Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

It has kept me safe for the last 10 years in what is a very marginal seat, regardless of what the numbers now say. Chisholm is a great place to represent and probably not associated hugely with an Indigenous community, being in metropolitan Melbourne, but there is an Indigenous metro community, who we often overlook, whose issues are often put aside and ignored. Professor Joy Murphy of the Wurundjeri clan ensures that we remember that there are metropolitan Indigenous communities that we need to respect and we need to think about, and we need to look at their specific plight. So it was indeed an honour to be part of that process when this parliament was formally endorsed at the beginning of the year.

I would like to finally put on the record my great appreciation of the terrific people of Chisholm, who have again bestowed upon me the honour of being their local member. I do feel like the address-in-reply debate has been a long time coming, so I am feeling a little silly that it is now months down the track and I am doing it. But, now that I have the role of Deputy Speaker, actually getting a chance to speak is fairly difficult. So it is with great joy and pride and honour that I can say that I have had the privilege to be elected again to this House. This is my fourth term. I am now the longest serving member—it did not take long to be the longest serving Labor member for the seat of Chisholm, but I am actually now one of the longest serving members for the seat. It is a great honour indeed. Certainly the first member for Chisholm was there for a very long time, but I have now outdone the time of my predecessor, Michael Wooldridge, within the seat of Chisholm. He swapped seats at the 1998 election when I first ran. It is a great honour to have that privilege bestowed on me.

When I first ran for parliament back in 1998, I distinctly remember saying at the time to my husband: ‘It’s all right; I won’t win. I’m standing. I’m going to fly the flag for the ALP. I’m going to do my bit as a good local member, having grown up and lived in the seat all my life and having association with it, but don’t worry; I won’t win.’ Lo and behold, Dr Michael Wooldridge swapped seats, and I had to ring my husband and say: ‘You know how we had the renovation plans? Perhaps we need to put those on hold.’ Ten years later, I am still here.

Not only this time, winning was a great joy, but to finally be part of government is indeed a great honour and something that I have been looking forward to for a great long time. A change of government has happened on just six occasions in the past 60 years, so it was indeed a momentous occasion. Clearly there was a mood of change. There was certainly a mood of change within my electorate. Within my electorate, climate change was the No. 1 issue on people’s minds, followed closely by health and education. So there certainly was a mood out there, and it was a thrill to be part of government. Since elected in 1998, I have spent 10 long years in opposition, which, whilst a great apprenticeship, was a tad tedious and incredibly frustrating. But now starts the hard work of government. Everybody keeps saying, ‘What’s government like?’ I say, ‘Well, it was really easy in opposition; you just blame the other side.’ Government is actually much harder, a greater responsibility but a great joy to be part of because now we can actually drive. We can bring through the change, and I do not have to sit there feeling frustrated with a Howard agenda, which I was totally opposed to on so many fronts.

I would like to thank all those in the Chisholm campaign who ensured I got here: my local branch members for their unstinting faith; my family, friends and committed locals, who are great supporters of the Labor Party but will not join; and particularly the Young Labor volunteers who were out there in force. Indeed, my staff—Fiona, Jason, Rick, Janet, Louise—and those who came on board during the campaign—Paul, Liana, David, Di and Raff—were all of tremendous support and help. I would like to particularly offer my thanks to Kerry Piva, who came and volunteered full time for the campaign. She was there day and night without a single pay and then turned up on election day with her husband and son to hand out all day for me. It is the likes of Kerry that make campaigning worth while, and I really did appreciate her help.

I need to thank my family: the endearing Steve, who makes it all worth while and achievable, because without him I just could not do it, and Madeleine and John, who already know what it is like to letterbox and to hand out—they are my greatest fans and my greatest supporters. Mind you, at the last election Madeleine did say to me that she did want me to lose, because she had worked out that, if I lost, Mummy would not be so busy. This time around, John, who was five at the time, was getting very concerned about all the posters, because I was pictured standing next to Kevin Rudd. John looked at me very seriously and said, ‘Mummy, how long are those posters going to be up for?’ I said: ‘Till after the election. It’s two weeks off—two swimming lessons away.’ He said, ‘I’m getting very worried. People will think you are married to that man, Mama.’ So here he was very concerned that people in the electorate were thinking that I was married to Kevin Rudd and not to Daddy—the things that go through your children’s minds. They are fantastic human beings and I need to thank them for all their great support.

I need to thank my mum, Joan, who not only babysat but sat for numerous hours on the pre-poll, and my dad, Bernie, who also sat on the pre-poll and convinced everybody in his new accommodation that they had to vote for me. It was the first time in that home that my vote went up. I think he badgered them all into voting for me personally. I thank my brothers and sisters—Tony, Nina, Sophie and Paul—and their respective spouses and children, who also all had to letterbox and hand out on voting day. As most of them actually live in the electorate, they also had to vote for me. I want to say thank you to them.

