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

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

Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have already formally seconded the motion that the address-in-reply be agreed to and, having done so, I extend my congratulations to all members of the House of Representatives on their election on 21 August 2010. I would also like to extend my thanks to the people of Bass in Tasmania. I am very humbled and deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to represent them and to thank them for their support and trust. A successful election campaign relies on a huge team effort and I place on record my appreciation to all the supporters who letterboxed, put up signs, doorknocked, stuffed envelopes, took photographs, spread the message of the Australian Labor Party and all the other myriad tasks that a campaign requires.

In particular, I thank Senator Helen Polley, who is in the chamber today, Paul Griffin, Ross Hart, Adam Clarke, Pamela Carswell, Alan Stacey, Robyn Giblin, Sam James, Syd Edwards and many others. I also wish to thank my dad, who through all this had to be moved out of his home into alternative accommodation. Thank you, Sheryle, for all your love and support and thanks to my three beautiful daughters, Michelle, Bianca and Sarah, and their partners, Ashley and Emmett. There was one person who put all this into perspective for me and that is my grandson Harper. When it all seemed too hard and too tiring, a few moments with one-year-old Harper gave me distraction, joy, perspective and laughs. I also wish to acknowledge my predecessor in Bass, Jodie Campbell, a happy soul who graciously stepped aside to spend more time with her two beautiful daughters and who supported my campaign from start to finish.

Many people in regional and marginal Bass are doing it tough with the decline in the manufacturing, vegetable processing and timber industries. Our challenge is to find innovative white knights who will take up the opportunities which our soil, our water and the majestic beauty of our environment provide. There is no doubt that regional Bass, like the rest of regional Australia, does need to find innovative ways to build a sustainable future.

I am a passionate Tasmanian. I grew up in Tasmania and have worked in Tasmania all my life. I have a strong community obligation and commitment to sport, health, education and regional development. I believe we must reinvigorate community sport. I believe there is a need to encourage people, particularly young people, to belong to community organisations. When vandalism was on the rise in the town where I grew up, my father started a youth club. When kids were falling off horses and breaking limbs, we started a judo club to teach them how to fall. I know we are not in an era of joining or committing to any organisation and I believe Australia is worse off for that. How do we turn that around? One way is to improve recreational and sporting facilities in regional Australia which would make it more attractive for people of today. We are not in a make-do world as the Australian people once were. Therefore, to encourage participation and joining and to establish that feeling of belonging or having an ownership of community facilities, facilities must be designed and built by communities with assistance from governments.

My family have grown up. I had no set plan for bringing them up, but I do know how to keep them busy and community sport is an important part of that. I believe that we should be empowering people to provide better community facilities which will encourage not only joining but also community ownership. It is not easy to be at training four times a week, to sweep out the rooms after everyone has gone home, to cook the tea for the players, to mark the ground and to stand on the gate each week. The people who do that are the backbone of small and city communities alike. We must work out ways of providing assistance to provide the light of hope that those people—the real heroes of Australia—need.

Those of you who know me know that I am passionate about sport. I am passionate about improving sporting facilities in the electorate of Bass and encouraging young people to become involved in both individual and team sports. Tasmania has a rich sporting history in many fields and disciplines. We have a strong sporting pedigree, producing some of Australia’s leading sports stars. We want to continue that legacy with top-class community sporting facilities and administration. Just as many schools in Bass had not had any money spent on them for 20 years until a Labor government came to power, some sports facilities have not changed for 50 years. These are not community facilities which will motivate participation.

I am actively involved in surf-lifesaving and have been lucky enough to have assisted in running state, national and international events for surf-lifesaving. Surf-lifesaving has been a large part of my life, providing me with the opportunity to serve as a club secretary at 17 and a club captain at 18, and with the continuous satisfaction of belonging ever since. Through my daughters I became involved in netball administration, and what a wonderful opportunity we have to make to a difference by assisting to improve facilities for that sport. Community football has been the poor cousin of Aussie Rules with the AFL dominating every aspect of the game, particularly venues and media. The AFL, with the extra revenue of two grand finals this year, could put some more resources into community football. My advice to the people of Australia is to visit your local club and to assist your sport by providing some assistance to that club. You will be made very welcome. The satisfaction you receive will far outweigh your contribution. Voluntary aged-care administration has been an area of great satisfaction to me and is an area that we as a government need to foster. Again, people of Australia, if you want something else in your life, offer to help at an aged-care facility.

In all these activities I meet wonderful Australians who universally believe private and public bureaucracy has gone mad. No matter where I go, the burden of excessive process exists. We seem to have promoted people who are good at process, but those people sometimes think that process is achievement. The sad part is that some cannot tell the difference. I urge all involved to think in the way an old doctor friend told me I should administer a hospital: ‘If you were at war and in the trenches, would you do it that way?’ That is a reality check worth contemplating.

I also strongly support empowering people in either government or private organisations to manage those organisations at the lowest possible level where they have full information. This creates genuine empowerment of people. I spent a large part of my working life in health administration at Beaconsfield and Launceston hospitals. The pleasure of developing services for people is not measurable. The people in health care are amazing for their commitment, skill and caring. At times it is not possible to justify on business grounds that a service should be provided for a community, but if it is genuinely needed the service is usually developed.

One thing I learnt in health care is that it is constantly evolving. The only constant is change. So the challenge is to be smart enough to understand that a facility developed today may well have another use tomorrow. The reality is that diseases and cures can overcome all your planning. Health care in northern Tasmania will improve with the current work at the Launceston General Hospital. But that is not the end, merely a start in creating a centre of excellence.

We have an obligation to continue to work and build on the effort of past leaders going right back to 1847 when Dr Pugh was the first doctor in the Southern Hemisphere to utilise ether to successfully anaesthetise a patient during surgery. In 1896 Dr Drake returned from England and brought with him a complete X-ray unit one year after they were first invented. He also brought back bacteriological equipment. Dr John Ramsey wrote a paper in 1898 called Intravenous injection of normal saline solution in severe case of typhoid with haemorrhage. In 1911 Dr Ramsey was the first man on earth to successfully transfer pancreatic tissue in an attempt to heal diabetes, 10 years before the discovery of insulin. In 1916 a patient of Dr Ramsey had a cardiac arrest during a surgical procedure. He performed open-heart massage and the patient recovered—the first in the world. In 1919 Tasmania was the first state to require women to undergo a course of training to register as a midwife. The first radium needles were purchased in 1927 for Dr Holman to treat cancer patients at the Launceston General Hospital. He and Dr Ramsey formed the radiotherapy unit for the hospital.

After experiencing the polio epidemic, breathing machines were common and Dr Keverall McIntyre, obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Launceston General Hospital, invented a neonatal respirator in 1944 to assist a child’s respiration and hence reduce the all-too-common cause of death—asphyxiation. In 1974, Dr Lees and Dr McIntyre conducted the first successful reattachment of an amputated hand in Australia at Launceston General. In 1977 Professor Einoder started arthroscopic surgery in Tasmania. He did the first arthroscopic procedures in a public hospital in Australia and was told by health bureaucrats, ‘It will never catch on.’ In the 1980s Dr Rob Fassett, renal specialist, was told no renal dialysis should be done outside Hobart, but he continued and created a first-rate renal service. In 1992, the Launceston General Hospital did the first endovascular procedure in Tasmania and in 1996 it started automatic afterloading, high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Dr Clifford Craig arrived at the Launceston General Hospital on Anzac Day 1926. His recollection of the hospital at the time was as follows:

The outstanding impression of those early days was the hospital’s strong personality. There was obviously a longstanding tradition of excellent training. All members of staff, nurses, ward maids, porters, cooks, gardeners knew what work they had to do and did it well. The hospital discipline was excellent. Such a state of affairs could only have been reached after a long period of good management by people of great capabilities.

