Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the outset I would like to thank my friend the honourable member for Flinders for his accommodation of me. My contribution in this debate will be somewhat shorter than usual as I have to speak in the main chamber imminently.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Eminently.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And eminently, I hope, as well—but certainly in the very near future. I do not believe that elected representatives have a monopoly on good ideas and common sense. It really is important for members of parliament, regardless of their political affiliation, to consult with members of the community in as many fora as possible. I know that all members, regardless of where they stand in the political spectrum, do endeavour to engage with their community.

I have been having a series of ‘meet Pete in the park’ events, which are sausage sizzles in various parts of the electorate. We invite constituents to come in and enjoy a sausage and in doing so we have the opportunity, particularly in those areas distant from the electorate office, to talk with constituents in their own environment. That means that those constituents are able to tell me about problems that they might be having with the government or a government department, how they feel the government is going wrong or what the opposition is doing right or wrong, as the case may be.

I do find it quite useful to talk to people in their own local areas. For instance, on Saturday, 30 August at Jessica Park, Nicklin Way, Minyama, there was a sausage sizzle from 10 am until 12 noon and then at Dicky Beach Park, Beerburrum Street, Dicky Beach, from 2 pm until 4 pm. We had a very good roll-up of people. I have to say I personally value the interaction. Initially I started to do the sausages, but people want to talk to me and I suspect that their digestion benefited from the fact that someone took over that particular task from me.

On Saturday, 6 September, in addition to having the inaugural meeting of the Sunshine Coast region of the LNP, I have three of the ‘meet Pete in the park’ sausage sizzles. One is at the bluff, the Esplanade, Alexandra Headland, from 7 am until 9 am. There is one at Kawana Forest Park, White Cedar Drive, Kawana Forest, from 11 am until 1 pm and then there is one at Ayliffe Park, the Esplanade, Golden Beach, from 3 pm until 5 pm.

There is concern out there in the community about the way the government is operating. Many people were sold a pup in the election campaign. Many people, particularly on the Sunshine Coast, voted for the Rudd Labor government because the Prime Minister came from the Sunshine Coast. He grew up on the Sunshine Coast. I suppose there was a sense of reflected pride that a boy from Nambour could become Prime Minister of Australia. Many of those people are seeing that what the government offered is a long way short of the reality of what the community is now receiving. I suspect that if the election were held again the result would be quite different.

That does not mean that the opposition do not need to look very closely at our policies with a view to making sure that, come the next election, we are electable. I was one of those people who was of the view that we might well be in opposition for two, three or four terms. But the current government seems to have the aura of Mr Whitlam about it increasingly. There are some ministers who are performing well and some ministers who are not performing well at all, but the community feel quite let down because the government they got is not the opposition they voted for. They believed that the government was going to be a much better government than it actually has been. I now believe that we as a party have an opportunity to be re-elected next time as long as we engage with the people, as long as we continue to bring forward sensible, rational policies, as long as we listen to the people and as long as we remember the mistakes of the past and move forward.

The government that was defeated on 24 November was a good government. That is not to say we cannot be better in the future. But these ‘meet Pete in the park’ sausage sizzles are a wonderful way for me to have community consultation and a wonderful way for me to listen to what people are saying. I feel I am able to come to the national parliament better equipped to speak on behalf of local constituents. I thank the chamber.