Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Before I call Mr Symon, I remind honourable members that this is his first speech. I therefore ask that the usual courtesies be extended to him.

Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. May I congratulate you on your election to the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. I am sure both sides of the chamber would agree that you have brought an immediate professionalism and style to the job.

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land upon which we stand, the Ngunnawal people. As a new member of parliament, can I say that it was very moving and special to witness the formal apology delivered to the stolen generations as the first item of business in the 42nd Parliament. I would like to add my voice to the apology to the stolen generations and say sorry for the harm that has been done to our nation’s Indigenous people over so many years.

I would like to thank the electors of Deakin for voting for a change and listening to our positive campaign message throughout the election period. I was fortunate to be able to meet and talk to so many different local community and sporting groups during the eight months of campaigning, to present our policies and listen to their views. Like so many of the people I met during that time, I have lived in the area my entire life because I like its environment and because it is a great place to raise a family, just as my parents did.

My parents came to Australia as immigrants from England in 1957, just two of the 41,439 settler arrivals from the UK and Ireland in that year. For the first few years of life in a new country they lived near the city in Melbourne and eventually settled in the then semirural suburb of Bayswater in 1962. My father, Denis, worked as a paymaster on the other side of Melbourne for many years, without a car, and my mother, Sally, stayed at home to look after me and my sister, Fiona. I sincerely thank them both for their dedication to their respective jobs and hope that I will always share their ethics of hard work and honesty.

To my lovely wife, Cheryl, and my two wonderful daughters, Jessica and Angie, I thank you the most for having the understanding of and patience with me as I went out campaigning night after night and spent the weekends at work for good measure. Your support, more than any other, spurred me on to do my best.

I would also like to thank all of the unions who contributed in so many ways to helping out on the Deakin campaign. Without the resources and members on the ground, the result at the last election may have left me unemployed. My union, the Electrical Trades Union, encouraged and supported me throughout the campaign. I would especially like to thank the southern states branch secretary, Dean Mighell, and the assistant secretary, Howard Worthing, along with all the organisers, shop stewards and office staff, for their help, advice and on-the-ground support. Tim Stephenson, Andy Di Mieri, Joe Yousef, Trevor Darwell, Danny Timmers and Wes Hayes deserve a special mention for their efforts. I would also like to thank the ETU National Secretary, Peter Tighe, and ETU Assistant National Secretary, John Ingram, for their support in the campaign.

The plumbers union also helped out in so many ways. I would like especially to thank the secretary, Earl Setches, for sharing his extensive local political knowledge and the assistant secretary, Tony Murphy, for organising his members to help out on an almost daily basis. Kevin Bracken, the state secretary of the MUA, provided generous support and arranged for retired MUA members to help out during the working week when our campaign office was always light on for help. Joan Doyle, the state secretary of the CEPU P&T division, helped organise professional letterboxers for me in the form of posties, who volunteered their weekends off to deliver letters for my campaign. Thank you also to the UFU secretary, Peter Marshall, and all of the fireys who helped out on the campaign.

I would also like to especially thank Bill Oliver and Tommy Watson, assistant secretaries; Ralph Edwards, president; and organisers Gareth Stephenson and Bobby Mates of the CFMEU Construction and General Division in Victoria for all of their support in so many different ways throughout the campaign. I thank Dave Noonan, CFMEU National Secretary, for his union’s staunch support. I would also like to thank Steve Dargavel, Victorian Secretary of the AMWU, for his union’s excellent support of the ALP campaign in Deakin.

May I also thank the ASU, AWU, CPSU, HSU, NUW, RTBU, SDA, TCFUA and any other unions which I may have forgotten to mention. The Victorian Trades Hall Council and its secretary, Brian Boyd, deserve a special mention for encouraging unions to help out in Deakin and organise local campaign events. I would also like to thank the ACTU and its leadership of Sharan Burrow and Greg Combet, who is now, of course, the new member for Charlton.

I particularly thank all the ACTU constituent unions and their members for all the years of hard work that was put into the Your Rights at Work campaign in the community and amongst the combined union membership. I would especially like to thank Linda Cargill and all of the many hundreds of local Your Rights at Work campaigners who spent more than two years rallying opposition to the Howard government’s extreme workplace laws on the ground in the seat of Deakin. Your community campaigning and grassroots message delivery certainly made a huge difference in the final outcome.

The Deakin campaign was blessed to have the help of people from all walks of life and with diverse skills and talents but all with an absolute passion for change. I cannot possibly thank all of the many hundreds of volunteers who helped out on the campaign, but I shall name a few who worked way beyond any asking and helped hold the campaign office together for nearly six months. Ray Jackson, Erryn Glover, Michael Howe, Greg Napper, Daniel Simpson, Lesley Keppert, Glenice and Michael Freeman, Terry Smart, Ralph Curnow, Ian Holmes, Stan Smith, Scott Dare and Antony Kenney: thank you all for your terrific contributions.

I could not have won the seat of Deakin without the fantastic dedication shown to the task by my campaign director, Pauline Richards. The sheer level of organisation to keep the campaign running smoothly probably needed three people to do the work, but Pauline kept going right through to the declaration of the poll and beyond. I particularly note her ability to organise last-minute but extremely successful campaign events. It is a very stressful part of campaigning, but every single one of them was fantastic. Also, a big thankyou to Nathan Murphy for organising all of the backroom parts of the campaign, especially the bulk mail-outs; Graeme Watson for organising signage and transport; and Andrew Cameron for his work on the campaign database.

I would like to thank the Blackburn South, Mitcham and Ringwood ALP branches and all of those members from the Blackburn branch who helped out on the campaign. The task of winning an election without local support would be nigh on impossible, and there is no substitute for local knowledge. My thanks also go to the ALP Clayton South branch for their wonderful support during the campaign.

I would also like to acknowledge the support of the Victorian ALP—in particular, the secretary, Stephen Newnham; assistant secretary Kosmos Samaras; and the campaigns officer, Daniel Gerrard. Thank you also to federal MPs Alan Griffin and Anna Burke, and Senator Gavin Marshall, along with Victorian state MPs Kirsty Marshall, Tony Robinson, Shaun Leane, Brian Tee and Craig Langdon. The advice and support that all of you provided was invaluable and freely shared. I would also like to acknowledge the support and valuable advice of former Victorian MLA Peter Lockwood and former Victorian MLC Pat Power. Thank you also to Young Labor. Grant Poulter and Liam O’Brien organised hordes of very keen and active volunteers to give up their weekends and assist the campaign with doorknocking and street stalls on many occasions. I would especially like to acknowledge the only previous Labor member for Deakin, John Saunderson, who held Deakin for an 18-month period in the first term of the Hawke Government. Like me, John Saunderson also had a union background, his union ultimately becoming a part of the CEPU, just like mine.

For much of its history, Deakin has been a rural seat, originally covering an area that included Wallan, Seymour, Mansfield and Warburton. Over the last 71 years, the boundaries of the seat of Deakin have shifted so far that the original area is now almost foreign to the current electorate. What was once a completely rural seat is now a completely urban electorate, and the needs and aspirations of the community have changed accordingly. Due to the ever-changing boundaries, I was also born in Deakin. Back in 1965, Deakin covered Box Hill, but that suburb is now, of course, in the electorate of Chisholm.