Those traditions continue at the Launceston General Hospital today and give us an outstanding foundation for our future as a centre of excellence in training, education, research and patient care.

I have been a member of the Australian Labor Party since the early 1970s. From an early age I was encouraged by my family, particularly by my grandfather, to discuss politics and take an interest in the political issues of the day. He used to say it is always capitalised profits and socialised debt, and the recent global financial crisis brought that home to me, with the Labor government guarantees and stimulus protecting our people. The decline in manufacturing in Australia and the government money poured in to support the debt of businesses certainly confirms my grandfather’s theory. He, along with former Deputy Prime Minister Lance Barnard, encouraged me to stand but that was not the right time for me in terms of my other commitments. Now is the right time for me to represent the people of Bass. I hope to be able to contribute to policy, particularly in the areas of health, education, sport and regional development.

To be elected to represent the people of Bass means that I now have to show my leadership for the benefit of them. To be a good leader requires initiative, creativity, inspiration and vision. The Labor government has a commitment to lifelong learning and I have a vision for the people of Bass: that Launceston should be the Oxford of Australia, an education centre of excellence. We must create a place to live where all levels of government communicate, where all levels of government are passionate about making Bass—indeed, Australia—a better place to live. I want to inspire people to be accountable and responsible for decisions that are made at all levels of government and link progress to advance that responsibility.

Our young people need to be encouraged to find their strengths, exercise their talents and realise their dreams. I believe that young people deserve a political voice and my vision is that all young Australians will be active citizens. I believe that we as a government need to provide more education for our youth about the business and purpose of government and I hope to make a difference in this area.

When I think about all of my ambitions for the people of Bass and all the requests that I have received and those that will be made to me, it is quite daunting. However, I will assemble a strong team behind me who are also committed to Bass and we will work together to deliver. The famous George Bernard Shaw said:

We are made wise not by our recollection of our past, but by our responsibility for our future.

I will take my responsibility as a member of the House of Representatives with honour, compassion, common sense and commitment.

I am proud to be part of a government that will provide answers on issues of real significance for our society: issues such as parliamentary reform, a more inclusive society, a stronger economy, regional development, environmental responsibility, health and education. I too have great faith in the enduring strength of our democratic institutions and I will represent the people of Bass with the commitment to make a difference. I feel very humble and full of anxious anticipation to be standing here today. I pledge my commitment to make a difference for the people of Bass, for the wonderful state of Tasmania, for this federal parliament and for all Australians. It gives me great pleasure to second the motion.

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

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

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the traditional owners, the Ngunnawal people, on whose land this great house stands and I equally acknowledge their elders past and present. I want to personally thank Matilda House for the Welcome to Country. I also acknowledge the Nyungar people of Western Australia and my elders past and present. Their wisdom and guidance ensured that our culture, language and history has endured for 40,000 years and remains vibrant and alive today.

The decisions we make determine our destiny and the choices we make shape our personal future. It is an enormous honour that the electors of Hasluck have bestowed upon me by electing me as their representative for this term of parliament. Only 1,093 people have been privileged to be a member of the House of Representatives. It is with deep and mixed emotion that I, as an Aboriginal man with Noongar, Yamitji and Wongi heritage, stand before you and the members of the House of Representatives as an equal. I want to reflect these feelings and sentiments so eloquently put by the two previous Aboriginal senators, Neville Bonner and Aiden Ridgeway, in their maiden speeches.

In Senator Neville Bonner’s powerful first speech on 8 September 1971, he encapsulated the feelings that I am experiencing today. Equally, Senator Aiden Ridgeway, in his speech 28 years after Senator Neville Bonner’s speech, also outlined the enormity of the task that I assume as a mantle of responsibility to represent the people of Hasluck and advocate for Indigenous Australians. Regretfully, 39 years later, I stand here and the same principles and ideals still apply. Not a great deal has changed significantly.

Hasluck covers an area of approximately 227 square kilometres, is the home to over 93,000 residents and includes the City of Gosnells, the western portion of the Shire of Kalamunda and parts of the Shire of Mundaring and the City of Swan. It is geographically and economically diverse and includes a range of industries, including retail, transport and service industries; some light industry such as the Cole Group and Barminco; and market gardens and vineyards such as the Sandalford Winery. Rotary has an expression of ‘Service above self’ and it is my intention to serve the constituents of Hasluck by fighting for better outcomes that positively impact on their everyday life.

16:58:46

The decision of the Hasluck electors has immortalised them for creating a historic moment in Australia’s history by electing the first Aboriginal member of the House of Representatives. Researchers in the future will analyse the decision made by the people of Hasluck on 21 August 2010. What they are likely to find is that the personal and professional qualities of the candidate were the reasons for their decision.

I am fortunate that I have been elected as the member for Hasluck in Western Australia for a range of reasons, but more importantly because the seat is named after a man who devoted his life to public office and the matters that he sought to right. Sir Paul Hasluck entered federal politics in 1949 and remained as the Liberal member for Curtin until 1969. He served as Minister for Territories, Minister for Defence and Minister for External Affairs. He served as a diplomat and cabinet minister, and was the first Western Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. In reading an extract of his from the House of Representatives parliamentary debates, I was struck by a couple of salient points that remain equally important today. Sir Paul Hasluck stated that the ‘foundations of our policy are two principles’, being equality of opportunity and that ‘there should be no division into classes but that men should stand on their own worth’.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to deal with any social issue. Rather, we should look at the individual needs of the person, the family and the community. For example, the needs of Gosnells residents differ from the needs of Kalamunda residents in my electorate. I want no less for the electors of Hasluck, the people of Western Australia and Australian society as we become immersed within a global economy. I want to achieve changes and outcomes, as I am sure that you all equally desire, that are inclusive because if we do not achieve those changes then we have failed those who have elected us.

I am the oldest child of Don and Mona Wyatt, who raised ten children. My father served in the RAAF towards the end of World War II as a driver and left to work for the Western Australian Government Railways where he worked and ended his career as a railway ganger. In 1972, when I graduated from teachers college my first pay was more than what my father was earning towards the end of his career. My mother was one of the Stolen Generation and spent her childhood years in Roelands Mission near Bunbury in Western Australia.

As a child, I used to listen to the stories shared between my mother and her brothers and sisters about growing up in the respective missions they were sent to. They reminisced about the people they grew up with outside of their own families and the family connections they re-established after leaving the mission. I often wondered about the experiences that remained locked away in their memories and not talked about. What I found even more fascinating was the blurring of the lines between real family and the many others who were accepted as family because they had shared a significant part of their childhood together in the mission.

