Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, it was 10 years since I was elected to this place as the member for Parkes in the Australian parliament. Ten years ago was the Kevin 07 Ruddslide election with 42 new members—34 new members of the Labor Party, seven new members of the Liberal Party and me from the National Party. A few of us are still here, but time hasn't been kind to some of the others.

It's very hard to reflect on 10 years in three minutes. It's been an enormous privilege to connect with communities in what is now 400,000 square kilometres—half of New South Wales. Some of the programs that we've got underway include the Dubbo cancer centre, so that people in western New South Wales will be able to have the treatment they need in their own area; a gate abattoir at Bourke that will provide not only industry but also employment for the people of Bourke; the Inland Rail—the 'Steel Mississippi' of eastern Australia—that will not only link Melbourne and Brisbane but also bring prosperity to the people of western New South Wales; and updating the Dubbo airport for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

In reference to the previous speaker, the member for Kingsford Smith, and the work we do to help our Aboriginal constituents, I represent more Aboriginal people in here than I do farmers. After the Northern Territory, I represent more Aboriginal people than anyone else. This year, 60 Aboriginal students did their HSC at Dubbo College Senior Campus and 14 at Moree, and boys were completing their education at Coonamble, Bourke, Brewarrina and Broken Hill and going into employment. Boys from Coonamble are working in construction on the WestConnex in Sydney—a real turnaround. Allowing and encouraging people from an early age to stay at school and making sure there is meaningful employment for them is important.

In the last 18 months, I've represented the city of Broken Hill and the communities of the far west like Tibooburra, White Cliffs, Wilcannia and Menindee. It has been a great privilege. We have been putting money into the Moree Lifestyle Academy so that we can connect with families at an early age, so that those children are encouraged from conception right through to adulthood. In my local area, the Warialda bypass is under construction. The fact is, we can deliver things and make a difference to our own community. There are far too many things to mention. You should measure your success not on things delivered but on the opportunities you provide for those that you represent. It has been a great privilege. They're wonderful people in my electorate and I look forward to representing them for years to come.

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