In my time as a resident of Deakin, the seat has always been marginal but in every election from 1984 until now has always just managed to avoid having a Labor member installed. I have lived in the area covered by the modern-day boundaries of Deakin for over 23 years and in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne for all of my life. I have seen market gardens and orchards give way to residential and commercial development that has seen Deakin become a favourite area for working families to settle. In that time, I have seen the suburbs in the eastern end of the electorate grow in both population and demand for services. Infrastructure has not kept pace with this demand over the years, and much more needs to be done by all levels of government in the provision of roads and public transport. Major road projects such as the Springvale Road grade separation have been ignored over the last 11 years whilst the Howard government engaged in finger-pointing without fixing the problem. Labor has provided a practical solution, with a funding commitment to work with the state government and get traffic in the suburb of Nunawading moving again.

Deakin has a large proportion of two-car households, as for many people there is no realistic alternative for travel for work, shopping or leisure. With suburbs up to 30 kilometres out from the city, many households face petrol bills of $100 per week or more, and the price of petrol is a constant topic within the electorate. I certainly welcome the appointment by the Rudd government of a petrol commissioner and believe that this will help hold down the price of petrol for the many people for whom a car is the only practical means of transport.

Whilst still at high school in Bayswater, I had to make the decision that all students face: what sort of career did I want? I must say that, in 1981, I certainly did not even think about a career in politics. I was instead thinking about what sort of job would not be taken over by a computer sometime in the future. After much thought, I chose to become an electrical mechanic, and I was fortunate enough to obtain a position as an apprentice at CW Norris and Co., a large electrical contractor in west Melbourne. I had a very varied apprenticeship, working in all types of industries, including construction, petrochemical, maintenance and many other areas. This variation of work continued after my apprenticeship was complete and included working on ships and offshore oil rigs and in computer centres and retail developments across Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.

When the company was hit by the downturn in the industry in 1983, I, along with the other 40 or so apprentices, was placed on a week on, week off, job-sharing arrangement so that none of us were sacked. As a second-year apprentice, this meant that my weekly wage of $140 at the time was literally cut in half. This lasted for six months and times were tough. There were no other jobs for electrical apprentices around, and so I had to wait it out until the industry picked up again. This was but an early introduction to the tenuous nature of employment in the construction industry. Many workers in this industry to this day are on hourly or daily hire, with the rest being on weekly hire or subcontractors. It is an expected hazard to be laid off whenever a project is getting close to completion. Unemployment is an occupational hazard of the industry, and I have spent periods of up to six months looking for work, due to downturns. Whilst the pay is good when you are employed, your savings do not last long when the bills keep coming in.

Worse than this is the all too frequent experience of builders or their subcontractors declaring insolvency or being declared insolvent without notice. Far too many times workers are left severely out of pocket when secured creditors’ claims are placed ahead of workers’ entitlements. Annual leave, superannuation, long service, redundancy, lieu of notice and even unused sick leave can all be gone in the blink of an eye. The Howard government’s scheme, GEERS, has only provided limited relief for affected workers, and, after all the spin and waiting months for payments, workers were always left out of pocket.

I see a role for government in providing security of entitlements, and I would encourage consideration of a national scheme that banks workers’ entitlements to protect them from corporate collapse. Many innovative solutions have been implemented by all parties in the construction industry to protect workers’ entitlements over the last 25 years. The introduction of portable long-service leave, superannuation and severance schemes have done much to protect workers’ entitlements in the construction industry, and I would encourage both unions and employers to consider similar schemes for all other industries.

Without award and EBA provisions to limit casualisation, I am quite sure that most workers in the construction industry would only be hired as casuals. Australia now has the second-highest rate of casual employment in the OECD, with a rate of 27.3 per cent back in 2002. I suspect that has grown significantly since the introduction of Work Choices and the further stripping away of workers’ rights and conditions. The ABS’s Year Book Australia 2006 notes that there were two million casual employees in Australia in 2004 and, of these, 55 per cent had been with their employer for 12 months or more. As we all know, casual workers have no annual leave, sick leave or job security, and many suffer greatly in between periods of employment.

Very early on in my working career, I saw the benefits of belonging to a union. In the construction industry that I worked in, those in unions worked on large jobs with good wages and conditions, such as site allowances and rostered days off, whilst those outside this area were often stuck on paid rates awards and no more. I have been a member of the Electrical Trades Union for 24 years now. It would have been a bit longer but for the attitude from the tradespeople I worked with as a young apprentice. When I asked about joining in 1982, the response was one of indifference or negativity. I found it somewhat strange that the people I had asked said that I should not join, yet they were in fact members themselves. I eventually managed to join, some 18 months after starting my electrical apprenticeship, and have remained a member ever since. I am very happy to say that those attitudes have changed and, for many years now, apprentices have been welcomed into unions with open arms.

I have been employed as an organiser, projects and political officer with the union for several years at different times and have always been amazed at the sheer amount of hard work that everyone would put in week after week, year after year. For most of this time, however, I was employed on site, for many years as a shop steward looking after the interests of members on the job. During this period I developed an interest in occupational health and safety, having seen the terrible results of building site accidents and poor work practices over many years.

After many long years of part-time study I finally received my diploma of occupational health and safety. I would specifically like to acknowledge the guidance and support of the CFMEU Victorian branch training unit, Allan Mulveena from the ETU and Incolink.

I also worked for a couple of years as a compliance officer for the Protect severance fund in Victoria. My role was to ensure that employers paid entitlements in a timely manner on behalf of their workers into the fund. This job required a huge amount of time and effort but came with its own rewards in ensuring that workers received their legal entitlements from employers that could then be accessed on termination.

I joined the ALP in 1997 as a reaction to the Howard government’s attacks on the wages and conditions of Australian workers. Not too long after this the MUA-Patrick dispute was brought on by the Liberal government and I, along with many thousands of others, joined in the community protest in Melbourne. Firstly at Webb Dock and then also at Swanson East dock I saw firsthand the difference between Peter Reith’s depiction of wharfies and the real thing—workers through and through, sacked without notice and left to wonder how to pay the mortgage, pay the bills and support their families. And as we now know, the MUA-Patrick dispute was just the beginning of the Howard government’s long war on workers, reaching its dreadful pinnacle with Work Choices.

I believe that the effect of Work Choices was the number one election issue in Deakin. At street stalls so many people would want to talk about how they or their friends or children had been ripped off by John Howard’s laws that sometimes I would have to go over my allotted time. I met many people in my campaign travels who had lost overtime rates, public holidays or shift allowances through being forced onto take it or leave it AWAs.

The concern of Deakin residents over the effects of climate change, and the disbelief that the Howard government would not acknowledge reality, was also a frequent topic of discussion. It was an example of just how stale and out of touch the Howard government had become. Cost of living issues regarding mortgage and rental stress, the price of groceries and petrol, the cost of education as well as access to good affordable child care were also of concern to many residents, as was the concern over the lack of infrastructure investment. With a large percentage of residents over the age of 65 there was much concern voiced over aged care and pensions, and access to health care and hospitals. Labor’s policies to provide more funding for hospitals and dental health along with an increased number of aged-care beds were especially well received. And, of course, Kevin Rudd’s vision for an ‘education revolution’, underpinned by a comprehensive plan for a world-class national broadband network, was equally well received by the many working mums and dads of Deakin, who care above all else about the future of their children’s education. For these reasons the people of Deakin were a true barometer of the issues that were important to the nation during the election and still very much are today.

Of course, there are many more vital issues that confront us as a nation than those I have mentioned so far. The skills shortage and training gaps that affect our nation’s capacity now will not be solely fixed in the long term by the continued importation of skilled labour under 457 visas. There is merit in importing labour as a temporary measure, but training more Australian workers and encouraging permanent migration in areas of skills shortage will have long-term benefits for our nation. What we as a nation should be doing is encouraging retraining and up-skilling programs not only for the unemployed but also for those already in unskilled or semiskilled jobs. Encouragement and support of adult apprenticeships by state and federal governments would help reduce this shortage over time.