We all have vivid recollections of the way things were, but as children we did not comprehend the significance of many actions until much later, when we were more capable of understanding the reality of life my mother experienced while she was in Roelands Mission and later as a domestic worker. My parents substantiated this when I was much older and the missing pieces were gained through reading the numerous entries, correspondence and field officer’s reports in my mother’s native welfare department file. It gave us an inkling of the challenges that she faced as a child and later as an adolescent woman when she was sent out to work. The letters from her parents or the entries made about parental contact over a period of time clearly established the fact that her parents had not relinquished their parental rights.

The apology to the Stolen Generation has been a powerful instrument in the healing of both our people and our nation. The apology was acknowledged and received in the spirit for which it was offered. When the former Prime Minister delivered the apology on 13 February 2008 in this chamber I shed tears for my mother and her siblings. My mother and her siblings, along with many others, did not live to hear the words delivered in the apology, which would have meant a great deal to them individually. I felt a sense of relief that the pain of the past had been acknowledged and that the healing could begin. At that point, the standing orders prevented an Indigenous response. On behalf of my mother, her siblings and all Indigenous Australians, I, as an Aboriginal voice in this chamber, say thank you for the apology delivered in the federal parliament and I thank the Hon. Kevin Rudd for honouring his commitment to the Stolen Generation.

I hope that all governments continue to embrace new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed, where enduring approaches need to change and where the future we all influence is based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the agencies of government need to jettison the old mindsets that embody Indigenous Australians as passive recipients of government programs and services, and to instead truly regard people as equals and allow them to be equal partners in developing their solutions. Governments must allow information to be shared so that an informed consent decision-making process is enabled. If change is to occur and become embedded and sustained then all must be equal and active partners in all facets of planning, implementation and accountability, and I would equally apply this to all Australians that we represent.

My parents instilled in us the values of having respect for others, having integrity, trusting others and accepting responsibility for our actions and decisions. We were taught that our word was to be our bond, and that prevails. However, life experiences teach you to be much more astute to those who have ulterior motives based on personal gain.

I have been a battler for most of my life but I have always driven myself to be successful in order to achieve my dreams. I used education as the way to change my life to get to where I am now and I believe that a quality education is the key to success for any young Australian. I have always been inspired by Nelson Mandela, who reinforced the importance of education with these words:

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of a farm worker can become the president of a great nation.

As the son of a railway ganger and a domestic worker who was a part of the Stolen Generation, I am here before you today in this chamber because of the influence of education and my year one teacher, Miss Abernethy. Her unfailing faith in my ability to succeed and serve Australian society resonated on the day of the election when she turned up to hand out how-to-vote cards for me in Maddington. This ongoing support fifty years after I was in her class has been particularly humbling.

This is why I have always believed and promoted the fact that education and access to the knowledge society involves lifelong learning. An education in Corrigan, a rural town in Western Australia, has not been a barrier to my achievements. The local Rotary Club, the Country Women’s Association and a local businessman, Dean Rundle, combined their efforts to ensure I completed my secondary schooling. They met all of the costs associated with my schooling and travel and provided pocket money. They indicated to my parents that they had great faith in the pathway and journey and that I had the opportunity to travel if I was given the right support. I attended Swanleigh Residential College in Swan View to complete my leaving certificate and I graduated as a primary school teacher from Mount Lawley Teachers College.

My career led me to leadership roles in education and health both in Western Australia and in New South Wales. Co-chairing the COAG Indigenous health working group, I achieved a $1.6 billion commitment from all jurisdictions to improve Indigenous health outcomes. For me, that is the jewel in the crown of my work achievements. I was able to contribute effectively in these positions due to my life experiences.

As a teenager I would trap rabbits to put food on the table, sell the excess to the local butcher and tan the skins to provide money for our family of 10. I would get up at 4.30 am, light the fire and ride my bike to check my traps before going to school, and then after school I would chop firewood for others to earn money. On weekends and during school holidays, I worked in a variety of labouring roles, which included being a labourer for brickies, carpenters, plumbers and a roof tiling team. The work was hard but I pulled my weight to earn what I was paid. I was a rouseabout on shearing teams and learnt wool-classing. Experiences such as a farm labourer, a general hand in a local garage washing car parts in petrol on cold mornings, an undertaker’s live-in caretaker, a fettler on the railway line and a grape-picker in the Swan Valley and Caversham are not dissimilar to the experiences of residents in the seat of Hasluck.

Whilst I was campaigning and meeting people at their front doors, I was affected by the number of ordinary Australians who struggle from day to day and in particular the number of seniors, retirees and veterans struggling to make ends meet. I find this an anomaly because the wealth, prosperity and facilities that we take for granted were established and provided through the hard work and sacrifices of our elderly. Additionally, our freedom, the liberties we enjoy and the democratic processes we have today are because of our veterans and the sacrifices that they made for us. I do not want to celebrate a day or week dedicated to seniors and veterans, but instead want to work with members of this House to find real solutions that will enable them to enjoy a comfortable retirement and be financially secure. Elders within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies are revered and respected, and hold a special place—they do not go away but remain as wisdom-givers and guides in our future. The same concept has to be applied to all seniors and retirees, and the support they require should be accorded to them.

As leaders—and I see all of us in this House as leaders—we need to be pathfinders so that we can accelerate the change needed to improve outcomes for our future generations. To me, pathfinders are leaders who shape the future, which is fast, fragile, fashionable and ever-changing. As pathfinders, we forge the way forward and we draw the maps and pathways for the future generations of Australians. As pathfinders, we have to commit to and fight for change. We have to plan for a society that should exist for all Australians in 2030 and 2050.

From my professional experience, health and medical treatment is an example that gives a clear understanding of the rapid impact of change. Today, modern medicine includes substantial work surrounding stem cell research and its application to repairing vital organs and body tissue, DNA profiling and health enhancement to address predisposition to disease. This will ultimately impact on an individual’s wellbeing and prolong the quality of life. Consider the following: in the near future we will be able to have a 360-degree body scan that will identify every organ, blood vessel and nerve which in turn will be stored on a computer and uploaded, and our surgery will be programmed and robotically followed through. The complex incision, treatment of body tissue and sealing of a wound will all be supervised by a surgeon from a central control point. It sounds impossible, but imagine Henry Ford today looking at the assembly line he established. It is now that automated that he would not recognise the original process upon which it was based.

As pathfinders, we need to design education and training systems that are a means through which Australian societies better prepare future generations to invent a better tomorrow for themselves and their children. The opportunity to address this issue has been lost over recent times and we need to redress the current situation so that we develop Australia’s workforce with the skills required for the future. As leaders, we need to be the pathfinders and use our influence at the right times, for the right reasons and for the good of all not the few. We need to continue to search for the best answers and not the familiar ones because they offer the path of least resistance. We need to achieve a legacy of better outcomes for the children of the future and work for the benefit of others and not for personal gain. For all of us as pathfinders, we need to take our ideas and aspirations, act on them, see them through to success and not give up when the quest gets challenging, and remember at all times that we are all our children’s future.

