Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

It was an absolute honour just a few months ago to be sworn in as the member for Kingston in the 47th Parliament for the sixth time. I am very, very grateful and humbled by the confidence that my local community has again placed in me to represent them in this place. I remain deeply committed to listening to the views and priorities of my community and making sure that they have a voice in this place, as I have done for almost the last 15 years.

The previous speaker spoke about the privilege it is to be invited into people's lives and homes, and I have to say that I continue, every day, to be absolutely astounded by the graciousness and kindness shown to me by so many people who want to raise concerns, wish me luck or give me encouragement in this role. Through the election campaign it was no different and I continued to really appreciate the hopes and dreams of so many of my electors being shared with me. I can commit to them that I will continue to make sure that their hopes and dreams are not only shared in this place but that I work every day to realise those hopes and dreams for them.

Not only was it an absolute privilege to be elected as the member for Kingston again, but also it was a huge privilege to be elected as part of the Albanese government. During the election campaign, there was a lot of angst and a lot of frustration about the chaotic years of the former government. What came back to me, time and time again, is that the people in my electorate—and, indeed, people around Australia—wanted a plan for the future. They wanted confidence that decision-making would be based on evidence and consultation and done in the best interests of the Australian people. So I am very, very pleased that I have been not only re-elected but re-elected as part of the Albanese Labor government.

Through the most recent election the Australian people have chosen a better future, because our government will stand up for working people. We do want to provide secure local jobs and support Australians living with the challenges of the cost of living, particularly in the areas of child care and of medicines. These were some of the key issues that were raised through the election campaign. But of course, in addition, things like health and education were also regularly raised with me, and I am so pleased that our government had some serious commitments in these areas that will be delivered to the Australian people.

I would like to particularly congratulate our now Prime Minister on his election victory. I think his leadership, during the three years but also during the election campaign and since becoming Prime Minister, has really reinforced to me what good leadership is. In good leadership, you make decisions based on the evidence before you, but for the greater good—not about yourself, but for others. And I think he's shown that. He takes advice, he listens, but he also makes decisions that are in the best interests of the Australian people.

I have to say that, in the last few months, as I've gone around my electorate, one saying has seemed to come up over and over again, and it is: 'It feels like the adults are back in charge.' That is what my electors are saying to me. I can tell them that I, certainly, along with the government, intend to continue to make thoughtful, thought-out policy that delivers for them.

Of course, it's been wonderful to share this new parliamentary term with so many new members of parliament. I would particularly like to make mention of the new member for Spence and the new member for Boothby, who have joined us in this place from South Australia.

But it was an absolute privilege for me—during the election campaign, and in the lead-up, I must say—to go round and visit so many of our wonderful candidates. I was always in awe of the passion, the commitment and the drive that each and every one of those candidates on our side of politics had. Sometimes you forget just how hard it can be to balance an election campaign when it's not your full-time job. You don't have incumbency and you don't have the resources, but you go door to door and person to person, changing hearts and minds. It was such a privilege to join so many of our candidates right across the country. Whether they won or lost, the passion was there, the commitment was there and the values were there. It was an absolute privilege for me to join them.

Since the election, I've also been extremely humbled and proud to be appointed as Minister for Social Services. The portfolio of Social Services touches everyone's life in every corner of this country. When I got briefed about all the programs and payments, I found every single payment and program touched my community. That is the extent of the portfolio of Social Services. And every one of those programs has, I think, a very important mission, and that is to make a difference in disadvantage—to try and shift the dial when it comes to disadvantage to make sure that everyone in society gets a fair go and, of course, gets the opportunity to live a fulfilling life and participate in their community. So I take it as a huge privilege, and I'm very humbled that I am able now to contribute as the minister in this portfolio.

It has been a busy time since I've been in this portfolio. We have three pieces of legislation already in the parliament and another piece of legislation to be introduced this week. All of these things are incredibly important to delivering on our election commitments and making sure that we're supporting people when they need it. I would also note in my speech that there's a lot of work to do in my portfolio. There is a lot of work to do, and there are a lot of things that need careful attention. I really look forward to delivering on those as well, particularly the Draft National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. The previous 10-year plan came to an end in July this year, and I've certainly made it an absolute priority to make sure that we're getting on with the job of delivering that and bringing the country together to drive investment across the Commonwealth, states and territories in a way that makes a difference.

In addition, we have also delivered on our commitment to have a Jobs and Skills Summit, making sure that we are looking at some of the barriers to workforce participation. I would like to thank everyone that participated in the Jobs and Skills Summit. I'm a bit biased—I think that the panel that I convened was probably the best. That's not because I convened it, I might say, but because we had the lived experience of those that have faced barriers in the workforce: those that are carers, those that have been in out-of-home care, those that have been discriminated against because of their ethnicity and those that have a disability and have had artificial barriers. I think it was really powerful for everyone in that room to hear about those barriers and think about what we can do. Of course, we have already announced that we will introduce an extra work incentive bonus to support pensioners to take up more work. We've also announced that we will enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Business Council of Australia to look at how we drive some of those barriers away so that those living with a disability who want to work are able to fully participate.

In addition, we also looked at how we would support people with a disability in the visitor economy through the Visitor Economy Disability Pilot. This is a really important area, where many would recognise there are huge skills shortages, and there are those living with a disability that want to participate in these types of jobs and are looking at how we drive that.