In conclusion, I look forward to being an active part of a Rudd Labor government with fresh ideas for Australia’s future. I look forward to ridding Australian workplaces of Work Choices and allowing workers and their unions the right to collectively bargain and organise together without the threat of unfair dismissal. I look forward to supporting ways of increasing the types and use of renewable energy to help combat climate change and to investigate and implement cheaper renewable alternatives. I look forward to meeting the challenge of reducing carbon emissions by setting realistic targets that will show the rest of the world that Australia is pulling its weight. I look forward to ensuring that children at government schools receive the best education possible through improved investment in learning. I look forward to supporting and increasing the number of trade apprenticeships. I look forward to working cooperatively with the Victorian state government and the two local government authorities in my electorate, Whitehorse and Maroondah city councils. I look forward to supporting a republic so that Australia may one day have an Australian head of state. And I will keep listening to the electorate and acting on issues that will improve the lives of people in Deakin and Australia as a whole. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Before I call the member for Moreton, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech. I ask the House to extend to him the usual courtesies.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, Mr Speaker, may I congratulate you on your new position. You showed kindness to me on the first occasion that we met, and I am hopeful that this kindness will continue should the need arise—although that is very unlikely! I stand here beneath our radiant Southern Cross in this magnificent people’s building, below our coat of arms, very aware that I am a long way from the banks of the beautiful Balonne River. Nevertheless, I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land where I was born, the traditional owners of the Moreton electorate where I live and the traditional owners of the land here on which I stand. I thank them all for their continuing stewardship and was heartened last week to be welcomed here by Matilda House and her people. I also acknowledge the eight previous members who have represented the Federation seat of Moreton: James Wilkinson, Hugh Sinclair, Arnold Wienholt, Jos Francis, Jim Killen, Don Cameron, Garrie Gibson—who is up there in the chamber—and Gary Hardgrave. I especially appreciated the phone calls and good wishes from Don Cameron and Garrie Gibson. Unfortunately, one of Moreton’s most magnificent former members died last year, leaving giant shoes. Sir James Killen once declared in an exchange with Gough Whitlam—and with your indulgence I will quote—that he ‘swam bare-arsed in the Condamine with Aboriginals’. So I thought I should inform the House that I too have completed this feat. But, out of respect for my Murri friends from St George, I will not name anyone.

When I grew up out west, it was not alongside members of the stolen generation. However, way too many of my Indigenous friends belong to a lost generation. It is very sad that not all of my Murri mates are around today to see where I have ended up. Brian, Greg, Frank, David—too many names, too many young lives lost and too many tears. There are way too many. I still see your faces and hear your songs. However, today is not about sad words. Too many sad words make a sad, sad song. Instead, I am cheered by the commitment made by Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin here last week after saying sorry to the stolen generations. Surely that was one of the greatest days in this parliament. I thank them both for the commitment to providing hope with dignity for so many Indigenous people. For way too long, I personally felt there was a void at the heart of Australia. It may have been a spiritual void or a moral void—I am not sure—but the ‘67 referendum and the Mabo decision both went some way to erasing the horrible fabrication that was terra nullius. Paul Keating’s Native Title Act was a further lurch towards making wrongs right. Let us hope that the legacy of this the 42nd Parliament will be the re-commencement of the journey towards healing, changing Indigenous lives and erasing that void.

When I grew up in St George, politicians were blokes in tweed jackets who sporadically flitted into town, unveiled plaques and made long speeches at school assemblies. Today I see politicians from a different side. Now my Premier is a progressive woman called Anna who has probably never owned a tweed jacket and my Prime Minister is a nice, bright bloke called Kevin. His Queenslander is just down the road from mine but I hear he now has a nice house here in Canberra. I got into politics originally because that great visionary Paul Keating left this chamber. Do not get me wrong; it is not that I thought there was not room for the two of us. It is just that I was pretty happy with the world in the nineties while Mr Keating was my Prime Minister and Wayne Goss was my Premier. Once these two noble gentlemen were gone, I decided it was time to be more fair dinkum. Actions speak louder than whingeing, so I joined one of Australia’s greatest and proudest community organisations, the Australian Labor Party. Once I joined Labor, I was delighted to meet a few politicians, such as the current member for Brisbane, and quickly realised they were a lot like me. In fact, when I look at the earlier careers of most members in this chamber they are usually former teachers, solicitors, union officials, farmers or policy advisers or they are from the private sector. Because I have done every single one of those jobs, I am optimistic that my skills will help the good people of Moreton.

Mr Speaker, as you might recall from your visit in 2004, my electorate is a majestic place. For the benefit of the chamber, I will detail some of its features. Moreton is close to the thriving heart of Brisbane but not too close. We are blessed with the peaceful Brisbane River to the north, the rugged beauty of Karawatha Forest to the south and the lungs of Oxley Creek to the west, and in the middle there is Toohey Forest and Griffith University. In addition to that seat of progressive learning, Moreton is also blessed with three other state-of-the-art training facilities, fantastic schools and great hospitals. Moreton has some of Australia’s major roads and train lines and is the engine room of manufacturing in Queensland. Unfortunately, this creates some local issues but I am committed to easing the congestion squeeze. I will not be passing the buck, unless it is only briefly back to the Leader of the House for discussion. I want to sort out the sound barriers on Riawena Road, the Acacia Ridge Elizabeth Street overpass, the Kessels and Mains Road intersection and the Toohey Road bike path. These are my first traffic priorities and I will work with the local and state governments to achieve real results, irrespective of their political flavour.

Moreton is not all about business. It also has the best multicultural food in Australia. We have something to tickle your taste buds—whether it is the African restaurants of Moorooka, the Asian cuisine of Sunnybank or the Halal food of just about anywhere in Moreton. I especially acknowledge the representatives from the Chinese community who have flown down here to see me today: Ni hao ni hao, Lewis, Kenny and Jack. Xie xie xie xie ni. The Chinese diaspora is committed, like so many other groups in Moreton, to a harmonious, multicultural Australian society. Just like the wonderfully warm Islamic people, like Moreton’s varied churches and community and environmental groups, they are dedicated to understanding and tolerance. This is what makes Moreton the best place in the world to live or to visit. Contrary to earlier misguided statements, I do not see an exhausted community. Instead, I see suburbs full of people who are committed to getting on with and helping their neighbours. I do not believe in any form of racism. I do not believe in any form of discrimination or segregation. The Australian sense of the fair go is alive and well and living on the south side of Brisbane and I will work hard to make sure that unfair, racist accusations are never, ever again given oxygen in my neighbourhood.

I stand here as somebody of Irish, French and Italian heritage, representing an electorate where one in three voters was born overseas. I wish to remind all Australians that the price of harmony is hard work. Each and every one of us must be eternally vigilant when it comes to community relations. We must knock on all our neighbours’ doors and offer a helping hand. We must build understanding, trust and friendship, irrespective of race, religion, age or political beliefs.

I now wish to thank some of the people who helped get me here. Firstly, to my mother, the indomitable Peggy Perrett: your courage, stoicism, love of literature, telling yarns, travel and having good times with your friends inspired me as a child and guides me still as an adult—thank you, Mum; I am proud to stand here as your son. I also acknowledge my indefatigable father, Brian Perrett, and each and every one of my siblings—and, because my mum was a good Catholic girl, this will take a bit of time. Firstly, to David and Claire Perrett: David surely never thought 20 years ago when he helped erect this house of the people that his little brother would get to stand here in awe of the exquisite skill and craftsmanship. Next, to Debbie and Philip Bolin: thanks for all those years of babysitting, support and employment. My many years of labouring on your farm certainly made me study hard at university. I thank Malcolm Perrett, who is deceased, who is watching down from way up above the flagpole with my uncle Straw Morrissy, my partner’s father, Stanley Scoines, and my grandfather TJ Morrissy. Coincidentally, for the information of the members for Robertson and Solomon, my grandfather comes from Deuchar, an outer suburb of Allora. My great uncle’s name, James Alphonsus Morrissy, is on the Allora war memorial because he lost his life at Ypres. Surely, there is nothing more moving than standing at the Menin Gate and seeing all those young names.