I am passionate about and strongly committed to working towards achieving better outcomes and opportunities for the residents of Hasluck, Indigenous Australians and Australian society marked by justice, legitimacy, integrity and a commitment to supporting these essential virtues. Equally, I strongly believe that we need to provide a lifelong educational pathway that positions our young people to succeed in an ever-changing world where the quick pace of the global and technological society will be ever-present in their lives; provide for our seniors, veterans and those living in poverty, who require practical solutions to their specific needs; and provide strong and visionary leadership that forges our place in the global community as a nation of people led by many, not the few.

I believe that ministers as pathfinders have the capacity to make a difference in shaping Australia’s future. The greatest strength of Australian democracy is that ministers of any party take responsibility for the provision of services, programs and funding for all Australians based on need and not on political expediency. Their thinking should extend beyond the term of a government, even though we give commitments within our election priorities. I expect that the residents of Hasluck will share equally in the evolving commitments and priorities established by ministers and I will ensure that they will not be overlooked. My commitment is to them.

Throughout the campaign and election I was strongly supported by the Hasluck division of the WA Liberal Party and the team of volunteers who provided endless hours of support and encouragement. In the 44th parliament I hope to see Aboriginal members from all parties in their place in the House of Representatives. I have appreciated the personal support given to me since the campaign by the Hon. Tony Abbott and the Hon. Julie Bishop. My patron senator, who has walked very closely with me, Senator Judith Adams, was the mainstay of support that resulted in me standing here as the member for Hasluck in the chamber today.

The things I have done and achieved in life are not for my own edification but to make a difference for others, that they may choose a destiny that meets their needs and the needs of the society in which they live. I have the experience, wisdom, fortitude and energy to take on this responsibility and to do what has to be done to make a difference for the people of Hasluck. As a pathfinder, I will focus on the present and learn from the past to shape the future for the generations to come.

I dedicate my maiden speech, because of the support that I have received, to my fiancee, Anna, and to my sons, Aaron and Brendyn, who continue to make me proud.

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

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

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 1952, a 20-year-old man working as a junior clerk in Sydney spotted a recruitment notice for managerial positions in one of two locations in the South Pacific. Seeking a new challenge, he based his decision as to which of these two locations he would choose, the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea or Fiji, on the toss of a coin: heads, off to New Guinea or, tails, to Fiji. As the saying goes, tails never fails. So it was within weeks of that toss that he was strapped into the seat of a flying boat rising above the magnificent Sydney Harbour, bound for Suva.

Within two years he married the most eligible young lady in the city, a woman of impeccable character from a very well known family, a descendant from the royal island of Bau, the home of the great chiefs. For several years this couple adventured to far-flung islands across the Pacific. They had two children. Then they made a decision. Those people were my parents, and their decision was to surrender their idyllic life and settle in Australia in order to give their two children, named Tony and Lyn, the best opportunities for their own futures and do the same for my brother John and me, who would be born in Australia many years later.

I pay tribute to my dad, Frank Rowland, and affirm my deepest respect for the Wildin family of my mother. I also honour my husband’s family, the Chaayas, who, as Christian Lebanese, fled Beirut and the impending civil war, coming to Australia in the early 1970s. My mother-in-law, Sue, was pregnant with the baby whom I would eventually marry.

The story of my family parallels those of so many others in the electorate of Greenway. I acknowledge the diversity of ethnicities, religions and life experiences which comprise the people of Greenway, whom I represent in this House today with great humility and determination. The election campaign in Greenway confirmed for me some beliefs that I have always considered self-evident. Above all, irrespective of one’s country of birth, or suburb of origin, every parent essentially holds the same desire: that their children should have a life better than they themselves had. The starting point for this is that parents demand the best educational opportunities for their children. As someone who was born in Blacktown and whose parents selflessly pursued that goal for me, I have always believed in education as the great enabler. It is the key to fulfilling employment, economic opportunity, the joy of teamwork and collegiality.

Education drives a virtuous cycle, with the capacity to overcome the misery of intergenerational unemployment, poverty and crime. It is from this that my belief in the Labor Party and the labour movement stems—an overarching policy objective that your postcode should not dictate your future and an obligation to generate ideas and live a life which promotes equality of opportunity. In my 20 years as a local Labor activist, this has always been my guiding objective. And so I commit to the people of Greenway that I will be a passionate advocate for the best educational infrastructure and resources for all our schools. I will strive to maximise access to trades training and higher education to achieve a society where we all benefit from the learnings of children and adults alike.

Of course I would not be in a position to make this commitment without first being elected by the people of Greenway. I sincerely thank you for the privilege of representing you. I am acutely aware of the challenges we face as communities within a community. We have a wide range of people and place, of both well-established suburbs and those at the urban fringe—from the old southerly suburbs like Lalor Park, Pendle Hill and Toongabbie, to the middle band of newer suburbs in Glenwood, Quakers Hill and Acacia Gardens, to the acreages of Riverstone and Schofields in the north—those same pastures are of course in a state of immense change as they are transformed into new suburbs such as Stanhope Gardens, The Ponds and Kellyville Ridge, where one can stand in the street and literally see the edge of metropolitan Sydney under construction.

I would not be standing here today without the incredible personal sacrifice and commitment to the cause of Labor demonstrated by so many individuals and organisations. I firstly thank my husband, Michael, who has backed me in everything I have done from the first day we met over 18 years ago. Michael worked tirelessly throughout the campaign. He maintained calm and gave me quality support no matter what the pressure. So much was this the case that Michael was independently dubbed ‘model spouse of candidate’. Michael, you are the love of my life.

I thank every one of the local ALP branch members and other volunteers who worked for months on the campaign. I thank the campaign director of the Greenway federal electorate council, Brian Thomas, and his wife Judy. Brian, a retired professional truck driver, offered some of the most insightful observations I have ever heard about why he and so many others were prepared to do so much for my candidacy with no expectation of personal reward. He said:

It’s because when you help elect a local Labor representative you’re actually doing yourself a favour.

That is the great thing about true Labor people. To the New South Wales ALP state organiser, Brendan Cavanagh, thank you for assembling the most professional and dedicated group of staff any candidate could ask for and for driving such a gruelling campaign schedule. To Patrick Cook and Dominic Ofner, I want you to know that nothing you did ever went either unnoticed by me or without my thanks, including the freezing cold mornings at our countless train station appearances and your perpetual sleep deprivation. A special thank you also to the scores of Young Labor volunteers who helped on the campaign. As a former Young Labor activist, I appreciate your generous support and I embrace my responsibility to encourage regeneration in our great movement.

Growing up in Greenway, I personally witnessed the power of education to effect change. My husband grew up in a public housing area of Mount Druitt. Like many people from diverse ethnic backgrounds who live in Greenway, he could not speak English when he started school. He attended the local public school in Shalvey until year 12. Thanks to his personal determination, supportive family and dedicated teachers, he was accepted into the University of Sydney and he earned first-class honours in economics and law. Today he is a partner at the leading law firm of Corrs Chambers Westgarth. I know there are scores of young people in Western Sydney today who have the same, if not greater, capacity to succeed. But even now we too often leave the prospects of young people to chance—the chance that they may be taken under the wing of a supportive teacher at a formative time in their life, the possibility that their family can afford all the educational resources they need.

