Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Having spoken about that future, I must also thank those who have made my return to parliament possible. Key to my re-election is my greatest and most loyal supporter, my partner Lara Swift. With an intuitive sense of what needed to be done and the ability to get it done, she led my office brilliantly. I give a great vote of thanks to her as both my partner and my office manager.

I thank my mother, Connaught, who came from Sydney, as she does for all campaigns and worked long days leading up to the election, and my youngest daughter, Rebecca, for her tolerance and assistance in the campaign. She never makes me feel guilty for the time I have to spend on my duties. I also thank my oldest daughter, Emily, and her friend Hannah Spendlove for their work on election day. Emily, although just 15, is showing a great interest in campaigning and may be a booth captain in the future. Emily and Hannah put in some big days leading up to the election and I thank them greatly. I am very proud of both my daughters.

I also thank my office team: Bill Coghlan, Nick Dixon, Dame Krcoski and Lien Nguyen. Bill Coghlan has been with me for almost six years. Lien Nguyen, who helps me brilliantly with the Vietnamese community issues and a range of broader constituent matters, has done around five years with me. Also I thank Nick and Dame, more recent staff members, who helped greatly. I also thank my campaign chair, the Hon. Chris Ellison, and campaign treasurer, Richard Basham, for being there to make the campaign simpler and effective.

I also thank the members of the Cowan division of the Liberal Party for their help leading up to and on election day. A special thanks goes to those hundreds of supporters who had my signs in their front yard or on their fence. The issues were almost entirely that signs were being stolen or graffitied. I am pleased that on only one occasion did my opponents cause damage to property, but I am thankful the damage was not permanent.

I also thank the several hundred booth volunteers, captains and scrutineers, who put in long hours, much of it in the rain and storms on election day. There were many first-timers in all capacities. I thank them for their courage and efforts on the day.

When I think of those who did strongly support me I am eternally grateful. I have never had to pay international students and put them in red shirts, like my opponent has had to do in the previous two elections. I also would never countenance having toddlers handing out flyers, such as GetUp! did at the North Woodvale polling booth. Our opponents should remember that aggressive and loud browbeating of the voters is actually counterproductive. I am very proud of the integrity of my recruitment and the character and conduct of my volunteers. Once again I thank my volunteers for their efforts and exemplary conduct. I also note the efforts of Kieran Douglas and Bec McInnes, who are ever reliable and solid young volunteers. I can always depend on them.

I would like to turn now to the factors that caused the change of government in the 7 September election. I believe that the people of Cowan voted for me because they know I am dedicated to their best interests, and that they voted for the Abbott coalition government because we will restore hope, reward and opportunity to this nation. Those on the other side like to talk about disunity as the reason for their being voted out of government. At various times they talk about issues between former prime ministers, leaks and backgrounding as if their internal problems were the only causes of their demise. Yes, we know that former Prime Minister Rudd was difficult to work with and, together with concerning polls, was why the Labor Party got rid of him in 2010. Those such as the now Leader of the Opposition helped dispatch Prime Minister Rudd in 2010. In the face of depressing polls, he dispatched the next prime minister some weeks before the last election. He therefore played Brutus to two Caesars. Would that the soap opera of the Labor Party could be the quality of a Shakespearean play; while it has had both tragedy and comedy, it is really more soap opera than art.

While the director of federal Labor and those opposite may feel that it is convenient to attribute their demise solely to internal fighting, the reality is that, while people have grown weary of the betrayal and intrigue of Labor, the betrayal was not just internal; it was also a betrayal of the Australian people. Of course foremost among the betrayal of taxpayers was the carbon tax that was guaranteed not to be before the 2010 election. But let us also remember every budget bottom line announced by the former government was always worse than what was originally announced. There were promises and announcements and even flyers about surpluses, but none of it was true. It is little wonder that the Australian people deplore both the internal machinations of the former government and the absence of its credibility. For years now the voters of Cowan have approached me on the streets and in shopping centres, sporting grounds and even said to me at their front doors that they wanted change—not only because of internal Labor divisions but also because of its repeated and comprehensive policy failures.