Thanks to my brother Mark and to Karyn Perrett for teaching me to appreciate nature, and especially to Mark for his laughter and strength; to Simon Perrett, who is in the gallery, and Michael Threlfo, for their sterling work on my election campaigns and godfather duties; to Kerry and Peter Shearer for their friendship, love and, most importantly, babysitting; to Timothy Perrett, my younger brother, for showing me horribly through his tragic workplace accident and the deaths of his two fellow workers the importance of health and safety on worksites—everybody in this chamber must recognise the important role our unions play in saving lives every single day all around Australia; to Nick Perrett and Tony, for making me laugh and never for one minute thinking that I am the best; and, lastly, to Megan, the last Perrett in the Perrett family but definitely not the least, one of the most generous people I have ever met, the best electrician in Queensland—without offending the member for Deakin; I did say Queensland—and a godmother par excellence.

I also wish to go on the record and thank some very good friends: Peter Brown; Michael Watson; my teachers in St George, Linda Walsh and Anne Reilly; Erin Brady, John Carozza and all the Gophers; Judi Locke; David O’Sullivan; Roy Nott; David Dall’Antonio; Karen Campbell; Dean Sullivan; Annie Ballard; Chris Holt; Thomas Pedersen; Noel Niddrie, who is here in the gallery; Dene Crocker, also in the gallery; Peter Shaw, up in the gallery; and Greg Rudd. I also acknowledge my mentors: in education, Gary McLennan, Graham Bruce, Debbie Colquhoun, Joe Ryan, Dell Jones and Brother Terence Heinrich; in law, Michael Quinn; and in mining, Stephen Robertson, Geoff Wilson and Michael Roche—thank you all for your guidance.

I also proudly acknowledge my godchildren—Tricia Bolin; August Sullivan; Alexander Crocker, who is also up in the gallery; Charlotte Nott; and Erin Shearer—and hope that my spiritual guidance will always pass muster, especially on the floor of the chamber.

I willingly thank all my friends and comrades in the union movement and the ALP. As a so-called union thug, I gladly acknowledge the crucial role the labour movement played in my election night success. So many decent, talented, hardworking, honourable people worked incredible hours. To quote from that great Western philosopher from the 1980s, ‘I love youse all’—that is Western Sydney, of course.

I am especially thankful to Russell Carr and the AMIEU for their support and advice, the LHMU, the ETU, the RTBUA, the AMWU and my old union, QIEU. To Andrew and Trish Ramsay, Ken and Robin Boyne and all of the Your Rights at Work team—thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you again. I acknowledge my previous campaign managers: Jo Justo and Karen Struthers; and my 2007 campaign director Roslyn McLennan, aka Wonder Woman—Ros, you are an absolute legend. Unfortunately, my campaign directors seem to keep having babies—this has got nothing to do with me—so it might make it hard for me to recruit somebody for the ‘Kevin11’ campaign, but I will worry about that later. One thing is certain, the future of Labor is in safe hands whenever women of this calibre take leadership roles.

Thank you to the rest of the Moreton team: David Forde, the most passionate Irishman in Australia, which is saying something; Terry Wood from the ALP; the rest of the ALP team, Dallas Elvery, Brad Hayes, the irrepressible Kate Perry; and Braedan Hogan; all of the union and Labor Party members; family and friends; community leaders like Faisal Hatia, Father John Scarriott and Mustafa Ally; the elected representatives at the state level, Karen Struthers, Stephen Robertson, Anna Bligh, Phil Reeves, Simon Finn, Ronan Lee, Judy Spence and Gary Fenlon; Steve Griffiths, Helen Abrahams, Gail Macpherson and Kevin Bianci from the Brisbane City Council; and also to Craig Emerson, Tony Burke, Joseph Ludwig and Claire Moore from the federal parliament. These people all worked to restore fairness in the workplace and install me in this chamber, where the people are the boss. I especially remind the other side of the House of this fact: the people of Australia are our bosses and they spoke very loudly and very clearly.

It was truly humbling to see the incredible work that my branch members and union volunteers did throughout Moreton. And why did they do this? They worked tirelessly simply because they believed in a fair and decent Australia. I promise solemnly right here and right now to serve all of Moreton diligently and honestly. I will work to ensure that the Australian fair go is not forgone—never again, not in Moreton, not on my watch, not on our watch.

I finish my thanks and acknowledgements with the two most important people in my life—with all due respect to you, Mr Speaker, and to the whip! I see they have been consigned to the soundproof chamber up above. The first person is only two years old but already my greatest inspiration—Stanley Che Scoines Perrett, known to his friends as Stan. Stan, as you read this speech, please accept my heart-wrenching apology for all of the nights and days of your life that I missed because of my commitment to the people of Moreton and the great Commonwealth of Australia.

Secondly, I thank my best friend, who also happens to be one of the funniest and brightest people I have ever met, and the most beautiful woman in the world—my partner, my wife, my love, my life: Lea Scoines. I give you all my love and the assurance that I will miss you every single night that I am away. I will walk the line. They say that behind every successful man stands a very surprised woman. Lea, thank you for always hiding your look of surprise.

So how did I get here? Well, I have answered that question by listing some of the people who helped me over the last 42 years to arrive here in the 42nd Parliament as one of 42 new MPs. It has been said that the Ultimate Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42. Mr Speaker, as I am now 42 it is time for me to ask existentially and practically: why am I here? The answer: I’m from Moreton and I’m here to help. How? Firstly, I wish to bring some poetry and literature back to this chamber and throughout Moreton. They say that if you want to avoid offence at a dinner party you should avoid discussing politics and religion. I taught in Catholic schools for eight years and was a union organiser in Christian schools for five years, and I met some of the most decent people I have ever encountered on this planet. I quickly found out that it is not what people profess to believe but what they do that counts. Back to religion and politics: I tell you, if you really want to put some people offside, it is not politics or religion that does it; all you have to do is recite a bit of poetry. Mr Speaker, I give you fair notice that it is my intention to bring some more poetry and literature back into this chamber. To paraphrase Les Murray, Australians need more absolutely ordinary rainbows.

Secondly, I will continue to assist Moreton’s very healthy multicultural community in projects such as the African business initiatives, a Chinese war memorial and a south-side multicultural community centre.

Thirdly, I will assist groups like the Kyabra Community Association to stamp out homelessness. One of the saddest things I had to do when I became a candidate was to resign from the board of the Kyabra Community Association. On a recent tour of a homeless shelter in the Prime Minister’s electorate, it broke my heart to see the small lockers that people used to store all that they had amassed in their life.

My host, Jeff, said that often people did not even bother coming back to collect all their stuff, to collect all of their life. I know that I will not be comforted on my deathbed by anything I have amassed. Instead, the achievement I want to stack beside me is the times I helped ease the pain and strain of those doing it tough on our streets.