In today’s labour market, a global market, we cannot let luck determine the educational and career prospects of our children. I believe these things because I was taught the importance of both hard work and earning my own good fortune by giving back to the community around me. My education at St Bernadette’s Lalor Park and later at Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta taught me to be an agent of change. My teachers encouraged me to be a woman of action as well as opinion, a lesson which has guided my life.

My first job was in Greenway as a 15-year-old checkout operator in a supermarket in Blacktown, working to support myself through school and later through university. That was the lot of many of my friends at the time and it is still the case today—the well-trodden path of working and studying. Over the eight years that I scanned groceries, packed shelves and was eventually promoted to the cash office, I came to appreciate the rewards of what was often hard manual labour. My first shift was in early 1987 and I earned just under $30. I spent nearly every cent of that first pay packet on the latest Bon Jovi album. To this day I know every word of its every song.

My university studies subsequently took me into the law. During my 10 years as a lawyer at Gilbert and Tobin in Sydney I specialised in telecommunications regulation, competition, privacy and broadcasting laws. I was extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work with senior partners who are recognised as world leaders in their fields. I worked with some of the largest companies in Australia and the world. This exposed me to the realities and the challenges of the corporate environment.

There is a long list of colleagues from this time whom I want to thank, individuals such as Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Catherine Dermody, Angus Henderson, Peter Leonard, Ara Margossian, Rob Nicholls and Peter Waters, who taught me the substantive legal and technical expertise I needed and life skills like resilience, collaboration and problem solving.

I am also grateful to Gilbert and Tobin for giving me the opportunity to work on projects around the world that nurtured my personal belief in the power of information technology to deliver just social outcomes. These included designing the regulatory environment for the high-speed broadband network in Malaysia; improving telecommunications access in remote areas of Cambodia; working in Ramallah to help establish an independent regulator and promote investment in the sector; universal service delivery in rural Sri Lanka; and infrastructure development for underserved regions of China.

It is therefore with a degree of practical expertise and responsiveness to the residents of west and north-west Sydney that I embrace the development of Australia’s National Broadband Network. Labor’s NBN plan will transform the way in which people communicate and work, enhance living standards, create better access to education and health services and deliver real choice, consistent with the role of Labor governments as catalysts for economic and social change. As a former telco regulatory lawyer, I need to emphasise the importance of the NBN as a piece of fundamental infrastructure reform—something that is often overlooked in the public debate.

Let us be clear: the wholesale only, open access infrastructure of the NBN will transform the very structure of the telco sector. By separating the network layer from the services layer, the NBN will facilitate effective competition and choice for all Australians, regardless of where they live or work. It will do this by treating the network—the ducts, the poles, the fibre cables and the electronics that constitute the NBN—as it should be: a national piece of utility infrastructure. One only needs to look at the continued growth of fixed bandwidth—a rate of 20 to 30 percent each year—to realise that Australia’s existing telco infrastructure will shortly pass its use-by date.

In 10 or 20 years our children will look back on the current debate about the NBN and will be shocked by the short-sightedness of some of the views expressed about the NBN today, particularly the commentary that is fixated on the download path: the false assumption that the NBN is merely a matter of faster emails or web-surfing. The reality is the NBN is not about the download. It is all about the upload. It is about a whole new category of enhanced services and applications that can only be achieved on a high-speed broadband platform that requires speeds only fibre technology can give—services and applications that have not even been invented yet. We have a glimpse today of what some of those applications will be, and they are positive. In the area of health, they include online medical consultations, remote diagnosis of electronic medical images and in-home monitoring of elderly people and sufferers of chronic disease.

The need for a nation to invest in a truly national broadband network is no longer the exception; it is the rule. Other countries, both within our region and beyond, understand the importance of high-speed broadband for economic growth. They understand the technical limitations of copper and wireless networks and the critical role of national government in making high-speed broadband a reality. These are not countries which adopted the adage of Sir William Preece, the chief engineer of the British Post Office, who in 1876 reportedly said:

The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.

This is why I commit to the residents of Greenway that I will be a strong advocate to deliver the NBN, particularly in Riverstone and its surrounding areas as the site of the first metro Sydney rollout. 

On the same day that I was declared the member for Greenway a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to attend the official opening of two school infrastructure projects in my electorate, both constructed under Building the Education Revolution, at Holy Cross Primary in Glenwood and at St John’s Primary in Riverstone. In his remarks at each of these openings, Bishop Anthony Fisher commented on the importance of the highest quality educational infrastructure and resources for the future of our children. For these same reasons, I believe the NBN to be critical to the development of future generations of highly educated and inclusive citizens.

Some of those opposite have vowed to wage a campaign to destroy the NBN. I say here today: I vow that I will destroy that campaign. One of the reasons I am driven to support the NBN is that I support investing in young people. There is a special obligation here. With over eight per cent of its population under the age of five, Greenway is effectively Australia’s nursery.

I also support the investments in our young people made by many non-government organisations, including Barnardos Australia. As respite carers for a young girl through Barnardos, Michael and I learnt how sadly frequent it is the case that we as a society fail children. As a volunteer duty solicitor for female victims of domestic violence over many years, as part of my commitment to pro bono work, I have also witnessed how adults fail each other and too often it is children who suffer the most.

The past few months have also taught me about the suffering of families in Greenway who have a child with a learning or development disorder. Until I encountered these families on the campaign trail, I did not fully appreciate the meaning of the term ‘special needs child’. I remember especially one mother in Quakers Hill, who ran down the street to catch up with me while I was doorknocking. She passionately wanted me to know what it means to love and care for a child whose emotions will switch from placid to violent without warning. I could do only one thing: I listened. I found myself doing far more listening in this campaign than I had ever done in my life. I thank that particular lady and the scores of other local residents over the past months who have patiently educated me in understanding their children’s special needs and their desire for them to have a rewarding life.

I know that it is not possible to respond or connect with people unless you are genuine. I can assure the people of Greenway that I will continue to be accessible, genuine and active during this parliamentary term. I am not someone you will just see at election time. Indeed, I found the experience of putting myself forward for public life to be personally gratifying. I was constantly running into old school friends, former teachers and my childhood netball coach, not to mention the people who saw me out and about so often that we would end up greeting one another like friends.

I was also touched over the past few months to receive so many good wishes from people who knew my mother, Marie. These well wishes came from complete strangers to me whom Mum had befriended during her life, as well as her fellow helpers on the St Bernadette’s tuckshop roster. I was 11 years old when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Six years of countless drugs, chemotherapy, radiation and the most unimaginable pain followed, but her survival could be prolonged no further and she died shortly after my 17th birthday.

The Cancer Institute New South Wales notes that breast cancer remains the most prevalent form of the disease in our community, with nearly 50,000 survivors now in New South Wales. Although mortality rates declined in the decade from 1997 by 14 per cent, it is still a significant public health challenge. There remain dramatic regional variations in the relative survival rates for cancer sufferers. Statistically, Western Sydney does not fare well in the likelihood of death from cancer after diagnosis. On behalf of the survivors, their families and those who have lost, I make a special commitment to supporting cancer research, particularly to address the disparity between geographic outcomes.

