Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Three months since the election and what we have seen in that time is a coalition, despite promises of unity, that can only be described as chaotic, rudderless and deeply divided. Whether privatising Medicare payments, the backpackers tax or superannuation, what is clear is that this is a government that believes it can say anything to the Australian voters before an election and do the complete opposite after it. The Australian people were promised innovation and agility, but what they have received is more of the same. I want to talk about the electorate of McEwen, which I have been re-elected to represent. I have been entrusted by the many towns and communities across the big and beautiful seat of McEwen and I am incredibly proud to be given this opportunity, for the third time, to continue building on the community cohesion and the legacy of Labor values in our communities, as did the late Peter Cleeland.

As we all know, election campaigns are not a sole endeavour and I would like to thank some people who made it possible for me. First, to my ever supportive family, all of them, thank you. From my partner, the ever patient Lisa, and her siblings to my mum and my siblings—each and every one of you gave your all to help me continue the fight for our communities. To my staff during the election—the calm, the considered Adam Mara; Jeni Emmins; Gareth Jones; Renee Pope-Munro; Hailey Emmins; Gemma Saccasan; and Catherine Campbell—the clock never stopped and neither did you. With your passion, your humour and a team spirit, you kept me going. I value the intelligence and the care that you showed not just during the campaign but each and every day.

I would like to pay tribute to some Labor branch members and supporters in the McEwen team: my brother Santo Spinello, an amazing man; Mr Craigieburn himself, Spiro Pastras; Oscar Goodwin; Brad Stewart; Jamie Mileto; Sam Lynch; Jordan Casey; Emilia Sterjova; Jan Maplestone; Mikaela Sadkiewicz; Parvinder Sarwara; Jasvinder Sidhu; Nariner Garg; Cassandra Devine; Josh Raymond; Kylie Spencer; Sasha Nacovski; Cameron Moir; Sharon Wallace-Storm; Casey Nunn; Terry Larkins; and, of course, Big Andy. And there was the support from someone who has been a wonderful friend and always answers the call: Carmel Barrott and her family, thank you. We could not have done it without you. These are just some of the people. It is not an exhaustive list but an example and a testament to the team effort of our whole campaign—people who stepped up not just once but each and every day. In a long-winded campaign, they were there in numbers—rain, hail, sleet and sometimes almost snow.

I would especially like to thank the 300 volunteers who helped us throughout the election on election day. They took the time out of their own lives to talk to their friends, neighbours and fellow community members about why this election mattered, and I am so grateful and say thank you. We received the largest swing to a sitting member in Victoria and that is a great achievement and a testament to their work. I will continue to work tirelessly for the communities in McEwen, ensuring that the trust and the faith they have, again, placed in me will be justified.

The people of McEwen re-elected me as their voice and I will continue to ensure that that voice is heard. Yesterday, I spoke about the coalition government's burning desire to look after big business. It has shown the Australian people that it is full of rhetoric and empty slogans. Promises of innovation are just repackaged support for the big end of town, while the people of McEwen get left behind. Our communities have been hit hard by the policies and the budgets of the coalition government. This has left people concerned about the future of the local workforce, about access to quality schools and hospitals and about the lack of commitment to serving the expanding communities in the growing north. Since removing the member for Warringah, the current Prime Minister has made many empty promises about a change in direction. This talk has been shown to be cheap. Actions show us that nothing has changed within this government other than the messenger. We have seen course corrections, backflips, thought bubbles and gaffes, but very, very few substantive policies that will actually make a positive difference to the lives of most Australians.

The people in McEwen come from communities that span new suburbs and well-established rural communities, and their needs are just unique. Since the creation of the seat in 1984, it has maintained the status of a barometer, swinging between the two major parties and showing us the constant importance of having a deep understanding of the many communities it encompasses. We have always been a very marginal seat, due to the wide-ranging demographics. I am proud that at the election the people of McEwen saw fit to recognise my efforts in understanding the unique needs of our many communities and returned me to this House with the largest margin in the seat's history.

While taking in many rural communities such as Kilmore and Seymour, we are also home to some of the fastest-growing communities in Australia such as Craigieburn, Wallan, Sunbury and Mernda. That mix of rural and urban living means we have a community of over 130,000 who have seen firsthand the difference between a Turnbull government that talks and a Labor government that delivers. Under Labor, our communities saw community-building investment in health care, education, jobs, communications, infrastructure and community facilities. But it was clear during this year's election that the coalition government had no interest in continuing Labor's legacy of prioritising our communities.

