recommence the processes of reconciliation commenced by the previous Labor government. The philosophical arguments over the taxonomy of the words do not make any difference to the reality that, if there are social injustices affecting a community, governments must rise to the challenge of resolving these injustices. Reform is about recognising that something is not working and fixing it. In fact, I would argue that this is why this House exists—to debate, analyse and reform by finding a better way of doing things and to provide the appropriate legislation to deal with that change.

Reform should establish the notion of: ‘It’s not about blame; it’s about change and the need for change when it is so obviously warranted.’ The conservative philosophies and actions of the former Howard government were proven by their inflexibility when dealing with issues of social sensitivity. While the Work Choices legislation was certainly a major cause of the Howard government’s downfall, it also demonstrated to the voters that the government was arrogant and failing on many other levels. If the difference between reform and conservatism is the ability to right previous injustice, then we must always look towards reform, particularly if past decisions continue to hurt and disaffect members of our society.

Last week I was intrigued by comments from some of the opposition who seem to have the view that they have exclusivity when it comes to business expertise—an outdated, conservative and almost archaic boss-to-worker mentality—and that the coalition is business and Labor is the worker. The Labor Party proudly protects the rights of workers. A depth of expertise in all areas of business and professional practice is well represented on this side of the House. To suggest, as they did last week, that we on the Labor side have never run businesses or employed people is amusing, if not grossly naive and uninformed.

I have, for a significant part of my working life, been a small business man, employing people who incidentally were also members of the union. As a former small business owner and operator who employed a significant number of staff, I understand well the dynamics of running a business. I was a member and executive member of two chambers of commerce and served as president of one and vice-president of another over a number of years.

I spoke previously about my original trade as a compositor. But, with the opportunity to study as a mature age student, I commenced a commerce degree, converting to a teaching degree and further study, resulting in the completion of an honours degree in education. I took up positions as a teacher, lecturer, faculty and college director and, with the move back to the private sector, rolled out education and training programs in multimedia throughout Australia and South-East Asia. This led to varied business interests, including publishing small community newspapers and other media productions.

My desire to enter politics resulted in a move three years ago, when I took up offers in parliamentary and ministerial service for a state member and two senior Queensland ministers, as a policy adviser.

Mr Speaker, I further seek the indulgence of the House while I mention those special people who have had a great influence on my life and who have made my accession to this House a reality. As a member of the Labor Party, I pay tribute to the Labor cause and the generations of Labor members and elected members who have proven our philosophical stance, conscience and commitment to giving all Australians a fair go. I pay tribute to our Prime Minister and other elected Labor members in this House who fought a hard but honest campaign to convince a majority of Australians to hand Labor the responsibilities of government.

I have so many people, who played varying roles, to thank, and there is simply not enough time in this response to name them all. For that I apologise, but I will not forget them! I want to pay tribute to my mum, Lyn Raguse, who, at almost 87 years of age, has been my inspiration and my conscience. She is an Irish migrant of 81 years who still carries a good argument and is someone against whom I still have difficulty in winning a debate! I pay tribute to the memory of my father, John Raguse, who died too young at 62 and whose stoicism and strength taught me tenacity. This style of tenacity gave me strength to campaign relentlessly. I pay tribute to my childhood brother and sister, Mark and Kim Raguse, for the shared happy and eventful childhood years.

I pay tribute to my four children—Aaron, 19; Matthew, 17; Hannah, 13; Emma, 10—and their mother, Annette. They have supported me through the years and have lived with the effect of politics on family life. I pay tribute to my birth mother, Denise Fletcher, whom I finally met at the age of 29. She weathered the early trials of life yet emerged triumphant with the support of her husband, Laurie Fletcher, a man who has also inspired me with his gentle yet unrelenting support for his family.

I pay tribute to John and Daphne Loveday, who treated me like a son and were always there to support me. I pay tribute to my brothers and sisters and their families—the Fletchers—and my sister Nicole Byrnes, who made a number of personal sacrifices to help me achieve this win.

I thank Steve Searle and his wife, Alison, who always believed that success was possible. Steve’s energy and absolute commitment to the campaign were, for me, humbling and perpetually appreciated. I thank two very special and inspirational friends, Roland and Shirley Lindenmayer, who proved my theory that people from all political persuasions can come together for a common cause and influence a positive outcome and prove that democracy does work.

I pay tribute to Jim and Sandy Dennis, who were there from the start and never failed in providing help wherever and whenever needed. I also pay tribute to Jim’s mother, Mary Dennis, who, at 84, continues to hold the Labor faith. I thank Isobel Tarrago and her daughter, Aveline Tarrago, and Lucy and David Banu for their warm and generous support.

I pay tribute to my loyal friends Noni Hazlehurst and Ian Marden, who, with busy filming schedules interstate, always made the effort to be available. I pay tribute to Normie Rowe for his overt and enduring support for Vietnam veterans and for making sure we always remembered.

I pay tribute to Brett and Pam McCreadie for their hard work, friendship and the support they garnered from the QPSU. I pay tribute to those I honour as my political mentors, who, with their own busy and demanding schedules, always made time to help with advice: state members and ministers Desley Boyle, John Mickel, Margaret Keech, Evan Moorhead, Gary Fenlon, Michael Choi and Desley Scott. I also pay tribute to federal members and senators Joe Ludwig, Wayne Swan, Craig Emerson, Tony Burke, Jennie George, Bernie Ripoll and former minister Con Sciacca.

I pay tribute to my friends and family who are here today in the gallery: my two sons, Aaron and Matthew; Aaron’s partner, Alexa; Ada and Jamie Banks; Di Lydiard; Steve Alcock; Rosalia Sieira; and, in absentia, her partner, Paul Roderick.

I thank Jenny Atkinson, my campaign manager, who, with the support of several hundred campaign workers and the help of her daughter, Samantha Fuller, formed a solid team who unrelentingly pushed our cause forward. I say thank you to Maarten Sherrington and his family—his wife, Louise, and their children, Tom and Rose—who all made so many family sacrifices to ensure that Maarten was always available, particularly during those intense weeks and months of campaigning. To my other staff, Stuart Fenech, Annette Curry and Jason Whitlock: I thank you not only for what you have already achieved in my office but also in anticipation of the vibrant and exciting three years ahead of us.

I must pay special tribute to my partner, Marlene Sieira, who has weathered both a state and federal election campaign while managing her own career responsibilities and pressures. She has continued to be a stabilising influence, despite her own personal pain due to the loss of her father, Ben Sieira—a true gentleman—in 2006.

In closing, I would like to reflect on the words of the honourable member for Griffith, our new Prime Minister. In his first speech, which strongly reflects my own disposition, he said:

I do not know whether I will be in this place for a short or a long time. That is for others to decide. But what I do know is that I have no intention of being here for the sake of just being here. Together with my colleagues it is my intention to make a difference.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you to the members of this House for your kind indulgence.

Debate (on motion by Mr McMullan) adjourned.

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