The white light has come on, so the last item on my agenda is all about timing. It came to me when the Member for Forde and I rushed over to attend an Organ Donor Awareness function last Thursday. Some people are wearing these wrist bands. When we got there we were told by Anne Cahill Lambert that we were too late. Anne stood there with her oxygen machine and told us that it was all over—too late. For me, the presentation I had missed was not life or death, but organ donation is life and death for Anne. During the 2007 election campaign it was also too late for my friend Debbie Duddridge. Debbie had been waiting on a set of lungs for more than two years but on 29 October last year it became too late. How many other Debbies are out there? How many Annes? Waiting, hoping, that it will not be too late. Australia’s rate of organ donation is shameful. We need to work with our doctors to change this, but you too can help. Have you signed an organ donation form? If not, why not? Have you clearly told your loved ones that you would love your body to keep on working long after you are gone? If not, why not? If your religion prevents you, perhaps you need to have another talk with your God. Whether you are watching, listening to or reading this speech, the question you need to ask yourself is: why not? Please commit today to doing somebody else a favour after you are gone. Caring is doing. If you don’t do, you really don’t care.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage, the Arts and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join in congratulating the new member for Moreton on his maiden speech. The then Leader of the Opposition, now Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, announced in his budget-in-reply speech last year that he would provide the then Prime Minister, John Howard, with bipartisan support to build a national consensus around our historic Murray-Darling Basin initiative. This initiative, of course, aimed at overcoming the century of fractured management of the basin, which is divided between jurisdictions—four states, the ACT and the Commonwealth. Successive state as well as federal Labor governments have never tackled the longstanding problems of the Murray-Darling Basin—water overallocation, ecological and governance problems. This city-centric, union-dominated Labor government is probably still unfamiliar with the concept of total catchment management—a hot topic in the 1970s—but what is Minister Wong’s excuse for her continuing failure to bring all of the Labor state governments to the table so that they can begin to manage this huge, interdependent and stressed ecosystem, the Murray-Darling Basin? It must be managed as a whole, and urgently.

I acknowledge that the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Wong, is trying very hard to bring the Victorian Labor government kicking and screaming to sign up with their fellow states to the National Water Initiative intergovernmental agreement. Mr Brumby, the Premier of Victoria, was recently quoted as saying: ‘Victoria has long held the position that the Murray-Darling system requires a national approach.’ So what side deal is the Premier, Mr Brumby, demanding in return for Victoria’s sign-on? What is the delay?

We need this better governance and better management of the Murray-Darling Basin to commence urgently. The system is under great stress. Unfortunately, all the indications are that the sign-on by Victoria may be at the expense of the rural water users of northern Victoria. I have this concern because the Premier of Victoria, like his predecessor, Mr Bracks, has been caught short without a non-climate dependent sustainable plan for his capital city’s future water supply. The same problem applies to a number of other regional Victorian cities such as Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong. There has been scant attention paid to urban recycling, stormwater harvesting or pricing mechanisms to ensure these urban water users are drought proofed.

Victoria now has fixed terms for their parliament, so the clock is ticking to the time when city voters visit their water restriction frustrations on their Premier and his party. But the Victorian government has hit on a plan. It is technologically simple and can be delivered before their next election in 2009. Unfortunately, the plan does not deliver any short- or long-term water security to Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, it is environmentally damaging and it does not represent value for money. It removes the future water security from the northern Victorian food bowl producers, who are dependent on the tributaries to the Murray.

The plan is to pipe water south, out of the stressed Murray-Darling Basin, up over the Great Dividing Range, to Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat and, on the way, to fill the ornamental lakes and water the gardens of Bendigo. One pipeline is already built to Bendigo and, as we speak, it is forcing water out of the near-empty Eildon Dam into the muddy wastes of Eppalock. This pipeline is discharging this water because they want to make sure they beat the rush as irrigators try to do a last autumn watering to save their failing crops and dying livestock. In northern Victoria they have been in drought for the last seven years.

The uncertainty and stress caused by these pipeline plans has had, as you can imagine, a terrible impact on northern Victorian irrigators, stock and domestic supply users, and the communities who depend on their enterprise. Primary producers are literally selling their remaining water rights and walking off farms because the Victorian government has shown it has no interest in the viability of their farm business or their communities’ survival. Up to 30 per cent of water rights have been sold out of some districts, threatening the viability of the water supply system itself, an irrigation system some 100 years old.

The Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, then Leader of the Opposition, made one fleeting reference to the problem of drought and the catastrophic impacts of the loss of water security for regions in his May address-in-reply budget speech. There has been scarcely anything more announced then or since. In his speech in May 2007, Mr Rudd announced:

We can improve water security for local communities. That is why we have committed to funding the goldfields super pipe for Bendigo and Ballarat ...

So at that time the Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, was in perfect agreement with Premier Brumby of Victoria. The water restriction problems of the cities of Bendigo and Ballarat could be solved by taking water out of the food bowl of northern Victoria, which had been a multibillion dollar per year farm production sector. We need to know what Mr Rudd, the Prime Minister, and his ministers for the environment and water think now, given the dust has long settled on the hot political contest for the two extremely marginal seats of Bendigo and Ballarat.

There was no environmental, social or economic evaluation of the impact of the so-called ‘goldfields super pipe’ pipelines before the projects were announced as a done deal by the Premier of Victoria—quite an extraordinary thing! So let us unpack this decision to pipe water out of one failing catchment, in the Murray-Darling Basin, to others with far better local water supply and recycling opportunities. Then I will conclude my remarks by asking: why is the Rudd government continuing to support the still-to-be-built Ballarat pipeline and will it ensure the use of the Commonwealth EPBC Act does not become a mockery as the Melbourne to Geelong pipeline is put on the table for urgent construction before the next Victorian election?

The so-called ‘goldfields super pipe’ takes water from the Goulburn River within the Murray-Darling Basin in Victoria up over the central highlands to the city of Ballarat. Ballarat enjoys a natural rainfall double the volume of that of northern Victoria—which is to supply this water. Ballarat is also close by one of the biggest good-quality groundwater systems in western Victoria—the Otways. Ballarat has virtually no recycling of water for domestic or industry consumption. The amount of coal produced energy required to push the water over the divide from the droughted farmers and the stricken northern Victorian environment is simply obscene. No-one who claims they care about carbon emissions and climate change would contemplate such a project on the basis of climate change impacts alone.

Along the way, this so-called ‘goldfields super pipe’ also supplies Bendigo and its surrounding communities. This is another population which has been failed by successive Victorian Labor governments, who have ignored their impending water supply crisis. Bendigo has, like Ballarat, next to no water recycling. Its 100-year-old stock and domestic system leaks more water than it delivers and as much as the city of Bendigo needs annually. But the state owned Coliban Water supply authority says it cannot afford to pipe the stock and domestic system for at least another 15 years because the state government will not give it the money.

How has the Victorian government managed to placate the concerns of the future water recipients—the people at the end of the pipe, the toilet flushers and the car washers of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong? These people are aware of the extreme stress in the Murray-Darling Basin system and the extreme pressure on the tributaries of the Murray, particularly the Goulburn, Broken, Campaspe, Loddon and Avoca rivers. The people in Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat know that we have had seven years of the worst drought on record. They know about the human impact of the drought and they are aware of the dying red gums and the depleted Ramsar listed wetlands in the Barmah Forest, the world’s biggest red gum forest. I believe Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat people know and care about these problems and issues.

But how have they been placated so that they are not marching in the streets beside the northern Victorians, who regularly march in the streets saying to the Premier of Victoria, ‘Enough is enough’? The people have been placated through the Premier saying, ‘This is not a problem because we are going to fund the food bowl modernisation project.’ The Victorian government has acknowledged that this requires $2.5 billion of funds to be invested into their own state owned Goulburn-Murray water supply system. This $2.5 billion, it says, will help save the water which currently leaks, seeps and evaporates out of their century-old irrigation supply system. It also acknowledges that there are a lot of on-farm water-saving works that could be done if farmers could afford to do them—given they have been in seven years of drought and are at the end of their economic, emotional and psychological resources to do the water-saving measures that are now needed.