We've also announced that we want to provide a framework to support employers become better places of work for those with caring responsibilities. Very clearly, at the Jobs and Skills Summit, we heard that there are people with caring responsibilities that do want to work. It gives them a feeling of purpose, in addition to their caring responsibilities. At times it makes them feel like they're contributing in a range of different ways, and making sure that happens is critically important.

We've been delivering on our election commitments, in my portfolio, but we've been delivering right across the election commitments. I would say this election was a significant call to arms for action on climate change. I mentioned this is my sixth term. I feel like I have been having this false debate about whether or not climate change is real. We on this side of the House have recognised it for a long time. In fact—I've said this many times in this place—I learnt about how climate change works at school. That shows how long this debate has been going on! But the fact that we have now had a resolution of this issue, that this government has a plan in place to deliver on what it said it would do to tackle climate change but also make sure that we see the jobs benefit that comes with it, is so important.

In my local area, and it always comes back to local politics, I look forward to delivering on a number of local commitments that I made during the election, particularly the investment in Flinders hospital. Flinders hospital is an important tertiary hospital that services my electorate. I might be a bit biased—I was born there—but it is a very important hospital and we are looking at how we invest in that hospital, along with making sure that we have an urgent care clinic that will support our community.

This was, at times, ridiculed by those opposite. In my electorate it was incredibly warmly welcomed, because people understood that you don't want everyone that needs to see a doctor having to turn up at the emergency department. Indeed, in the lead-up to the election campaign that was me: my son broke his arm. We tried not to go to the hospital. We tried to go to the GP clinic. Unfortunately, they couldn't do an X-ray of his arm. So after trying a number of options we had to go back up to the tertiary hospital and be added to the waiting list. His arm was broken, and he was quickly attended to after a wait. But we should have other healthcare options in our community.

We made commitments to ensure there was an on-off exit ramp onto Majors Road, critical in connecting the southern suburbs, particularly Hallett Cove, Trott Park, Sheidow Park and Flagstaff Hill, onto the Southern Expressway to make sure there's easy access both further into the south and to the north. We made commitments to Christies Beach High School and the All Saints primary school. These were really important to support them deliver a great education. There is our investment in the urban rivers of Pedler Creek conservation park, Serpentine Creek, Panalatinga and the Fountain Valley Reserve, important investments in our local urban environment. And there is investment in our playgroups, being very clear that the informal learning, as children move to formal learning, is critically important. Supporting parents and children around play is so important, and our investment in playgroups was widely welcomed.

As always—and we've heard it in first speeches, and I've said it many times in my addresses-in-reply—you don't get there on your own. We don't get their on our own. We are there on the backs of so many people who put so much hard work into our campaigns. There are so many people who once again bought into the Labor campaign for Kingston, so many people who worked so hard.

I wanted to single out a particular person to start off with: Jordan Mumford, who was my campaign manager. He is an exceptional young man who has a very bright future. He took on my campaign with gusto, with ideas, started to talk to me about direct messaging and tree messaging, SMS trees and a whole range of things. He brought modern into the Kingston campaign. Of course there are Ella Shaw, Kylie and Alastair Douglas, Caelin, Bonny, Nathan, Dante and Alex who also worked very hard. We had over 300 volunteers who contributed to the campaign with so much community support I can't name all 300 here right now, but I would like to recognise John Spur, Marc McEwen, Jeanette Forstein, Bill and Maxine Watson, Jim Phillips, Naomi Piper, John Gorsey, Bill Patterson, Vic Phyllis, Phil and Joe Giles, Jordan Fell, Chrissy Sales, Peter Czebowski, Fiona Broadbent, Della Price and John Nailor. They were really critically important and helped out so much.

We all have, if we have been in this place for awhile, some amazing staff, and my electorate office staff—and I've said this not just at election time but every day—put the people of Kingston first. They give the people care, give them support, give them help sometimes at their most difficult. And so I would like to acknowledge my electorate staff, particularly Esme Langie, Jordan O'Reilly, Grace Langville, Connor Watson, Alison Taylor—and, of course, in the portfolio area, I had some amazing support from Tara Ferte, Gemma Slevig and Owen Torpey, who worked incredibly hard to make sure that we had the platform in early childhood to convince the Australian people about.

I would also like to thank my good friend Josh Peak—and I'm so pleased that he is in the gallery right now—from the SDA union. He is the secretary of the South Australian-NT union. And I thank Sonia Romeo. Both of them are stalwarts of the union movement. Josh has brought a level of enthusiasm and inspiration to the retail union, and it's hard for most people to keep up. He has been an incredible supporter. He was an old campaigner many years ago but now is a great supporter, and I thank him and his union for that support along with Ian Smith, from the TWU; Peter Lamps, from the AWU; Nick Townsend, from the CWU; John Adley, from the ETU; Jason Hall, from the FSU; and Jamie Newlyn, from the MUA. In my final moments, I would like to say that the Labor movement has an industrial wing. We don't shy away from that. We believe that the rights of working people deserve a voice in this place, and I'm proud to have had the support of those unions.

Finally, the party machinery is so critically important. To people that work behind the scenes I would like to say a big thank you: Reggie Martin, who was the then state secretary of the ALP in South Australia and then passed it over to Aemon Burke, who has a huge future ahead of him driving the ALP in South Australia; Paul Erickson and, of course, Peter Malinauskas and the SA Labor team. As a newly elected government, our Premier was very supportive of the election of an Albanese government, because he knew you could do things better together.

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