Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this address-in-reply. First, I want to acknowledge the great honour and trust that the people of Higgins have placed in me to be their representative, to represent their issues both big and small. It is an honour that I have been granted three times now and I am very, very conscious of the great responsibility that comes with this incredible honour.

The key function and task of our government will be to repair the nation's balance sheet so we again live within our means, as we did during the previous coalition government, the Howard-Costello years. We need to be able to turn the deficits into surpluses and to start repaying the debt so that our children and their children do not inherit a parlous economic situation where they are restricted in the services that are provided to them as a result of the financial mismanagement of their forebears.

One of the critical tasks for us in repairing the national balance sheet will be to encourage business to grow, invest and employ. One of the critical aspects here is to ensure that we have the right productivity-enhancing infrastructure available to us. This brings me to the first point that I wish to raise in the House today, regarding railway crossings in my seat of Higgins and the state of Victoria. While historically Melbourne has benefited from thoughtful planning, there remain 172 level crossings within the metropolitan area, as compared to eight within Sydney. Many of these crossings are positioned on Melbourne's busiest roads, adjacent to major arterials such as the Monash Freeway and the Dandenong Road-Princes Highway. These level crossings cause substantial delays to motorists, road based freight and road based public transport—15 to 40 minutes during peak times—while, at the same time, limiting growth in rail based public transport due to capacity constraints.

The Dandenong railway line currently serves over a million people in south-eastern Melbourne and is considered a key area for future population growth; it also serves industrial and commercial sites through to Dandenong and thereafter the proposed deepwater port of Hastings. Along the Dandenong rail corridor, within Higgins and bordering Chisholm and Hotham, the hands-down, single largest issue facing constituents on a daily basis is level crossings. It influences key decisions: where people will shop, where they will send their children to school and how they will access work.

The 2012 RACV Redspot survey ranks three Higgins level crossings in Victoria's top 10 worst sites for congestion. They are Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena, at No. 1; Koornang Road, Carnegie, at No. 4; and Burke Road, Glen Iris, at No. 5. Key stakeholders, including the RACV and the Committee for Melbourne, share the view with me that planning and investment, both public and private, are now required to ensure south-eastern Melbourne continues to grow.

In June 2013, I tabled a petition with 1,151 signatures which drew the attention of the House to the severe congestion caused by the regular closure of the level crossings along the Dandenong railway line and I asked at that time that parliament give greater priority to their removal. In total, there are 21 railway stations and nine level crossings in the electorate of Higgins. They are along the Dandenong railway line; Grange Road, Carnegie; Koornang Road, Carnegie; Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena; Poath Road, Hughesdale; along the Glen Waverley line; Glenferrie Road, Kooyong; Toorak Road, Kooyong; Tooronga Road, Malvern; Burke Road, Glen Iris; and High Street, Glen Iris.

The Victorian government's 2011 Infrastructure Australia submission, resubmitted in 2012 for the Nation Building Program, notes that the catchment area of this rail corridor contributed $92 billion in 2007-08, accounting for roughly half of Melbourne's GDP or nine per cent nationally. The Victorian government has sought support from Infrastructure Australia and the previous Commonwealth government for $30 million to enable initial planning and development work for the Dandenong rail upgrade, including the removal of its 12 level crossings, which would have the potential to lift rail passenger capacity by nearly 100 per cent—that is, 11,000 people per hour—and significantly reduce road congestion, as well as $16 million to enable planning for a broad-ranging level-crossing removal program across Melbourne.