I also want to put on the record my great thanks to the numerous volunteers out there, particularly Howard and Marie Hodgins; Joan and George Edwards, who were not as out and about as much because of their ill-health but were certainly there; Adele Mach, the world’s greatest letterboxer; Allen Clausen; Peter Chandler; John Burke; David and Lorie Werner, who are the backbone of many of our campaigns; Kirsta Durham; Kathleen Brasher; and Senator elect Jacinta Collins, who I had out doorknocking, which I did assure her was going to help her in her senatorial candidacy. She did not believe me, but nevertheless she was out there doorknocking. I thank all the state members within my electorate, who gave terrific support and assistance, and I thank their staff as well. To all those in Bob’s and Ann’s office: it is always a joy to work with you, and I thank you very much.

It was a terrific occasion. I also want to welcome and express my appreciation to the member for Deakin, Mike Symon, who has been brought into our fold. It was terrific to work with Mike’s campaign and it is lovely now to have a neighbour in the eastern suburbs bordering my electorate. To Mike and his team, congratulations on a terrific win. It was an amazing effort. They worked incredibly hard and they worked an amazing community campaign with all the local residents out there.

I am proud that this is a government that has already apologised to the stolen generation, which the Howard government refused to do. I am proud that this government has already ratified the Kyoto protocol, which the Howard government refused to do. I am proud that this government has brought down a budget that is friendly to working families and aims to restore the balance that was lost during the Howard years.

All election promises made by the Rudd Labor government have been honoured within this budget. I do not think too many governments before could make that claim. This is significant, because past governments have not always followed through on election funding promises. As the Governor-General said in his speech at the opening of the parliament on 12 February this year, this is a government that is ‘committed to bring a fresh approach to governing’ and that ‘has a vision for Australia’s long-term future’. This includes listening to and consulting the Australian people and being up-front with them on the problems it can solve and those it cannot. It also means actually tackling problems that need solving, and doing the hard work—not putting them in the too-hard basket and hoping that by ignoring them they will go away. Compared to the previous government’s arrogance and lack of an evidence based approach to problem-solving, this is a breath of fresh air.

My constituents overwhelmingly wanted a government that would listen to them and address the problems of concern to them: climate change, health and education. They voted against a government that sat on its hands in relation to climate change, pulled millions of dollars out of the public health system and let our universities go to rack and ruin because it did not have the foresight to invest in them. They voted against a government that would not invest enough in education to create the skilled workers who we now so desperately need—and now we are paying with higher inflation and higher interest rates. The Howard government had no long-term vision and people were tired of having the wool pulled over their eyes. The Rudd government has wasted no time in going to work on these problems, with the aim of building a modern Australia capable of meeting the challenges of the future.

The very successful 2020 summit held in Canberra was a sign of the government’s intention not only to consult but to consider new ideas for Australia’s long-term future. Parliament House literally became the people’s house for a weekend, where delegates from all walks of life and all parts of Australia came to voice their opinion. People were delighted that the government finally wanted to hear what they had to say and, more importantly, take note and act on those ideas.

Locally, a 2020 summit for the south-eastern and eastern regions of Melbourne was held at Monash University, in my electorate, in April this year, with the six local Labor MPs in the area attending—the member for Holt, the member for Bruce, the member for Hotham, the member for Deakin, the member for Isaacs and me. One hundred and forty delegates attended. Six groups discussed climate change and water, education, health, the future of our economy, national security, and community and Indigenous issues. It was a phenomenal day and I want to thank all those who participated and all those who were involved. Most particularly I want to thank the summit co-chair, the Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, Professor Richard Larkins, who added an enormous note of intellectual rigour to the day and made it all run more smoothly and more professionally.

Monash University were very supportive of this venture and donated facilities and services for the event, which we were grateful for. Among the delegates were school principals, small business people, doctors, community leaders, academics, environmental activists, CEOs from community health services and many, many others. The groups were co-chaired by MPs along with people who had considerable expertise or background in that particular field. This made for some very well informed, well guided and often very loud but very harmonious discussions. Everybody came along willing to participate with their ideas, and the day did not actually have one disagreement, with everybody prepared to listen and put forward what I think was a great vision for our area.

For example, the national security group, co-chaired by the member for Holt and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) of Monash University, Stephanie Fahey, had no less than eight experts in the field. At the end of the day we had a great discussion about the notion that in a security sense we have been ‘punching above our weight’ and how we wanted to take that term out of our lexicon because it just does not represent the way Australia should represent itself in the national arena. Apart from that, Richard Larkins, who was co-chairing and summarising, also said, as a health professional interested in preventative health, that as a nation we should not be supporting the art of boxing.