The state government said, ‘We acknowledge $2.5 billion is needed to invest in our own state owned water supply system. We’ll give northern Victoria $600 million, not $2.5 billion. We’ll get another $400 million out of Melbourne water users and northern Victoria water users, and we’ll do some works on our supply system in northern Victoria, and whatever savings of water we get out of those works we’ll give a third to irrigators, a third to the environment and take the other third to Melbourne.’ That sounds like, perhaps, a reasonable proposition, maybe even a good deal; but look at the detail and what the experts say about the volume of water that can be saved with $600 million plus $400 million worth of infrastructure investment. That investment is mostly being put into new meters—I never did see a new meter save water—and into things like total channel control.

When we question if those water savings are really there—particularly in the dry, drought years which we are assured will be even more likely with climate change—to ensure that at least 75 gigalitres goes to Melbourne and Geelong each year, the Victorian government says, ‘Yes, that is a problem, isn’t it? We’ve got an even better short-term solution. We will take the environmental reserve out of Eildon Dam to supply Melbourne’s toilets, car washing and leaf flushing because Melbourne urban water users can’t be left water short.’ This environmental reserve in the Goulburn system in the Eildon Dam is about 30 gigalitres of water. It is of the highest security of all. Irrigators cannot use it. It is a volume of water reserved in Eildon Dam to use for flushing the Goulburn River should there be a toxic blue-green algae outbreak. These blue-green algae outbreaks occur in hot weather when the water is shallow—the conditions that exist now. When toxic blue-green algae outbreaks occur, the ecosystem is quickly poisoned and there can be no human consumption of the water. That is why that environmental reserve is there in Eildon Dam. But Mr Brumby has said: ‘That’s okay, we will take it and pipe it to Melbourne. We acknowledge the savings we talk about by our investment in the water supply system won’t be there, particularly in dry years, but we cannot leave Melbourne short of water.’ I say to the Victorian government that you have shamefully neglected Melbourne’s sustainable water resource during your time in government. Melbourne does not have recycling in any way, shape or form as it should. Stormwater harvesting is virtually nonexistent and the dumping of all treated sewage water out at Gunnamatta is a disgrace. Melbourne water users are profligate in their use. The water-pricing mechanisms for Melbourne water consumption in no way reflects the cost and value of the water and the need to conserve it.

Instead of tackling these sorts of issues and finding solutions to Melbourne’s long-term water supply, we have this quick and dirty and technologically simple fix of taking water from the Murray-Darling Basin over the divide in the north of the state of Victoria to the urban water users of Bendigo, Geelong, Ballarat and Melbourne. Those members in this chamber will not be surprised to know that environmental, social and economic assessments or the impacts of the Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo pipelines were never done. There were no environment assessments undertaken before these pipelines were announced as a done deal. You might say that that is extraordinary. How could that be in the 21st century with a democratically elected government? The Bendigo pipeline is already completed and it is pushing water out of the near depleted Eildon Dam into the muddy waste of the Eppalock Dam. The Bendigo pipeline is in place, the Ballarat pipeline is yet to come and the Melbourne pipeline is on its way, we are assured.

I want to commend the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Mr Garrett, in saying: ‘Hang on, this is just too embarrassing. Enough is enough. We will now declare the Goulburn system to Melbourne north-south pipeline a controlled action under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.’ Mr Garrett has realised you just cannot keep going on like this and get away with it, even though you ignore the farmers marching in the streets, because the metro media do not print their problems, and even though you consistently say, ‘This is not a problem because we will find water savings somehow.’ Mr Garrett has said, ‘This north-south pipeline, the Goulburn system to Melbourne and Geelong, is a controlled action,’ under the EPBC Act. He declared this about the middle of last week. I congratulate him for doing that. He got into an enough strife with the dredging of the bay and he is in a bit of bother with the desalinisation plant. But I am pleased he made this announcement about the north-south pipeline.

However, I am shocked to see, just five working days after Mr Garrett’s announcement, that we already have the report. Here it is: the ‘Sugarloaf pipeline project’. You might wonder why this Melbourne-Goulburn Valley, north-south pipeline, is now called the Sugarloaf project. It was an attempt to hide it from the public, but we discovered in time that this project is now called Sugarloaf, after one of the reservoirs on the way. Just a few working days after the declaration of this pipeline project as a controlled action, we have the Victorian government’s project impact assessment report.

I have to tell you, I am shocked and ashamed. This report is thin. It regularly says: ‘Well, of course, we’re going to have to do more work assessing here and assessing there. Yes, there are scores of endangered and vulnerable flora and fauna, as listed in the EPBC Act, that will be in the way of the pipeline. But we believe we can put in some mitigating measures. Perhaps we can put the pipeline overland here rather than under there. The job will be right. Don’t you worry about that.’ That is what this Sugarloaf pipeline project report basically says.

It does not go into the impacts of the loss of the water from the Murray-Darling Basin in northern Victoria and the impacts on the flora and fauna across the riverine tracts of the Broken, Goulburn and Murray rivers. It does not talk about the impacts of taking the environmental reserve out of Eildon Dam. Without this reserve we will have nothing to fight the toxic blue-green algal blooms, which, as we speak, are a threat in the Murray. This pipeline project document at last says: ‘Oh, dear, yes, there are some Indigenous heritage issues. Hmm. We’ll think about those,’ though it does not identify them in detail and says, ‘We need to do a bit more work there too.’

We are supposed to accept this project impact assessment five working days after its declaration as a controlled action as the answer to removing what last year would have been 30 per cent of the northern Victoria irrigation region’s water supply to flush down the toilets of Melbourne. Why doesn’t the Premier really take a statesmanlike approach here and say: ‘This doesn’t drought proof Melbourne. This was a quick and dirty political fix. We were panicked by Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo people not being able to water their roses. We didn’t really care about the food bowl future of northern Victoria—that multibillion dollar industry and income generator. We thought we could get away with it by throwing $600 million at them rather than fixing up our own state owned water infrastructure’? I am calling on the minister, Mr Garrett, to ensure they do better. (Time expired)

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Before I call Mr Ramsey, I remind honourable members that this is his first speech. I therefore ask that the usual courtesies be extended to him.

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I acknowledge and congratulate you on your appointment. I stand before you today as the proud and humble representative of the people of Grey. I am the 11th member in over 100 years and just the third Liberal to hold the seat.

Grey was named for Sir George Grey, who served as Governor of South Australia from 1841 to 1845. It seemed like some kind of message to me when, in May last year, I walked into the basement of St Pauls Cathedral, London, and looked at the floor and realised I was standing on the resting place of Sir George Grey, also a former Governor and Premier of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony in South Africa and an explorer in Western Australia. I had a quiet word with him and told him I intended to keep an eye on his patch, if I were chosen as its new member.

I was raised as one of four children on the family farm at Buckleboo, where I still live. My three sisters all pursued professional careers, producing a teacher, a pharmacist and a doctor. One of them, Janet, a long-term resident of Canberra, is here in the gallery today.

I would like to thank my parents, Eric and Dora, for instilling in me a sense of social obligation and a Christian compassion for all.

