Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have changed for the better; I have changed for the worse. There is no change one way or the other. At the end of the day, the record speaks for itself. I tell you what, Madam Deputy Speaker: what my history does show is what you see is what you get. That is why I described earlier how I met the Leader of the Opposition. I quite like him. I have always liked him because in our relationship we have had our differences of opinion and we have been on the same side in a number of issues but there has always been respect and courtesy, which is what this is about. What I say to members of the opposition is: it is not about trying to punish people because they are on the opposite side; there has to be a set of principles here where you allow people to practise within certain parameters. Where this bill overcomes a lot of the problems in relation to student unions of the earlier days that those on the opposition benches complain of is that they are not going to be able to engage in those activities. But what we need to do is reinvigorate student activism or involvement, even if it is of only a select few.

Some of the members in this place do not have very representative branch structures, yet they are members of a federal parliament. There might be 140,000 people in your electorate, but when it comes to branch structures there are not many that have more than 1,000—or more than 500. Some might argue you have no right to open your mouth here when it comes to people who select you in the first instance, because you are representative of a narrow clique of people but you are then judged. So I think that the former government made a mistake. I spoke at the time and I said that they made a mistake, and, frankly, the material that has come in since the former government made the change shows that mistakes were made. I say to the House and to the opposition: do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Let us go forward with a situation that will help reinvigorate these campuses, which are cash-strapped and cannot provide services unless a bill in this form passes through this chamber and the next chamber.

What I find interesting is people fighting old battles from when they were involved in the student union. I think you are entitled to draw on that evidence. You are entitled to draw on the material, and if the situation is such that you can say, ‘These services weren’t provided and these inappropriate services were’ then there is a way around that. It seems to me that one of your arguments is that you do not like compulsion. Well, let’s not pay taxes; let’s not have driving licences before you can drive a car; let’s not request that people do jury service; let’s not have compulsory voting. You see, compulsion is built into our society at a number of levels and it should be built in at this level, but it should be in a way that has a structure that is accountable, that can be viewed by government from time to time to ensure that it is meeting the principles that we as a parliament lay down.

I commend the bill to the House. I think it is a bill worthy of support and I again commend the minister on bringing the bill forward in its current form. I know not everyone is happy with it but I think it is a good balance.

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