It has been said that this election campaign in Greenway was not one of five weeks or nine months but rather 20 years. I want to thank my family and some of my long-time friends for being with me on that journey: David Tierney, the ‘man in the hat’, for his considered and thoughtful advice; Milton Dick for being my touchstone; Mark McLeay, who continued his commitment despite the arrival of his new baby, Xavier, in the middle of the campaign; Leo Kelly, with whom I served as a councillor and his Deputy Mayor on Blacktown City Council, and his wife, Janet; my in-laws—Sue, Sam, Myrna, Sandra and Charlie—for all their hard work and especially their good humour; the late Sylvia Whilesmith, the legendary Labor matriarch of Western Sydney; the Hon. Amanda Fazio, President of the New South Wales Legislative Council, for her mentorship; the Hon. Nathan Rees, the member for Toongabbie, who devoted so much of his personal time to the campaign; and my friend the member for Chifley. It is my pleasure that we are here together, and I know we will be an effective team to serve the people of Western Sydney. Ultimately, I thank the people of Greenway for the chance to represent them.  You have given me an extraordinary opportunity to do the things that I have always believed in.

My belief in education, my belief in family, in community and in work, my determination to pursue social justice and equality in all areas of human endeavour where I might be privileged to make a difference, my practical commitment to Labor ideals, my working life clearly defining my support for Labor in our education and NBN policies—those who commit to any of these imperatives with half-baked solutions will be judged harshly indeed. I will not be one of them. With this opportunity comes responsibility. Today I have committed to a series of actions as Greenway’s representative in the federal parliament. I expect to be judged by the people of Greenway on how I perform against those commitments. I intend to live up to that responsibility with civility, with dedication and, most of all, with compassion.

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commence my remarks today by congratulating Ken Wyatt, the member for Hasluck, our first Indigenous Australian member in the House of Representatives, on a very moving and impressive speech. Ken Wyatt, you have done all Australians proud today with your address. I also rise today as a very proud elected member of this parliament. It is an honour and a privilege to continue to represent the people of the Paterson electorate, many of whom I have come to know personally and all of whom I serve with pride. I certainly think that I have one of the best electorates in the country but, then again, I may be a little biased.

This is the fifth term that I have had the pleasure of committing to fight for my constituents, and yet it is with equal if not more passion that I do so here today. I say that because I am absolutely committed to holding the Gillard Labor government to account. This is a government which has already broken a major promise to the Australian people just weeks after being elected and is now determined to impose a carbon tax that will drive up power bills and the cost of living. I will fight this unjustified tax, as I am sure it will be one of the major issues in this term of government.

Before I address some of the other priorities for the next three years, I would like to acknowledge the changes that have been made since I last stood here. Firstly, congratulations to you, Mr Speaker, on your deserved reappointment. To the Deputy Speaker, the Hon. Peter Slipper, and the Second Deputy Speaker, the Hon. Bruce Scott, my congratulations also. I would also like to officially welcome back to my electorate of Paterson the areas of East Maitland, Luskintyre, Hillsborough, Rosebrook, Melville, Maitland Vale and the parts of Millers Forest, all of which I have represented before in this parliament, all of which have been constantly shuffled through redistributions. To the Gloucester shire, I bid goodbye. While it is with sadness that I say farewell, I am confident that my colleague the member for Lyne will actively represent the needs of the Gloucester community. In particular, I look forward to working with the member for Lyne on future projects, including the ongoing campaign for the much-needed federal roads funding for the upgrade of Bucketts Way.

In my time as the member for Paterson we have come a long way and there have been great achievements and improvements across the electorate. However, there is always more that can be done. At the top of that list are the promises that the Gillard Labor government made to my constituents during the election campaign. These promises must be met as soon as possible.

Promise No. 1 was the redevelopment of the Birubi Point Surf Lifesaving Club. The government had committed $2.2 million to help build new offices, function space and a kitchen. I will also continue to represent the Fingal Beach Surf Life Saving Club, which missed out on the $1 million funding needed to replace its burnt out surf club. Both provide great services to our community.

Promise No. 2 was the $1.25 million that the coalition pledged to implement the Great Lakes Water Quality Improvement Plan, which the Labor Party also matched. Quality water is important not only for our environmental health but also as a strong tourism drawcard for the Great Lakes region, and that is why I will be ensuring that this government keeps its promise to fund this important initiative.

Promise No. 3 was for $7 million for a GP superclinic in Raymond Terrace. I would never refuse any funding for health services in the Paterson electorate but I have been discussing this matter with various local health providers—including the Hunter Rural Division of General Practice; GP Access, representing the urban division of general practice; and the community alike—and they are unanimous in their opinion that this funding would be better distributed across a range of areas resulting in better health outcomes for the population.

The overall consensus is that the $7 million should be divided and invested in at least three areas of critical need. Firstly, I believe a portion of the $7 million should be invested in the already approved HealthOne clinic in Raymond Terrace, which has been a work in progress by the New South Wales government since 2005. Hunter New England Area Health Service purchased the old swimming pool site in Raymond Terrace for this project. Capital works documentation has been sent to the state Department of Health. Preliminary concept plans have been drawn up and a development application has been prepared to lodge with the Port Stephens Council. The plan is to commence building in 2011, opening in June 2012. The HealthOne facility will accommodate GPs, community health and allied health together with visiting specialists and other ambulatory care providers.

The Gillard Labor government made a rash decision as a grab for votes and promised $7 million for one GP superclinic—mind you, the one at Nelson Bay was only $2.5 million—without any community consultation. It makes no sense to duplicate a clinic that is already well into the planning stages and would be up and running well before a GP superclinic could be. After all, the Gillard Labor government has only completed a tiny fraction of the 36 clinics it promised during the 2007 election campaign, let alone in this latest round. I briefly raised this with the Minister for Health and Ageing yesterday and will seek a formal meeting in the coming weeks. I will indicate that it would be far more beneficial for the federal government to put a portion of the $7 million towards the HealthOne clinic and to use the rest for other projects.

Value for money is important, especially when other communities are screaming out for GP services. Recently the last GP service in the area of Clarence Town closed due to the retirement of its doctor. Community groups such as the Dungog/Clarence Town Country Women’s Association and Clarence Town Lions Club have written to me concerned that their community has now lost both medical practices. I have had the opportunity to meet with these community groups and with the CEO of the Hunter Rural Division of General Practice, Alison Crocker, to discuss options and a way forward to ensure growing communities like Clarence Town and the surrounds recover these important services. The residents of the Medowie-Salt Ash area have also been vocal in their need for increased GP services. The RAAF personnel around this area have already missed out because of the breaking of the Labor Party’s promise at the 2007 election to build a defence family healthcare clinic—a facility which would have eased the pressure in getting to see a GP in that area.

Securing access to GPs and specialist medical services for the people of Paterson electorate has always been a priority of mine. In Paterson we have a rapidly ageing population, while the median age of our doctors is also increasing. This means that demand for health services is becoming greater while more doctors are nearing retiring age, creating a doctor shortage as currently evidenced in Clarence Town. For all of the rhetoric that we have heard from this Labor government over the past couple of years regarding the overhaul of our health system, very little has changed or improved. However, now the Gillard Labor government has a chance to improve the lives of our regional patients by working with our local communities, and I urge it to do so.

