Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is it. I was educated at the local convent. My whole education was supplied and provided by the Catholic system. I went to Christian Brothers College and then on to St Brendan's College at Yeppoon. It is only when you have your own children and you start getting the $35,000 and $45,000 a year school fees that you start to think. I asked: 'How did you ever as a mother pay for our school fees, get us through and educate us?' She said, 'Darling, I could never afford to pay for your and your brothers' and sisters' school fees so I used to work at the church. I would polish the brass. That is why I used to work at the tuckshop. It was my way of trying to give back because the church provided a blanket of security for our family.'

Later on in life, in an understanding that we had a successful transport business, the boarding school I went to used to have an annual fundraiser; it was the St Brendan's Rodeo. We were the major sponsor of that event and it was a privilege and honour to be involved in that, both from a college perspective as an old boy, and to be able to reconnect financially. We sponsored that for about 10 years, and my marketing department would come to me every year and say: 'Boss, we have really got to revisit the money we are spending at St Brendan. We get absolutely no return, and we have had no business out of it.' Without going on and sharing the whole story with them, my comments were that, as long as I am writing the cheques, we will continue to pay my debt back to that college, which helped get me to where I am today, without doubt. By no stretch of the imagination was I a model student.

I still hold the generosity and values that were shared with me as a man, and in addition not only to me, to my entire family. I think that is the ethos of Christianity. One can be a practising Catholic, or a practising Christian by attending mass, but I think it is how you live your life. How are you judged in the eyes of your god if you attend mass and then fail to live the rest of the week with less of a Christian value? For example, driving past the guy on the side of the road who may have a flat tyre and you know who is struggling. I suggest living by one's deeds is also meritorious.

The Catholic church's tentacles throughout our communities have helped shape us as a nation. I pray that the remainder of our Pope's life is healthy. His illusion to his illness and his frailty will be something that he will have to suffer with and I hope that he lives the rest of his life in comfort. For our next Pope—it will be soon made known to the world who this person is—there are some enormous challenges that face the Christian values here in Australia with reference to a royal commission. I trust that Cardinal Pell—the leader of our Church here—assists in that process so that the healing of those people who have been affected during that process—and who will give evidence during that—will find comfort in the process ahead.

Mum, when you are reading this speech, I have done my duty to the priests of my electorate to whom I will send a copy of this speech. Thank you for the work that you do. To the administrators, to the high schools, to the teachers of the Catholic faith: thank you so much for what you do. To the volunteers that work within the parishes across the whole electorate of Wright—there are many parishes, too numerous to mention—thank you for the contribution you make to our community, as without you our community would be poorer.

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