My mother, a genteel lady with a great singing voice, is the author of my compassion for those in society who struggle. My father is a unique individual of high intelligence and great stamina. At the age of 80, he was still driving a truck at harvest time. At about that time, he rode a pushbike 115 kilometres from Arno Bay to Port Lincoln to raise money for cancer research. When he got there, he realised he had left his companions behind. All of them were much younger than him. Never a patient man, my father; he rode back almost 10 kilometres to escort them in. To him, I owe my energy and passion for life.

To my campaign team, thank you. I make special mention of my campaign manager, Heather Baldock, and her husband, Graeme, and friends, neighbours and fervent supporters here in the gallery today. To my home branch of Kimba, the other 30 Liberal Party branches spread across Grey and the more than 1,000 volunteers out there on election day, thank you and well done. Special thanks to a number of federal and state colleagues, in particular Senators Ferguson and Bernardi, and Graham Gunn. I am given strength by those in my community who have great faith in me. I dearly thank the Buckleboo crew, also here today, who have a round trip of a thousand kilometres just to catch the plane in Adelaide to be with us today.

I am inordinately proud of my three children, all in the gallery. My eldest daughter, Alexandra, is a chemical engineer and currently working out of Darwin. My second daughter, Courtney, has just completed first class honours in science, and Lachlan is a second-year civil engineering student. Purposeful and self motivated, they are already making a success of life. Families provide loving, caring, stable and trusting environments for children. They are the building blocks of our nation; their failure threatens our future. It is our responsibility as parliamentary representatives to do all we can to support them.

To my wonderful wife, Teresa, who supports me, gives me strength and has committed to sharing this life on the road: thank you. I do not think I could overemphasise how difficult it would be in an electorate the size of Grey to retain a working marriage if one partner did not make the type of commitment she has made to me.

I have a long involvement with leadership in community affairs. Sporting clubs, Apex, hospital boards, agricultural research, farming organisations and the Liberal Party have all given me the opportunity to contribute. I am incredibly privileged to now take that community commitment to a national level.

The population of my home town of Kimba is just 1,200; it has, though, made a significant political contribution. It is remarkable that I am the fourth person from Kimba to be elected to parliament in the last 40 years—three of us, I think, inspired by the first, Arthur Whyte, who established the Liberal Party branch in Kimba and went on to become the President of the Legislative Council in South Australia. Arthur has been followed by his daughter Caroline Schaefer, who is currently a legislative councillor, and my predecessor, Barry Wakelin, who served this place and the electorate of Grey with distinction for almost 15 years. Barry was a man of the people who the electorate increasingly warmed to the longer he was in office. I must also acknowledge his wife, Tina, who was the other half of ‘Team Wakelin’. A former staffer said to me, ‘Great value—we got two for the price of one.’ Those of you who know Tina would appreciate that comment.

I am often asked what it is about Kimba and leadership. It is a good question. I think it has something to do with being on the edge economically, geographically and socially—the attitude that, if you are not prepared to help yourself, why should you expect someone else to help? My local football club, Buckleboo, in 1984 built what is even by today’s standards a magnificent clubroom 35 kilometres from town, surrounded by trees and paddocks—hence the name ‘the club in the scrub’. Built at a cost of nearly $300,000, today’s value would be around $2 million. There was no public funding—just 40 families determined to help themselves. Local guarantors were paid off in three short years. It is a testimony to the power of positive attitude: if you want something done, get off your backside and make it happen. Sadly, it is an Australian attitude we are fast losing. We are a much poorer society for losing it.

That leads me to my frustration with what I see as our collective lack of individual accountability. Whenever things go wrong in our society, we start to search for someone to blame. If we trip over, it is because someone else left a rock on the footpath. Surely we have some level of personal responsibility. Nurses in hospitals spend more time filling out records than providing nursing care so they can prove that, should anything go wrong, it was not their fault. In the end, these impediments lead to a weakening of the decision-making process. People avoid making decisions in case they get it wrong.

It has often been said that our diggers built an unparalleled reputation for their ability to respond in an independent fashion, to take charge in the event that they lost their leadership, to make decisions under pressure. It is what made them the best soldiers in the world. The independent spirit on which Australia was built is being strangled. I am attracted to the Liberal Party ideal that those who can, should take charge of their own lives. Many of the reforms of the last decade have been aimed at just that outcome: encouragement to take out private health cover, to contribute to your own retirement plan, to utilise independent options for your children’s education—in short, taking care of your own business but still believing there must be quality public options for those who cannot or choose not to take this path.

This world is not awash with democracy; we are extremely fortunate and privileged to live here. I have news for the many who believe that this is such a great country in spite of our politicians and our system: we have such a great country because of those things. We employ a government to run the country, then we employ an opposition to examine every move they make, to highlight poor policy, bad practice and corruption. Should they find any of those things, we have the opportunity to vote and change the government with no bloodshed and little disruption.

As a stable, mature and wealthy democracy, Australia has a role in the world far beyond what one might expect from a country of this size. Our ability to engineer the liberalisation of world trade, whilst being in our interest, is of far greater value to those developing nations around the world. The globalisation of the world economy that sees production shift to low-cost economies spreads the wealth of the world. Poverty is the illegitimate bedfellow of conflict and it should be core business for Australia to be well engaged in this area.

The electorate of Grey, the third biggest in the nation at almost 905,000 square kilometres, is by any standards vast. It stretches from the borders of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales to Marion Bay on the Yorke Peninsula and Eudunda in the south. It has 27 councils, 137 schools and 36 hospitals, which serve an enormous number of individual communities. It can present some challenges for a local member. I noticed in his maiden address to this House the member for Wentworth remarked he could paddle a surf ski the length of his electorate in an hour. We are a bit short on water in parts of Grey, so the surf ski might be a bit of a stretch; to put it in context, it takes me an hour and a half in a jumbo jet to get across Grey.

My electorate is often seen as the big rural seat in South Australia when in fact half of the population live in the industrial cities of Whyalla, Port Pirie and Port Augusta—great examples of multicultural Australia. Whyalla, for example, is home to over 90 different nationalities—friendly, cooperative, tolerant and all with an allegiance to Australia. It is an electorate of incredible contrasts, from some of the driest deserts in Australia, with rainfall of less than 100 millimetres a year, to some of the most fertile farmlands on the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas. There are dramatic visual icons like the ancient sentinels of the Flinders Ranges; huge salt lakes, including Lake Eyre; the feast or famine of Australia’s inland rivers; and a stunning coastline from the Great Australian Bight to the pristine white sandy beaches of the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas. There is dramatic history, such as the opening of inland Australia. The names, places and icons roll off the tongue: the Overland Telegraph Line; the Afghan camel drivers and their rail replacement, the Ghan; the Birdsville, Oodnadatta and Strzelecki tracks. These are great slabs of Australian folklore.

The economy of the electorate is currently enjoying the benefits of the mining boom, which is helping revitalise the industrial cities. Unemployment rates in these centres, while still above the national averages, have declined markedly in the past 10 years and are a testimony to the excellent economic management of the previous government. We are incredibly energy rich and have new-age energy. Already the world’s pre-eminent supplier of uranium, a greenhouse friendly fuel, it seems we are almost daily discovering new deposits of hot rocks; we have many of the best sites in southern Australia for wind farms; and we are blessed—even though some say cursed—with huge areas that enjoy more than abundant sunlight for the production of solar electricity.

Both sides of politics are committed to a carbon trading scheme, as we must be, to curb the effects of global warming. The Cooper Basin has been a major supplier of Australia’s oil and gas, and this will continue but production has peaked. It will have a new economic life because of its unique position to become the country’s major storage area for carbon dioxide.

Not only are we rich with energy but already BHP’s Olympic Dam is one of the great copper mines of the world, with a proposed expansion set to more than triple its size. Major developments at Prominent Hill, world-class mineral sands deposits in the west, the expansion of iron ore near Whyalla, along with a number of new deposits on Eyre Peninsula and in the far north, are all adding to a heady mix.