Of those issues, dealing with the illegal arrivals by boats was very big. I know that it is customary for the noisy, strident and left-wing minority to allege that anyone who talks about those arriving by boats is a racist or a bigot—which is, of course, not true. Those who speak against the boats do not talk about race or colour, but in an attempt to marginalise opposing views the left make allegations so that they can bully and intimidate opposing views. Sanctimony and dogma are the tools of the minority; the majority of Australians oppose the boats because, when the facts are revealed, those who come by boats are not the most deserving of a future in Australia, not when they have the money to bypass the system. The vast majority of Australians acknowledge that we have a responsibility to take in refugees and they merely want those who are in most need and those who can fit in well so that they have the best chance of success.

The silent majority are not anti-refugees, and there is no fear or hatred such as the noisy strident minority view suggests. It is not racism, but it is a legitimate concern about the lack of integrity in our immigration system orchestrated by the abject failure of those opposite. It is about a weakness in the system established by the former government where there was doubt about exactly who was being accepted here. People did not like the special deals or the lack of action against those who abused the facilities provided by the Australian taxpayers. The lack of gratitude demonstrated by lawlessness was found to be particularly irksome by so many of my constituents.

On a related point, all would be aware of recent commentary in the media about persons holding Australian citizenship going to train for war and fighting as a mercenary or volunteer in Syria. Several years ago I spoke in parliament with reference to those who had been granted Australian citizenship as refugees only to travel to places like Yemen to undertake terrorist training. Those people represent a great threat to the security of this country. Similarly, we should view anyone who travels to Syria to take up arms with great suspicion. When people raise their right hand and make the oath or affirmation of citizenship it does actually mean something. When they say they pledge their loyalty to Australia and its people and that they will uphold and obey our laws, their pledge to this nation is broken when they take up arms and attribute that to some religious authority. I therefore encourage the immigration minister to examine the options of the withdrawal of citizenship for those who break their pledge to Australia. I appreciate the difficulties to ascertain the facts, but for those who already hold the citizenship of another nation and who break faith with this country through crime, then they should be held accountable and the withdrawal of citizenship should be an option. I supported this option before I was elected and I support it now.

Anyone who reads my speeches will know of the consistent themes that I pursue. I believe very strongly in this country and its achievements and I believe that the success of this country is entirely due to its commitment to Western democracy based on Judaeo-Christian principles. It is my view that there is no better nation in the world than Australia and there is no stronger and more positive or effective system of government than our democracy. If we believe anything else then we are failing in our duty to those who live here now and those who will follow us, because we will not leave them with the nation we ourselves were given. This is a reality that we must embrace.

Each night and day we should listen to the news and take notice of the economic, governmental, social and cultural failures that afflict so many nations around the world. We should not be afraid of looking at those nations and drawing from their experiences validation for what Australians and English-speaking Western cultures have created here in just over 200 years. Unfortunately, the situation we face is that some Australians are not happy unless they can find something in our history that we can cringe about or something which we want to express regret about.

It seems that in our attempt to express respect for the minority cultures of those who have immigrated here we now struggle to express confidence in the majority culture because this is seen somehow as some conflict. We should be unwilling to write ourselves off so quickly when those who have immigrated here are examples of a ringing endorsement of what we have achieved. That is the answer to why so many have come here or wanted to come here, people from non-English-speaking or non-Christian countries. Very simply it is because where they came from was not as good. If it was, then they would not have come; it is a fundamental truth. If New Zealand had the opportunities Australia had, then so many Kiwis would not be here. If England or Ireland had the weather, the opportunities or the lifestyle of Australia, then the English or Irish would not have come. It is simple. If there had not been wars in Europe—World War II and wars in the Balkans—or the hardships of post-war Europe, then so many would not have come from south-east Europe.

If there was a functioning democracy in the Middle East, apart from Israel, or an economy of any strength that benefits the majority of people in the Middle East then there would be stability and so many would not be wanting to leave. Similarly in Africa, there are very few democracies that actually serve the people and the nations are generally defined by corruption, instability, conflicts, crime, low levels of development and often sectarian violence. It is not rocket science why people want to come here. They come because this nation represents the good governance, the strong democracy, the strong economy that provides opportunities to succeed. Success has come not because of luck, but because Australians have worked with the opportunities they have found and have not been held back by the political, economic, religious and cultural failures of other nations.

A friend originally from Africa said to me recently, 'We wanted to bring the good things to Australia with us and leave the bad behind.' This is of course the positive attitude that identifies the truth that I speak of. My friend knows that the rule of law, the strong democracy, the strong economy and of course the opportunity to succeed that does not rely on your religion, your family, the colour of your skin or your gender are the factors that speak to immigrants. The words are that you and your children can be safe, can get an education and can get jobs.

