Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, you would appreciate that, during the cut and thrust of an election campaign, it would be relatively easy to get caught up in making promises to all and sundry simply to secure votes. I suppose many of us would refer to that ordinarily as pork-barrelling, but it seems that many of those projects that the Minister for Finance and Deregulation spoke about only recently at the National Press Club—a couple of weeks ago, I think it was—were central to the form and behaviour of the Howard government in the lead-up to the last election. This is not an approach that I support. It is certainly not an approach that I took to the last election and it is not one that I would intend to take in any future election. I take very, very seriously the commitments that I made to the people of Werriwa, commitments that I lobbied strongly for and am committed to securing for the people of Werriwa.

The south-west of Sydney, where I reside, is a region of considerable growth. We have already seen enormous growth throughout the whole south-west and extensive growth in the population of the region, and that is set to expand further over coming years. However, it is essential that that growth be matched by employment opportunities so that the region does not simply become a series of dormitory suburbs. The potential of the south-west of Sydney is significant, and the commitments that I intend to see implemented by this government will lift the artificial restrictions that are placed on that potential.

Possibly the most significant commitment that was made by the current Rudd government for the south-west of Sydney, for the people that I represent, was the widening of the F5 Freeway between Ingleburn and Campbelltown. For far too long, in the mornings and the afternoons, the F5 has been colloquially referred to as the Brooks Road bottleneck, a source of considerable dismay for local residents in the south-west. Certainly it has slowed down their travel time as they travel to work in the morning and on their return home in the afternoon. It increases the travel time for local contractors and small business operators who travel to different parts of Sydney to meet the needs of their customers, and it increases the travel time for those who rely on our road infrastructure in shipping their freight to various parts of Sydney and the rest of the country.

The depth of feeling on this matter was demonstrated amply by the thousands of people who signed my petition calling for the widening of the F5. Many supported it because they thought it would help their daily commute. They certainly recognised the importance of improving this vital piece of national infrastructure within our region. They knew the potential for the region would be truly realised if this piece of infrastructure could be developed. The widening of the F5 would be a significant contribution to the network needed to support local businesses and to help them to develop their goods and to access markets, both nationally and internationally. They know this is an essential piece of infrastructure—the bridge to our region’s future.

The people who supported the widening of the F5 Freeway also looked to Labor to commit to an investigation into the feasibility of the Maldon-Dunbarton rail link. The Maldon-Dunbarton rail link is the opening up of a planned rail freight route that would allow the employment lands of south-west Sydney to have direct access to Port Kembla. That, again, would be seen as a significant growth generator for the south-west of Sydney and also a significant generator in providing essential infrastructure to develop the employment lands of the south-west of Sydney.

Another thing that did not escape the residents of Werriwa in the lead-up to the last election was the fact that, whilst we are living some 50 kilometres from Australia’s biggest global city, there are still suburbs in Werriwa that cannot access high-speed broadband. These are not old suburbs; these are new suburbs that are being constructed but at this stage are not able to access high-speed broadband. We have an amount of correspondence to my office from students, parents and local business operators, all indicating how this has acted as a drawback to their ambitions. It will take a Labor government to address this and provide high-speed broadband access in Werriwa, which is only 50 kilometres from Sydney.

One of the most prominent things in the lead-up to the election, not just in the south-west of Sydney, in Werriwa or in my friend’s seat of Chifley, was the issue of industrial relations. It was one of the core matters that resonated with working families right across this nation. In the last parliament, I tried to be a strong voice of protest against the Howard government’s behaviour in respect of workplace relations. As a local member I tried to make sure that the real experiences of local residents, not just hypothetical instances, were brought to the attention of this parliament. As secretary of Labor’s industrial relations task force, I travelled to most electorates in this country—indeed, to yours too, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott—to ascertain the views and experiences of all those people out there and how they were being impacted upon by Work Choices. I discovered that although what employers were doing was in many instances not illegal, that did not make it right. Right across this nation, people were crying out for a fair go. That is what this campaign was about. This last election was about people insisting that they do get a fair go from the government.

Since March 2006, when the Work Choices laws came into effect, we saw first-hand the impact that they were having on hardworking Australians and their families right across the country. During the last parliament I took every opportunity to place on record the experiences of people who worked for Lipa Pharmaceuticals and the experiences of the Esselte workers in Minto. We brought those experiences to the attention of this place. You will recall that the Prime Minister’s view at that stage was—believe it or not!—that the working families of Australia had never been better off. But tell that to the people in Macquarie Fields, tell it to the people of Minto and tell it to the people of Ingleburn, all of whom were at the wrong end of these industrial relations laws. That was not their experience. Sadly, these were people who were less able to bargain for themselves—they were people who did need the protection of government and wanted decent industrial relations laws. These were the people that the Howard government simply gave away.

I find it interesting to try to understand the rationale of the previous government in acting the way it did. Like many others, I tuned in to the ABC last night and the rationale was there for everyone to see. Whilst Labor on this side—on the other side at that stage—were recounting the many experiences of working families across this nation, there were only a few people in cabinet, if you believe what was on the Four Corners report, that had any idea that Work Choices was not resonating with working families and that it was a disincentive to vote for the government.

It does seem that, all of a sudden, very late in the piece, various people in government started to realise that the voters out there—the punters—were not mugs. People had woken up to them. As a consequence of that, we saw an enormous mood for change in this country. I am very happy to have played some minor role in that. I am very happy to have been in a position to bring the experiences of workers in my electorate to this parliament. Quite frankly, the result of the last election was very much about the experiences, the concerns and the commitment not only of the workers at Lipa Pharmaceuticals and the Esselte plant but also of the many workers in various organisations across this country who had decided that enough was enough. What they wanted for themselves and their families was something that was fair and decent. That was Labor’s platform at the last election, and that is what we are committed to delivering. I welcome the bills that have been introduced into this place.

If you listen to the 7.30 Report, most on the other side have also woken up to the fact that Work Choices is regarded as politically dead. But the next minute there were a few on the other side wanting to hedge their bets—they thought there was a slight chance that we might breathe a little more life into it and continue it for a little while longer. Labor understood that the Senate would attempt to frustrate its legislation, but now it appears that the bills will be passed. It is good to see that this mob opposite are as consistent in opposition as they were in government—that is, no consistency at all when it comes to the interests of working men and women of this country.

On climate change and the environment, I draw the attention of the House to the fact that Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were recently awarded the Nobel prize for their efforts to disseminate knowledge of man’s impact on our climate. No doubt, in the minds of many around the world, this is one of the most fundamental things we need to address as we go forward. The fact is that mankind has impacted on the environment of this earth.

Debate interrupted.

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