In total the Victorian government is spending just over $418 million, but received nothing from the Commonwealth in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 federal budgets for level-crossing removal. I congratulate my state colleagues for focusing on this issue, after the failure of previous Labor governments that squandered the surpluses that they inherited and the GST windfalls that they also inherited—which they did not invest in this productivity-enhancing infrastructure. The Victorian coalition government is in the process of removing 12 level crossings, which is the largest number of level-crossing removals by any Victorian government in the state's history. In particular, I am pleased that the state has commenced planning for the removal of crossings at Burke Road, Glen Iris and Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena, both of which are within Higgins. The removal of a level crossing can cost up to $200 million. However, the need for varied solutions to level-crossing removals depends upon site opportunity and constraints as well as the need to explore private sector investment. There is also broad agreement as to the nature of this problem and the need for action. How these projects are to be funded remains less clear. There are varied funding options that should be considered, including private sector involvement—for example, in the development of air rights where appropriate. Importantly, though, the removal of level crossings is as much about road congestion as it is about rail. For this reason, I believe that it is important that Victoria receive its fair share of the infrastructure dollar provided federally through Infrastructure Australia.

The second issue which I wish to raise in the House this afternoon, in the time available to me, also relates to our economy and jobs. It is about job participation and increasing the participation of women, in particular, in the workforce. We know through the reports released by the Grattan Institute that if we can increase female participation in the workplace up to the same level as some of our OECD competitor countries, such as Canada and Germany, we will have an economic gain of up to $25 billion. What is standing in the way of this?

Affordable and flexible child care that is accessible to families is one of the key complaints I hear from constituents in my electorate of Higgins. Higgins is a much sought after area in which to care for and raise children. However, the previous Labor government made it more difficult to get affordable child care and local families are paying the price of the previous Labor government's legacy. Recent Department of Education figures indicate that childcare fees rose an average $70 per week over the six years of the former Labor government. On average, child care now costs over $3,000 a year more than it did before Labor came to power. There can be no doubt about the very real impact that this is having on family budgets. The June quarter 2013 Child care and early learning in summary report comes on the back of a recent review which found new regulations introduced by Labor added $2,000 in operating costs per child per year for an average sized long day care centre.

After speaking with childcare providers in Higgins, many have told me that the extra burden of regulation is unnecessarily forcing up costs and taking valuable time away from looking after the children. These costs are passed on to parents, many of whom query whether it is worth going back to work at all. However, it is not just formal long day care child care that has fared badly under the previous Labor government. I have visited many kindergartens and occasional-care centres in Higgins and spoken at length with families, staff and management regarding the increase in mandatory regulation that impacts directly on staffing, fees and access for families.

I have previously tabled a petition in the parliament with regard to the reduction in Take A Break occasional-care funding and hosted a forum with the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, in his former role as shadow parliamentary secretary for supporting families, the Hon. Jamie Briggs MP. All this has assisted to inform our understanding of the difficulties faced by the early learning sector and the very urgent need for change.

While our government has already started the process of reducing red tape, these new figures with respect to childcare fees back our decision to task the Productivity Commission to find a way to deliver more affordable, accessible child care in Higgins. All options are on the table and helping women stay in the workforce, or get back into the workforce, is something everyone in this House should support.

I turn to another issue which has been very significant in my electorate of Higgins—that is, community safety. Higgins is an electorate comprised of urban villages. Within those villages, law and order is definitely an issue of concern. In the western suburbs of Prahran, Windsor and South Yarra, which are home to the Chapel Street nightclub precinct, security issues do arise where entertainment and residential areas intersect.

I was particularly pleased when the Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott, then Leader of the Opposition, and the then Premier, Premier Baillieu, visited Higgins in August of 2012 to see firsthand the concerns of residents and to announce that federal funding for CCTV cameras in the local Chapel Street precinct was part of our $50 million funding for the coalition's Plan for Safer Streets. I was also very pleased to have the support of Inspector Adrian White from the Prahran Police Station, Oskar Cebergs from Chapel Street precinct, Justin Zakis, President, Lara Barry Residents Association, as well as local residents.

In total, $100,000 has been secured to increase security measures in this busy precinct and I am working with local government to ensure its smooth implementation. In addition, following a long and productive dialogue with residents, local businesses and traders in the south-eastern part of my electorate, it became clear that measures to improve security of persons and property would be welcome in the Carnegie area, a popular family-friendly cosmopolitan suburb. As a result, I was able to secure an additional $100,000 for Koornang Road, Carnegie, which has been warmly welcomed by the Carnegie traders and local businesses, along with residents.

