Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to be able to stand in this place for a third term of serving the good people of my electorate of Wright in the Gold Coast hinterland. It is a beautiful part of Queensland, an absolutely picturesque electorate, taking in Lamington National Park, the Gold Coast hinterland, and the glorious Tamborine Mountain and the surrounding communities that reside close to it.

Can I suggest that my electorate is extremely diverse in its outlook, ranging from some of the richest fertile valleys in the world—the seventh most fertile valley in the world by way of the Lockyer Valley—where we produce food, including vegetables, for the eastern seaboard and for the Australian table. We produce mostly vegetables in the brassica families: cauliflower, broccoli, corn—which is not a brassica—broccolini, onions, and carrots. We have country that can yield up to 20 tonnes an acre: potatoes, 20 tonnes an acre; onions, 15 tonnes an acre. It is such a beautiful and rich agricultural precinct.

Then you have the surrounding communities in the middle of it by way of the Fassifern Valley, with communities like Aratula. If you are ever driving on the Cunningham Highway from Brisbane to Warwick, never miss the opportunity to drive past the Aratula bakery and pull in and get yourself a beautiful Aratula pie, or to stop off at the Aratula butcher, which is always open on a Sunday, and pick up that Sunday family roast.

I am so proud and so privileged to be able to serve the people of Wright. This is my seventh year in this place. This is not just the result of efforts that I have made; it is a team effort that allows me to return to this place. In the seven years that I have had the absolute privilege of being able to serve the electors of Wright, I have learned that this place, the Australian parliament, is filled with some incredible talent on both sides of the House. It is unfortunate that too many Australians see the Australian political landscape only through the very short window of opportunity afforded when they witness the Australian parliament. Unfortunately, they make their decision on how we perform here by watching a snippet of what we refer to as question time. I can assure the Australian public and the electors of Wright that that is not the norm. That is happy hour. That is the theatre. It is the gladiatorial bluster that happens for the cameras.

The real work is done in the committees. The real work is done when the cameras are turned off. If only the Australian public could see the bipartisanship in this place and how much work actually gets done. I sit with the member for Scullin on the Joined Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. That is never going to be newsworthy when people sit and watch the work that we do, but we influence the direction of the country. If only people could see the work that gets done behind those closed doors and in some of the other committees, such as the Public Works Committee. Recently I tabled some documents in the House outlining no less than $1.3 billion worth of funding that we have invested in this country into refits for Public Service offices, whether it be for Defence, Immigration or other areas. It was all done in a bipartisan manner with the support of the government and the opposition and in conjunction with the Senate. That is how our parliament works. That is the truth.

But people are not going to back up to buy tickets to that. It is not sexy when they see the place working well. People back up to buy tickets because they want to see the gladiatorial blood on the ground in question time, and then they complain about the way that we perform. They complain and say that we are childlike and that if it were a school environment we would be punished for our behaviour—and rightly so. On the rare occasions that I have the opportunity to spend time with my constituents in a pub, it is a great leveller. They will often say, 'You lot are childlike.' They will say to me quite openly, 'You're a good bloke. We like the way that you work for us. You work hard. You get out of bed early. You go to bed late.' But, when they speak about politicians in the collective, the same people who hold you in high regard will group us all up and suggest that we have our noses in the trough and that we are less than trustworthy.

One of the challenges that I have, with the return on the investment for my time here, is to turn around the minds of a few people in my electorate so that they see that there are some incredibly talented people in this place. When you talk about politicians collectively, the first things that should come to your mind is 'incredibly hardworking and disciplined'. I will tell you that if you are not a hardworking politician you are not going to get re-elected. There is only one way to success if you are going to stick around this place, and that is: you need to get out of bed early, you need to go to bed late, you need to work weekends and you need to connect with your electorate. And if you do not do that, you will be treated harshly for it.

It is an absolute privilege for me to serve in this place. I walked up to the House this morning. It has a different ambience from driving up in your car. I was on the phone to my brother and I said to him, 'This is my seventh year in this place and when I walk to this place I am not filled with a sense of pride when I look up on a beautifully clear day and see our flag in full flight.' I feel an immense sense of pride not because the building I am going to work in is one of the most stunning pieces of architecture in Canberra. I am filled with a sense of pride because I know that, when I get to the dispatch box, whether it be in this chamber or in the other chamber, I can enter into a debate rationally, in a safe environment, without fear for my own safety, as every member in this place can do, and knowing that, hopefully, we are influencing the direction of this country to be in a better place tomorrow than it was today. That is the intention of all of us.

It is my hope that, as Australians, we get to break down the barrier of negativity around politicians. I would love a survey to be done or some statistics to be gathered on what we would actually get paid if we were to calculate an hourly rate and then to apply penalty rates and overtime to it; I would love to see what that hourly rate would look like! I would like to be on any hourly rate that anyone would nominate for me! But you know what? I am fortunate. I would probably do this job—no, I would; I would do this job for nothing. It is a privilege.

I do not know if I would want to do this job forever for nothing, because it takes an incredible toll on your family. The time that you, as a politician in this place, spend with your community is at the sacrifice of the time that you would spend with your loved ones: your daughter; your family; your brothers; your sisters. And I want to acknowledge the contribution that my family and my extended family make—including my mum.

I grew up in a very humble household, as one of four brothers and sisters. My mum ran a single-income household on a widow's pension. The other day I had the opportunity to take my mum into one of the air lounges in a capital city, and she thought she was a queen! I felt so privileged to be able to expose her to that, because, outside of a political life, we would never have had that opportunity. Yes, we used to fly a lot in our own transport operations, but never at the front end of the plane. So I suppose, coming from a humble background, you do appreciate the trimmings that this office holds.

Closer to my electorate, I am proud of some of the things that we are doing in the electorate. The largest piece of inland road infrastructure in Australian history is happening in my electorate as we speak: the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, a project worth well in excess of $1 billion. For many years, my electorate was saying: 'When is the range crossing happening? We are sick of hearing about it.' Now we are delivering it. Construction is underway. Dozers are working. We will have traffic on that road hopefully within two years.

The NBN is rolling out, and, again, the NBN was the child of the now opposition, then in government—

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