Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the previous speaker and, in fact, all the new members that have shared their ambitions and aspirations for the important role and responsibility they carry as a member of this House. Admittedly I might not agree with all of the sentiments but I respect the fact that within all of us there is a sparkle in our eye and a fire in our belly to do some good for our community, our country, and the more of that the better. So, congratulations and welcome to all the new members.

I did have cause to reflect on my first speech—this is not it—which was some 17½ years ago, some seven elections ago. I was reminded of the Australian cricket team where each newbie to the team gets given a number to reflect their selection. Apparently I am No. 892 in terms of my election to this House. It does remind all of us that it is a rare privilege and an extraordinary honour and opportunity to be a part of this legislature. I would imagine there is probably not more than 1,100 members that have been elected to this chamber since Federation, and it reminds us all of the hallowed place we are in and of our duty to do good and worthwhile things whilst we are afforded that opportunity.

I have been reafforded that opportunity by the good folks of Dunkley in choosing to have me again as their elected representative. I am not mistaking that as some adulation of the Liberal candidate. My community would not be characterised as a Liberal community. I see it is as a renewal of my contract, a belief that I am handy to have around, and to work effectively and collaboratively with the community. I have been given the opportunity by thankfully a few more votes than the last election, when it was a close-run thing, to be returned to this place. It did remind me, though, of what brought me here and the passion and the drive that led me to choose the calling of public life. I look back on what I said as some of my goals and reflected on my journey to this place 17½ years ago. There are not too many boys who went to school in the Pines that ended up in the nation's parliament.

Mr Frydenberg interjecting—

Yes, thank you, my friend, the member for Kooyong, for making a useful contribution there. Thankfully he was not suggesting that I was too short to be a hood or a roughnut and had to do something else with my life, but here I am. What inspired my effort was to try to communicate to all in the community I represent that your postcode does not determine your potential. We all have the capacity to learn, to grow and to gain insight and wisdom to succeed in this country. What drove me to offer myself as a candidate was that that belief needed to be more broadly shared. There are large sections of the community I represent that would not count themselves as being on the good fortune side of the street. Life can be tough, resources are not abundant. Good gifted people, who with the right support, the right encouragement and the opportunity to succeed, will make a good go of their life. What we need to do is encourage all of our citizens to reach for the ambition and the delicious possibilities that our country offers, and then support them to make those possibilities their own.

It was in that spirit that I was thrilled to be part of the team that offered the restoration of hope, reward and opportunity as our guiding light for this campaign. It was important because hope is precious. Hope is something that drives people to achieve worthwhile things—to get them out of bed in the morning; to believe that things will be better for the future and that they will play their part and benefit from those improved prospects; to believe that reward is something that recognises effort and enterprise, and that it is a just and deserved response to application and effect. That is a good way to motivate people. The reward might not be financial; it may well be a meaningful, fulfilling life; it might be the chance to help others. I know that is the kind of fulfilment that I and I am sure you, Mr Deputy Speaker, derive from work in this place.

Opportunity is important as well. There has to be a genuine belief that there is a chance to get ahead in life, to make more and to improve the prospects of your existence for those you love, those around you and your community. That hope, reward and opportunity drove the coalition, the Abbott team. It was diminishing and you could sense that. You could see that in my community, where unemployment figures were trending up and not down, where businesses were closing and not being opened, where people were wondering about how to protect what they had and not how to apply what we could perhaps bring to the table to open up new possibilities.

In that spirit of optimism and that things can be better, I am pleased that the electorate chose to support, in a majority sense, my re-election; that we together could work to build a stronger and more prosperous economy, not just nationally but in our own community. It is a wonderful electorate that I represent. It offers wonderful living standards—a place to live and raise a family, which was widely and consistently recognised as a strong point for the Dunkley electorate—matched by the prospects of a livelihood in our own community. We do not want to export our most productive citizens as they go elsewhere to earn a livelihood and to pursue their economic goals; we want to see more of that happening within our community.

We have the second great city in the metropolis that is Melbourne—the first being Melbourne—and we are the coastal city. We are Dunkley by the bay. It is a great place with great prospects for the future, and I am glad that the electorate responded so positively to that message and our plan to make those potentials ours, to turn them into reality.

It was interesting; the campaign was strange. I, as the somewhat weathered and long-term member, was the only candidate putting forward a local plan.

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