While no-one would argue that CCTV and increased lighting will eradicate crime and anti-social behaviour, I believe they will form a deterrent and, if crime occurs, assist Victoria Police in apprehending those responsible.

Since these announcements the Ashburton traders have also expressed some interest in having closed-circuit television cameras in their High Street shopping strip and I am working with them to ascertain whether any future options exist for increased security measures there.

I now turn to an issue which is incredibly close to my heart, a very special organisation in my electorate of Higgins. This organisation does good work not only for those who reside in Higgins but also for those from throughout Victoria. It is aptly named Very Special Kids. It is an eight-bed children's hospice that provides planned and emergency end-of-life care, as well as flexible family support programs, including respite for families with children with life-threatening illnesses.

The organisation was established in 1985 after two local families recognised there was a need to support other families experiencing the loss and grief associated with having a child diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. Throughout this period, it has been championed by the founder and patron, Sister Margaret Noone, AM, and grown under the careful stewardship of a committed and talented board. Very Special Kids is not only Australia's oldest and largest children's hospice but also the only children's hospice in Australia to receive no federal government funding. The other two hospices—Bear Cottage in New South Wales and Hummingbird House in Queensland—receive substantial support from the Commonwealth government.

All Very Special Kids services are offered free-of-charge to families. It has an operating budget of just over $5.6 million per annum, 70 per cent of which is generated through philanthropy, with the remaining 30 per cent provided by the state government. However, in order to increase the occupancy of existing facilities and to increase the services to families in Melbourne and in rural and regional Victoria, Very Special Kids is actively seeking greater government support. The work Very Special Kids undertakes is truly important and difficult. In many ways, it is an organisation with which no family would wish to become familiar, yet so many Victorians are very grateful for the services and support they provide at the most difficult and challenging of times.

Very Special Kids has a very special CEO, Susan Hosking, and it is an organisation for which I have the utmost respect. I intend to do everything that I can humanly do to ensure it receives the support it needs to continue to provide its amazing services, not just to my constituents but to all Victorian families.

In the time remaining, I would like to raise the issue many people raised with me at the mobile office meetings I have held throughout the electorate during my four years as a member of parliament, an issue which I know will be challenging for this government—housing affordability. Higgins is very diverse in nature, with high-density inner-city living in the west and family-friendly suburbs in the east, all within a commutable distance of the Melbourne central business district. Despite some perceptions, it is very diverse in its demography. A third of Higgins residents were born outside Australia. While undoubtedly some people have significant means, Higgins also has a high percentage of people who live in rented accommodation, including nearly 1,000 who live in state housing dwellings. While the median weekly household income is $1,741, the median monthly mortgage repayment is $2,393; and the median price of a home in Carnegie is just under a million dollars at $935,000.

In addition, there are many residents in my electorate between the ages of 20 and 44—higher than the national average. This means that housing affordability remains a real concern for many homebuyers in my electorate. Higgins is a fantastic place to live and raise a family and, not surprisingly, when those children grow up they also wish to live in Higgins, close to their friends and family. I believe that there are things that we can examine, in this place, that can make it easier for people to have confidence in the current marketplace for residential property and to ensure that there is no distortion of the market for residential property.

Finally, it is indeed a great honour to be the member for Higgins and to represent the people of Higgins. I would like to thank all of those people who supported my campaign—in particular all of the volunteers who gave freely of their time. Ours is not a party that is of the union movement; it is a grassroots organisation and people need to give of their time in order for a campaign to be run. I would like to place on record my thanks to all those volunteers, over 800 of them, who helped out with the Higgins campaign, along with the wonderful Liberal Party members in my electorate led by Mark Stretton. I would also like to thank my staff, who every day do a tremendous job for me; my family, who support me no matter what; and especially my husband, John, who is on this wonderful journey with me. I look forward to being able to continue my engagement with the constituents of Higgins representing their issues. I have had, over the last four years, more than 200 mobile office meetings and more than 70 community forums. I pledge that in this term of parliament I will continue that very high engagement.

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