Jon Sullivan (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Monday evening, the member for Dickson made some very generous comments in this chamber in relation to Linda Lavarch, the state member for Kurwongbah in his electorate who has announced that she is retiring at the next state election. I had the privilege of serving in the Queensland parliament with Linda, and my wife and I have known her and her husband, Michael, for nearly a quarter of a century. Michael, of course, served in this place and, as I understand it, he once occupied the very seat that I now occupy in the chamber—which we think is very serendipitous. Linda and Michael, of course, completed a rare double in the fact that Linda served in the state of Queensland as Attorney-General and Michael served in the federal sphere as Attorney-General.

As the member for Dickson indicated, Mrs Lavarch has been an exemplary member of parliament, a very hardworking local member, an effective backbencher and an effective Attorney-General in the Queensland government. I should add that Linda entered the Queensland parliament much earlier than she might otherwise have wanted to do as she had two small children at the time. She entered because the previous member, Margaret Woodgate, had retired on medical grounds. Female members of parliaments throughout the country who are struggling with this job and raising young families I am sure would understand exactly the situation that she was in.

However, I found that the comments of the member for Dickson were a little disingenuous in that he went on to dump on a person who may or may not become the candidate to replace Linda Lavarch in the new seat in that area of Pine Rivers. The decision on Labor’s candidate in that election will be made when nominations for preselection are closed and the members of the party are able to select a candidate—and that is yet a week or so away. As with all parties, there is likely to be some argy-bargy as people shuffle for position. This member’s participation in what is an internal Labor Party matter does him no credit.

The member for Dickson’s first speech in this place made reference to his own pride at winning his own preselection and he understands exactly what the preselection process means to a person interested in a political career. But he also needs to be reminded of the old adage, the one that says, ‘People in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones.’ As the Liberal candidate for Dickson in 2001, Peter Dutton had tenuous links at best with the electorate of Dickson. Sure, he lived nearby as a child and went to school at Bald Hills as a teenager, but his claims to strong links with the area go to weekends spent on his grandparents and uncle’s farm. How does he reconcile that with his expressed view that all that is good about a local member includes coming from the local area? How does he reconcile that view with the fact that his political hide in 2007 was saved by voters from the Brisbane Valley who were added to his electorate as a consequence of the last redistribution and with whom he had no prior connection? By his own expressed standards, does he acknowledge that in respect of those constituents he falls short of being a good local representative?

Carolyn Male may or may not emerge from this process as Labor’s candidate in Pine Rivers. Her own childhood and teenage years were spent no further from Pine Rivers than Mr Dutton’s. But if she does emerge as the candidate, the electors of that electorate will have the opportunity to select a representative with a wealth of experience after nine years of parliamentary service. When criticising an MP for changing seats, as the member for Dickson did, he should also bear in mind his earlier attempts to enter the Queensland parliament in a seat much further removed from the seat he now holds than Carolyn Male’s current seat is from Pine Rivers. The difference is that on the member for Dickson’s first attempt to enter parliament, he simply was not good enough. On his next attempt to hold his seat, I am sure we will find out that he simply will not be good enough again, and that Fiona McNamara will prevail in 2010 or 2011 when we have the next federal election.