Prior to the coalition forming government in 2013, Labor provided almost $30 million in funding for hospitals, health clinics and local health practices, directly improving the lives of the people in our communities. I have worked hard to advocate for local projects, and I am proud of our successes in projects like a proper NBN, with NBN fixed wireless being rolled out for small regional communities, and the Reedy Creek mobile phone tower, $800,000. That has been delayed by 12 months now due to the government's bumbling. Another fire season will go past and the people in these communities will not have mobile reception. We saw a $46,000 upgrade to the Sankey Reserve in Gisborne. Four hundred million dollars was invested for a national post-entry quarantine facility, including hundreds of ongoing jobs. There was funding for the Hanson Road traffic lights, $612,000; the roundabout at Oaklands Junction, $965,000; safety barriers on Oaklands Road, $935,000; Whittlesea Tennis Club lighting upgrade projects, $64,000; and roundabouts and guard rails on Yan Yean Road and Jorgensen Avenue, $1 million. I am proud of these many commitments to our community that we were able to secure, through important consultation with the community itself.

Commitments that we made during the recent election were: $90 million for the Bridge Inn Road duplication from Epping Road through to Yan Yean Road in Mernda-Doreen; $20 million for the Craigieburn Road duplication; $67 million for the O'Herns Road-Hume Freeway interchange; $900,000 for traffic lights in Whittlesea; $2 million for the much-needed global learning centre in Sunbury; $2 million for the Sunbury child health hub; and $1.4 million for Gisborne Oaks aged care. My commitment now to the people in McEwen is that I will continue to fight for these projects, as they are so important and their importance should never be contingent on having a Labor victory. It will be no mean feat, since, as I mentioned, this government has already demonstrated its ability to disregard its own promises and walk away from the people of Australia.

I would love also to hold this government to account for the promises it made to the people of McEwen via its candidate. Sadly its lack of concern and conviction was evident throughout the campaign this year, as it was at the last election. It was no more evident than when we looked at the funding commitment to the seat of McEwen by the coalition: $150,000 for the Sunbury Memorial Hall to be repainted. That was the entire commitment that we saw directly for the seat of McEwen. For an electorate like McEwen, which is experiencing so much rapid growth, to have been so roundly ignored by this government is a slap in the face.

The announcement by Senator Ryan was also the only time a senior Liberal member came to visit the electorate. Many drove through, but they never stopped. Such was the coalition's lack of interest in our community. I have had assurances from Senator Ryan that he has been in contact with another minister, although he did not name them, to discuss the implementation of this promise. I hope we are not seeing yet another delaying tactic. This is not an unreasonable concern for us given the complete disregard shown during the previous term of parliament to honouring commitments. The Sunbury community was hit hard by this government's hollow promises—broken promises to Sunbury like the Solar Cities program, a $300,000 promise that was never delivered, and the removal of $40,000 which forced the closure of the Sunbury PCYC, which was doing excellent work for our kids.

I have written to several members of the Turnbull government to ensure that they are held accountable for the promises made, that they give our commitments due consideration and that they consider the impacts of their decisions through these bills and what they mean for families. These include cuts to family payments, mortgage stress and the pricing out of families, and the impact of the failure of the NBN rollout. Even today we have seen examples in Wallan, where effectively everything that was put down has to be ripped up again because the copper wiring cannot deal with something called the weather. So when it is wet the NBN does not work. I have spoken many times about mobile phone blackspots and this government's failure to deliver mobile phone reception across communities which exceed all of the government's criteria. We see impacts on our communities due to Medicare privatisation and lack of funding commitments prioritising the northern growth corridor. The government should consider the coming impact of the closure of Ford and the lack of a succession plan for our workforces, with the impact on the 10,000-plus residents reliant on manufacturing and satellite industries. The government should protect rates of pay and liveable wages for our communities and ensure that banks are held to account for their unscrupulous decisions, which cost people their life savings.

We went to the election with positive plans and positive ideas. We put people first. As I said earlier, I am humbled and honoured to be re-elected as the member for McEwen. I said that I am here for our community, and I am. I am not going to stand by as the Turnbull government try to walk away from delivering for the people of McEwen. Even though it was a measly promise that they made, they owe it to the community to actually deliver. We cannot continue to see backflip after backflip by this government. It is time they stood up and delivered properly for the people of McEwen and kept their promises to all Australians.

See this speech in context