The final promise that I would like to draw attention to is to alleviate the effects of planned aircraft noise from the introduction of the Joint Strike Fighter program at RAAF Base Williamtown. The Australian Noise Exposure Forecast, 2025 ANEF, was introduced in October 2009 and superseded by the draft Australian Noise Exposure Concept, ANEC 2025, released in May 2010. This has created a great amount of anxiety within my constituents, and it is the government’s responsibility to deliver a fair outcome for residents and for the RAAF alike. During the election campaign, Labor promised to convene a strategic task force of government agencies and local residents to explore all options and to remove the 2025 air noise draft mapping. This announcement contained absolutely no tangible ideas to shift the current mapping and, worse still, only sought to duplicate the Williamtown Consultative Forum which was already in place.

As a result, I will instead be fighting for the Gillard Labor government to adopt the coalition’s four-point plan, developed in consultation with the community, to alleviate the effects of aircraft noise and provide greater certainty for RAAF Base Williamtown. That includes installing a second instrument landing system to increase the number of aircraft approaches from the sea rather than over developed residential areas. Secondly, it should extend the runway towards the sand hills by the maximum amount to move the noise footprint away from the Raymond Terrace and Brandy Hill areas. Thirdly, the 2025 mapping should be immediately repealed and replaced with a new ANEC, incorporating all of the above measures. Finally, an independent audit committee should be established to examine all proposals to mitigate the noise effect, including the grandfathering rule used by Ipswich council to address construction and development issues under noise affected areas. It is simply unacceptable that the people of Port Stephens should be burdened with the potential impacts on their health and property values when they simply do not have to be. The government needs to address the concerns of our community and provide for the operations at RAAF Base Williamtown for the long term. Neither residents nor I will allow Labor to forget its responsibilities.

As member for Paterson I pride myself on knowing the needs of my constituents, because I am out and about in the electorate almost every day talking to them and taking up their fight here in Canberra. For that reason I will be making representations on behalf of my constituents to the government to act on all the commitments made during the election campaign, whether by the ALP or the coalition. Those commitments made by me were based on months of discussions with my constituents. The worthy projects include a hydrotherapy pool and chemotherapy units at Forster-Tuncurry so that patients do not have to travel to Taree for treatment. Travel is the last stress patients need when they are battling illness.

Digital television upgrades at Vacy and Elizabeth Beach: reception upgrades would ensure that my constituents can access reliable, local, clear digital television. This not only has impacts for news and entertainment but will also ensure that local businesses can advertise to local people. This is important for our local community.

I will continue to fight for skate parks for Wallalong and Paterson so that the children in those towns have somewhere safe away from traffic to ride their scooters, bicycles and skateboards. Skate parks also encourage kids to be social and to stay active—important lessons to be carried throughout life.

Crime and antisocial behaviour are issues that need to be addressed in the Paterson electorate and closed-circuit television cameras have a proven track record in combating illegal behaviour. As such, in 2007 I successfully fought to have CCTV cameras placed in vandalism hot spots in Nelson Bay, and now, following their success, other business owners have told me they would like to have security cameras rolled out as well. That is why I am pushing for federal funding to roll out a series of cameras across Dungog, Port Stephens, Forster and East Maitland.

I will also fight to ensure funding is allocated to three Green Army projects under whichever name this Labor government may deem to put them, those being the Pipers Creek Walkway, Tilligerry Habitat Reserve and Mangrove Boardwalk. Why? Because these projects are important to our community, important to the environment. These projects were to deliver significant training and practical experience in the vital areas of environmental management while delivering community benefits.

Last but certainly not least, I will continue to fight for the $71 million to upgrade roads between Paterson, Vacy and Gresford, the Bucketts Way, the Lakes Way, the Nelson Bay to Fingal bypass and Main Road 301 between Raymond Terrace and Dungog. Labor made absolutely no commitment to new road funding for the electorate of Paterson during the election campaign. All their candidate would say is that he would fight for funding, but not one dollar was committed. But it is an issue which is always at the top of my agenda. I have always believed that when you build a road you create a highway to opportunity. Good quality roads are a basic need for regional communities, which rely on roads to access health, education and other vital facilities. Quality roads encourage economic growth in smaller towns and safety for drivers. Every dollar invested potentially saves a life.

Roads are also one of the reasons I oppose the Tillegra Dam, which is sure to be an important issue during this term of government. The damage bill to local roads due to truck movements in construction has been estimated at between $30 million and $35 million, yet the New South Wales Labor government has committed just $1 million in repair work. There have also been serious questions raised about the dam’s effect on the local environment. All these issues have created division and uncertainty for local businesses and residents alike in the Dungog area. The most recent independent review by the Centre for International Economics, CIE, has rejected the $477 million dam as the best way to meet the Hunter region’s future water needs. I stand by my decision in 2009 to stand up against the dam, and in 2010 I am still yet to be convinced it is the best solution for the Hunter’s future water needs. I will continue to place pressure on our state Labor government and federal Labor government to stop work on the dam and reconsider other water supply options.

Finally, I would like to draw attention to the Greens-Labor plan to install Commonwealth marine protected areas up and down the east coast of Australia, including the entire coastal fringe of the Paterson electorate. The Gillard Labor government completely failed to negotiate with my constituents on this matter, despite the fact that much of the Paterson community lives, works and plays on the coast. I wholeheartedly support the protection of our marine environment. It would be natural; I come from the diving industry. However, I am also keenly aware of the rights of fishing and tourism communities which rely on our waterways for their livelihoods. That is why it is vital that the right balance be struck, through constant and thorough consultation. My constituents can rest assured that I will do everything within my power to ensure their coastal rights are protected.

As I have said before, it is paramount that we hold the Gillard Labor government to account. Regardless of any changes to parliamentary procedure, that is the job of the opposition and I am absolutely committed to it. Already, just weeks after the election, Prime Minister Gillard has broken a promise to the Australian people. Prime Minister Gillard categorically ruled out a carbon tax before the election; now she is working to impose one in this term.

There have been far too many broken promises under Labor, and Australia cannot afford another term like the last one under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. We as a nation are in record debt and we have seen record waste through mismanaged programs like the school halls rip-off and the insulation disaster. Interest rates are spiralling upwards because of the national debt, and grocery and power prices will skyrocket under the Julia Gillard-Bob Brown carbon tax. My pledge is to work every day to ensure that the Gillard Labor government cannot continue to break the promises it makes to my constituents. We as a coalition will also fight to ensure that Labor hears our voice loud and clear. Had it heeded our advice prior to rolling out the insulation scheme or the BER program, we would not have seen such waste and tragedy.

I am proud to represent the electorate of Paterson and work hard all year round to represent my community. Of course, even though the work level stays constant, stress levels have been high over the past several weeks in light of the election campaign. With that in mind I would like to say a few thankyous. I believe a local member is only as strong as the team behind him, and in Paterson my team produced an unprecedented result, with a swing of almost five per cent towards the coalition, winning the seat with 51.3 per cent of the primary vote. This was in spite of a redistribution which lowered our winning margin to under half a per cent.

