Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to have the opportunity to continue my comments on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Youth Jobs Path: Prepare, Trial, Hire) Bill 2016. I actually was not going to speak on this bill but I heard the member for Lalor talk about the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. It is actually a true story based on an American gentleman named Chris Gardner. He was born in 1954 to an underprivileged background. His childhood was racked with poverty, domestic violence, alcoholism and family illiteracy. In his late 20s he found himself in jail. Coming out of jail with no experience, no college education, no degree and no connections, he took on an internship, which is what this legislation is all about. He took on an internship at a stockbroking firm to learn the ropes. He realised that with that background, without having an education, he had to strive harder, work harder and work smarter. He had to use his time as best he could. They say he was the first to arrive at work and the last to leave, even though he was unpaid on an internship.

Eventually, he got a job. He then went on to work for another broking firm and then took the risk of breaking out on his own. With $10,000 in capital and the only piece of furniture being a single desk, he started up his own broking firm, called Gardner Rich. The rest is history. He went on to have a net worth today of over $60 million. He made his first million dollars by the age of 34 and, to celebrate, he bought himself a black Ferrari previously owned by Michael Jordan.

He owns a multimillion dollar apartment in Chicago's Trump Tower, and President-elect Trump has said of Chris Gardner that his story is a tremendous lesson in tenacity. He has also recently written a book titled Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. One of the chapters is 'Learn the ropes first, then conquer Rome'. The story of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, the true life story of Chris Gardner is something that should be held up as an example of entrepreneurship, of tenacity and of hard work, and the reason that having internships is such an important part of our economy.

If Chris Gardner were here I am sure he would speak of the importance of internships and the importance of this coalition policy. We know what those in the Labor Party have. This is to the young Chris Gardners out there today in Australian society who will take advantage of this policy to get themselves an internship, to lift themselves up and create a success of their lives. To think that the Labor Party is going to vote against this, well, it tells us everything about the modern Labor Party. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context