In 2011, I had the opportunity to visit the nation often called the 'cradle of democracy', Greece. I was in a high school and spoke to a class in the same way I do to students in my electorate. Among the many things I said, at one point I said to them, 'One day one of you could be Prime Minister.' For the first time at any school, a teacher later said to me, 'That can never happen in Greece, because prime ministers always come from the same families.' That experience made it clear to me that, while we should respect other nations, we should never show deference for no reason. The concept of democracy may have originated in Greece, but we have passed them by and we should be proud of what we have here.

When I attend citizenship ceremonies, I am always proud of this country. I remind myself of the fact that every person that comes here is an endorsement of what makes this country the land of opportunity. If the countries of these immigrants were better, then they would not have come here.

So much is said about a multicultural society. When I look at minority cultures and their value, I see cuisine, music and colourful dress but, above all, a good attitude to hard work and the value of education, along with other aspects that are embraced and relished by the wider community. These things add to the mix. Yet when I think on what my African friend said about leaving the bad things behind, then I see that there are some parts of minority cultures that we should reject as being unacceptable. Corruption and nepotism, elites based on families, religion or other hierarchical arrangements in the homeland should be rejected. The different treatment of the genders in clothing, education or opportunities et cetera should also be rejected. These are not modern concepts or the marks of a modern or successful society and we should not be afraid to call them retrograde cultural characteristics. These of course are some of the reasons that contributed to the substandard situation in the old countries that people wanted to leave. We should also be prepared to reject the claim that religion justifies these failed cultural elements.

Above all we should focus on making sure those that legitimately come to Australia have the opportunities they seek. As I said, their opportunities are held back if they want to live under the same retrograde circumstances or cultural themes that held their old country back. That is why it is our duty to not accept or tolerate these low-standard cultural characteristics, because, if we do, then we tolerate people living in a parallel society. A parallel society is where we tolerate the problems which denied men and women the opportunities to achieve in their old country. Leading in this is the need to insist that immigrants speak English. No interpreters should be provided beyond the first year of a person living in Australia, as English language classes are provided at a cost to the taxpayers and they are enough to achieve proficiency. We should also be on guard against any further culture of entitlement, a sense that society owes anyone a living for doing nothing or that procreating is something that society should have pay for to such a degree that it is seen by some as an alternative to paid work. It is not a cliche that, if you do not pay for it, you do not value it. We must also reject any differences in the rights, responsibilities and standing of the genders.

This country has a history of success that was built on hard work in a harsh climate, a success that was not built by people standing around waiting for the dole or freebies provided by those that do work and pay their taxes. The success of Australia was achieved because Australians, of whatever background, saw that their future depended on what decisions they made and the amount of effort they put into their education and work. It is true for anyone that, if something goes wrong in our lives, it is wrong to look firstly for someone else to blame or try to judge society, when the first step must be to look in a mirror and ask ourselves what part we played ourselves in the situation.

Our duty is to pass on the best country that we can to those that follow us, and a failure to do so is a failure in that duty. We must acknowledge that there are other countries that have failed or been dragged down by negative cultural traits. So much have they been damaged that people want to leave and seek a better life. We should provide that better life by rejecting those substandard themes. If we tolerate people bringing the failures of their homelands to Australia, they will end up being no better off and, by us accepting failed cultural traits, we will also drag down the success that previous generations of Australians have achieved for us.

Once again I would like to thank all those who assisted me in my re-election for this my third term: my office team, Lara, my mother, my daughters, my campaign team and my volunteers. While I alone do the doorknocking, there is more to winning than just that. Each of us needs a lot of help and I will always be grateful to those who did come and lend a hand.

I would just like to finish by saying that my view of my position, my role, as the member for Cowan is clear. I am here for one purpose only and that is to help my constituents and to make their lives better. It is not about me; it is always and will always be about them. They have stories to tell. They have challenges to overcome. There are complexities in their lives that I do not have in my life. Yet when I speak to them I better understand how this country is made up. Problems and challenges are part of it and also success and achievements—bravery, courage, yes, but also weakness and frailty. In every suburb in Cowan there are different stories—things that need to be spoken about and things that need to be fixed. That is why I am here, and I will remain forever committed to the people of Cowan and to this great nation, the best country in the world, Australia.

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