My own group, which discussed strengthening communities, supporting families and social inclusion and the options for the future of Indigenous Australia, was co-chaired by Wurundjeri elder Professor Joy Murphy. This was a terrific group, with over 40 delegates representing various local communities and organisations. It was a very robust debate. The group discussed many issues around funding models, many issues around the notion of community groups not being listened to and many issues around the funding formula under which we come along with a package and say, ‘Apply for the funding,’ but do not actually look at the issues that the various communities are supporting and working on. All these groups have been up and going and providing services for a long time and they find it really quite frustrating that year-in year-out they have to go cap in hand and beg for new project funding, when what they really want to do is just continue doing the great work they are doing.

One of the group’s issues that was fairly vigorously discussed—and it is a big issue in my area—was the notion of skilled migrants. Whilst I welcome in the budget the report about increased skilled migration, skilled migrants need more support. One of the issues I have been dealing with, particularly over the last five years, is skilled migrants arriving in the country and not being able to get work in their chosen field. There is nothing more frustrating than packing up your home and coming to a promised land as a skilled migrant who has lived and worked in an area and for internationally recognised organisations and not being able to get an equivalent job in this country. They come to Australia, they have promised their families a better life and they are not finding the work, they are not finding the assistance that they need. There is no support given to those individuals. I think that is something we seriously need to look at. The area that I represent attracts huge numbers of skilled migrants, particularly from India and Asia, and growing numbers from African countries are coming here as skilled migrants, and we need to be giving them more support.

This whole 2020 process was great—to have so many people from so many different backgrounds, interested groups and parts of the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne represented. Often we overlook the notion of regions in metropolitan areas because we are also talking about regions in rural and remote communities. My community is a community—it is an area, it is a region; it should be recognised as such, it should be valued as such and it should be funded as such. So there was a discussion about putting the metropolitan areas on the map. I do not denigrate in any way, shape, size or form the difficulty that regional and remote areas have, but my area is a community, a vibrant one, and should be recognised and respected as such as well.

I know that MPs were delighted to be able to chair these groups and be involved in some very interesting and proactive discussions. Each group produced a summary of two to three items which were later fed through to the 2020 summit in Canberra. It was a great success and we have received excellent positive feedback from delegates. Some MPs have said they are interested in having follow-up discussions with delegates on these topics. Monash University is interested in becoming more involved in development issues for the south-east, including an innovation precinct. The notion of clever communities was canvassed on the day and is something I am willing and happy to support and progress within my electorate. I have Monash University, one of the largest universities in the country. Next door to Monash Uni is one of the largest CSIRO precincts; across the road, in the member for Bruce’s electorate, is the Synchrotron; down the road is the Telstra’s big research area; and dotted around them are small areas where many manufacturers are doing research. We need to be supporting research and development and a manufacturing base within this country. Earlier today I listened to the member for Kalgoorlie say that we do not manufacture in this country. No, we do not, and it is a great tragedy. We need to get back into manufacturing or producing or designing. Sitting within my little niche in Clayton I can see that it is an amazing resource, and if we could harness those resources together, we could do great things for our nation, our community and the country. So we look forward to engaging on this idea of clever communities.

We welcome greater engagement by our universities in local and regional development issues and in policy development. With so much expertise on our doorstep we would be crazy not to use it. As I said in my speech on the higher education support amendment bill in the House yesterday, with both Monash and Deakin universities in Chisholm, I have many university students, staff and graduates living in my electorate. This makes for a well educated, politically aware electorate—my constituents are generally very conscious of issues affecting them at local, national and global levels—and they let me know about it fairly regularly. As I mentioned earlier, from the emails, phone calls and letters I regularly receive in my electorate office, climate change, health and education are the issues of primary concern to my constituents.

Coming out of the forum and from the electorate is the issue of transport related to health. Within the suburbs, we need to be actively looking at issue of providing public access transport to the regions in the area. I want to put on record my long-term commitment to seeing the train extended from Huntingdale train station to Monash University and out to Rowville. It has been too long coming. We need to do it to make access easier for students to get to Monash and to cut down on car usage in the area. I would also like to put on the record the need for greater train transport within the eastern suburbs, which also came out of discussions at the local 2020 summit that we held at Monash University—they are depleted—and the need for a commitment from the state government to rebuild Box Hill hospital.

I believe the financially responsible budget provided by the Rudd Labor government goes a long way to addressing the numerous concerns of my electorate in the areas of climate change and education—I welcome the additional funding for the universities—and in the area of early childhood education and the need to lift year 12 or equivalent education rates. Additional places within and funding for aged care are also greatly needed in my electorate, and I commend their inclusion in the budget.

Prior to the election I had a fundraising dinner at Box Hill where Alastair Nicholson, who was a previous Labor candidate for the seat of Chisholm, spoke. Other previous Labor candidates for the seat of Chisholm also came along, two of them being John Button and Helen Mayer. Tragically, since that dinner and since this parliament last sat, both John Button and Helen Mayer have died due to cancer. I want to thank them for their support over the years and I know this parliament was greatly blessed by their presence. We will miss them greatly.

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