It is my goal to assist local communities in retaining a fair slice of the benefits in our electorate, to keep workers living in their regional towns and cities, to get governments to reinvest a fair share of the dividend in the areas it came from and not use it just as a cash cow. Balancing the promotion of this dynamic sector will present a lot of challenges, and it is a task that I do not take lightly. I will hope to focus decisions that will enable us not only to create jobs but also to pass on a legacy of good management to our children. We cannot live in this world without making some impact on the natural environment, but neither can we have an exploit-at-all-costs mentality.

With more than 70 per cent of South Australia’s coastline, Grey is the major player in our fishing and aquaculture industries. Port Lincoln is the home of the great southern bluefin tuna industry, resuscitated by the pioneering of farmed tuna. As the world’s wild-stock fisheries are reaching their limits, aquaculture is providing the promise of tomorrow. Already we are farming abalone, oysters, kingfish and mussels, and we are on the verge of closing the breeding cycle of tuna.

Visionary investment in the infrastructure area will be needed for the region to reach its full potential. Roads, rail, ports, air facilities, electrical interconnectors and water generation will all need investment. I welcome the government’s commitment to skills training and urge them to support the very successful Australian technical college established on the three campuses in the upper Spencer Gulf. This is a great educational model. It is strongly supported by industry, by schools and by the public.

This parliament and this generation must have a significant effect on the welfare of Indigenous Australia. The electorate has over 9,000 of Aboriginal descent, many living in some of the most remote parts of our nation in settlements of a similar nature to the type targeted in the intervention in the Northern Territory. I welcome the apology to the Aboriginal peoples. I fervently hope that this will provide comfort to those who were adversely affected by policies, attitudes and actions of the past. We will now be measured by what the nation does in a practical sense to achieve real changes to the outcomes of many in this part of our community. We must not return to an ideology that sees Aboriginal Australia as just victims, who deserve welfare. Long-term welfare robs people of dignity and purpose.

If no economic basis exists for a community, it will eventually cease to exist. There is nothing more assured to destroy any human soul than the uselessness of perpetual unemployment. If it is important that these people stay on their traditional lands, it is imperative they be opened up to development partnerships. Tourism, mining and more traditional agricultural activities can provide the economic base for these inland communities to flourish.

The government has supported the intervention. I urge it to stand by this commitment. We can no longer accept a second Australia in these remote communities. For that reason, I call upon the government to reconsider its move to reinstate the permit system. A situation where parts of our country and parts of our population are hidden and allowed to be measured by a different, inferior standard cannot continue. Might I pause here to commiserate with Mal Brough, who had the strength to begin the task. The contribution he has made, and was about to make, to the Indigenous future of Australia cannot be overstated. This parliament has lost a great champion of the cause—a man who truly made a difference.

I have behind me a 30-year career in agriculture—an industry I count myself very fortunate to have been involved with. Modern agriculture is a dynamic industry. To survive, Australian farmers have had to embrace innovation. We have seen incredible technological changes, and today’s methods of farming are so different from those my father used. Precision farming, modern marketing techniques, complex soils and crop analysis mean that today’s farmer is extremely multiskilled. I have had a long involvement in cutting-edge dryland farming research, firstly as a member and then as Chair of the Eyre Peninsula Agricultural Research Foundation. I am strongly aware of the important role that a well-funded research and development capacity plays not just in agriculture but in all industries. It is disturbing to note that, as a first line of business, the new government has slashed $10 million that was put in place to support agricultural research at a time of deficiencies in levy income caused by the drought.

There is plenty of debate about whether this drought is a result of climate change or whether it is just a good old-fashioned drought, albeit at the very extremes of our recorded experiences. I think it is probably both. As a farmer living in some of the driest cropping country in the world, I am acutely aware of the challenges of climate change. If southern Australia is to suffer a reduction in rainfall, it stands to reason we will be the first to feel its bite. But, whatever the cause, the results are very real. Inland towns with no alternative economies are losing a generation of young people, their skilled tradespeople, their young families and, unless we decide otherwise, government services. There are limits on what governments can do, but we should not be the catalyst that causes services to disappear. The closure of a school, a hospital or even a school bus run can have devastating knock-on effects for a small community. We should, however, remain optimistic about the future of agriculture. With a world population pushing toward seven billion, the booming economies of Asia will increase the demand for Western diets and energy, and we are in the box seat to provide what they need.

Living in rural Australia is a great privilege but, unfortunately, it can come at cost. Inequality with urban Australia in the key areas of health, education and communication are contributing to the country-city drift. Downgrading of rural health services to where many are little more than first aid centres has resulted in a continual deskilling of our professional staff, leading to job dissatisfaction and the inability to respond to emergency situations. Doctors will not serve in rural areas where there are no or inadequate hospitals. Individual efficiencies do not always compensate for the worth of the total package. Withdrawal of services can have complex, far-reaching implications for the whole community. It is worth noting that the South Australian government is currently moving nearly 260 country based jobs, many of them in the health industry, to Adelaide, in the name of efficiency.

Quality education can become a huge financial burden to parents. I do not normally support non-means-tested allowances, but in this case, where students are required to live away from home to access subjects of their choice, including tertiary, they should receive assistance. Parents choose where they live, but, in this case, it can be the children who wear the cost.

One must seriously doubt the viability of the government’s plan to roll out a fibre to the node network to 98 per cent of Australia. This plan spends the $2 billion telecommunication fund put in place to provide for the very demographic I represent. I strongly urge the government to revisit their technology mix to ensure that rural people receive a fast, modern service and are not left behind when the cash runs out. Rural and regional business needs the same kinds of access to telecommunication as the rest of the community.

Our cities provide great diversity and opportunities in what is otherwise a rural landscape. They are the centres that provide higher levels of medical, aged and educational services, industry training and a face to the arts. The greatest threat to their continued growth is certainty of water supply. The cities of the Upper Spencer Gulf and their industries are 100 per cent reliant on the Murray. My electorate and the rest of Australia can no longer stand delays in implementing national control of the Murray.

There is no greater curse to a nation than that of high unemployment. We are currently enjoying the lowest rates in more than 35 years. Full credit for this must go to the previous government. Significant inroads have been made into the long-term unemployed. Small business, the backbone of our economy, determines the kind of employment numbers that we ultimately end up with. It has been encouraged by changes in the industrial system to expand and to take on extra staff. The next few years are now uncertain, and I urge the government to take great care with their changes to industrial relations lest they sour the well of jobs growth.

Programs such as the Welfare to Work reforms are not about savings to the national economy; they are about individuals taking control of their lives. We know that people who are employed have much better outcomes in all areas of their lives. The Australians we can get into the workforce have better health, better education, stronger families and better lives.

But there are some groups in our society who will never be able to take control of their own lives in this fashion. The permanently severely disabled are just one. Things have improved, but we have further to go. Australia is a wealthy country, and people who, through no fault of their own, find life a daily struggle, should not have to. Parents and relatives burdened with the terrible worry of what will happen when they can no longer cope need a more certain future. As with so many of these service type issues, the problems get worse the further you get from capital cities.

The opportunities for those of us elected to parliament are enormous. We have the task of identifying the difficulties, the injustices and the great opportunities for progress in our society, and we are given a chance to make a real difference. After all, isn’t that why we all came here? I give the people of Grey my pledge that my door is always open. I take on your issues as my own, and may we together have many triumphs continuing to build Grey as a great place to live and work.

Debate (on motion by Mr John Cobb) adjourned.