To my staff members, chief of staff Sarah Harrison, electorate advisers Adam Olsen, Simon Ryan and Gary Hoson, media adviser Alexandra Wilson and my former defence adviser Richard Briedis: you all put your lives on hold and embraced the even longer working hours, unusual requests and constant stress that always accompany a Team Baldwin election campaign. You are an asset to the office. More importantly, your knowledge and contentment are assets to the Paterson community. To the family and friends of my staff: thank you for lending me your loved ones 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To the volunteers who worked tirelessly and passionately for me throughout the campaign, doing everything from driving to stuffing envelopes to answering phones to manning the information booths, nothing was ever too much trouble. A special thankyou to Councillor Bob Geoghegan, my campaign director, Councillor Stephen Mudd and his wife Ros, Dennis and Elizabeth Martin, Pam and Alan Walker, Kim Cregan, Michelle Mexon, Susan Swords, Cassandra Ryan, David Lonie, Di Gibbs, Rob Olsen, Colin Haddow, Sonny Morris, and especially to Doreen Bradley and of course Lady, our little mascot. To the 700-plus local volunteers who turned out on polling day from the wee hours of the morning until the last vote was counted in the evening, time does not permit me to name you all but to all of you I express my sincere gratitude. You came from every corner of the electorate to champion our cause and it made the difference. It is a pleasure to represent you in this parliament.

To my immediate family—my wife, Cynthia, and my children, Robbie, David and Samantha—I say thank you. It is wonderful to be able to share this moment with you. I know that it has sometimes been difficult to spend time together. As a husband and a father I am often missing in action. But I do know that I always have your love and support, and you have mine. It is this support that allows me to properly serve the Paterson electorate, not only making things better for my family and my children but for all families and all children. In the words of William Shakespeare:

I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks.

Finally, I say to my constituents: I am energised and ready to take on all the challenges of the future to make sure that Paterson continues to be a wonderful place to live and to work. I will fight to deliver the outcomes we deserve as well as hold this government to account. My door is always open. Thank you again for giving me the honour of being your voice in the Australian parliament. I will make sure our voice is heard loud and clear, because I listen locally and act nationally.

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

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

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I humbly and proudly rise as the elected member for McEwen. It is both an honour and a great privilege to be elected to the Australian parliament to serve in this place as a representative of a vibrant, strong and resilient community. I shall never underestimate the responsibility that comes with this honour, nor the opportunities that it brings to help shape a better Australia for our future.

Today, as I reflect on the journey that has brought me to this place, I consider the formative events in my life, both personal and professional, all of which have shaped my perspectives on the issues confronting our great nation. I grew up on the outskirts of Melbourne, in the working-class suburb of Dallas, a suburb that has enjoyed great improvements under the current member for Calwell’s time in this place. Our family home was not blessed with all the material trappings of wealth, but we enjoyed a very warm and loving environment. Both of my parents worked very hard to give us opportunities in life. I am now able to reflect fondly on those times we had as kids packing up the car and the caravan and heading off to the far-flung corners of Australia, taking in all its magnificent sights and experiences.

I was always raised to accept people as they are, to acknowledge that it is our unique personalities and character traits that make our diverse and accepting Australian society a great one in the context of a sometimes intolerant world. Likewise, my parents always encouraged me to pursue my interests, trust my instincts and back my judgments. It is from them that I first learnt the value of serving the community, of helping others and of seeking to do what is best. It is to them that I wish to first say thank you. George and Lorraine, you have been an inspiration. I also want to thank my sister, Glenda, and my brother-in-law, Gary, who have always been pillars of strength to me, encouraging me to follow my dreams and giving me support in those endeavours.

But it is with a heavy heart that I want to acknowledge those special persons in my life who cannot be here to share this occasion. First, there is Carol, the mother of my partner, Lisa. Carol was a true salt-of-the-earth mum. She showed over the many years that a mother’s unconditional love and enduring encouragement is the bond that keeps a family together. Carol was always supportive, always interested in what you were doing and always quick with a ‘Robbie, would you like a cup of coffee, love?’ That was Carol’s way of taking the opportunity to sit with you and ask, ‘How was your day?’ and ask what was going on with your life. There are many jokes we can make about mothers-in-law, but my mother-in-law was a good one.

Also, I would like to acknowledge my younger brother, Jason, who passed away suddenly from Marfan syndrome when he was 29. It is a little-known disease that affects on average one in 3,000 people, yet most of us, doctors included, have little knowledge of the symptoms and effects. Marfan syndrome is a life-threatening disorder of the body’s connective tissue. It is caused by a faulty gene that hampers the elasticity of arteries. For most people with Marfan syndrome the most serious problem is in the aorta, which becomes prone to dissection and a tearing between its layers. Should the aorta tear, you have an immediate life-threatening problem, and, in Jason’s case, death occurred very quickly. It is one of the reasons I am incredibly proud of the fact that this government delivered a national organ transplant authority. The authority will help many Australians receive life-saving transplants, and that is all because a Labor government chose to make a difference.

After leaving school in year 10, I completed an apprenticeship in shoemaking. I worked in tough conditions in a workplace that was poor in its respect for its workers. Yet, despite those hardships, I was constantly buoyed by the positivism and high work ethic of my culturally and ethnically diverse colleagues, who had often been suffering from extreme poverty and oppression when they left their home countries. They shared one common aspiration: to better their lives and the lives of their families. Reflecting upon this period of my life, I can now see the many parallels between that experience and the experience of modern Australia, a country that is sometimes struggling to understand the challenges of our diverse community and, in equal measure, to grasp the benefits of it. Yet we are driven by a fundamental desire at the heart of our national being to build a better Australia for ourselves and for our loved ones. I recall today with fondness the many people I met there, some of whom I am proud to still call friends today.

This period had an indelible effect on my sense of justice in the workplace, in particular my personal disdain for discriminatory practices. To me, no form of discrimination is as abhorrent as that which preys on personal weaknesses, such as an inability to speak fluent English or an individual’s lack of understanding and comprehension of their workplace rights. I believe that it is the right of every working Australian to expect a safe, discrimination-free workplace. I also firmly believe that working Australians should be able to collectively bargain for a better future.

Following my apprenticeship, I spent a few years as a service contractor for the RACV and as a tow truck operator before moving into the transport industry and building a career in sales and management. It was there that I spent more than 10 years working with owner-drivers, mechanics and fleet owners, supplying their replacement parts to keep this vital industry on the move. The experience enabled me to better understand the issues faced by truck drivers and fleet operators, issues that continue today, such as long hours, poor pay rates, non-uniform road laws and, sometimes, unscrupulous operators who will continue to pressure owner-drivers to risk their life and limb for a pittance. More can and should be done to provide a safe and secure workplace for the transport industry workers of Australia and, in turn, the travelling public.

It was during this time that I had the good fortune of meeting Mr Don Nardella, a man who I continue to consider to be a great friend. Don encouraged me to join the Labor family, to be part of a movement which shares my values of fairness and support for those in need—a movement which, as former Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley said in his famous Light on the Hill speech, strives to bring something ‘better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people’. He went on to say:

If the movement can make someone more comfortable, give to some father or mother a greater feeling of security for their children, a feeling that if a depression comes there will be work, that the government is striving its hardest to do its best, then the Labour movement will be completely justified.

These words still ring true today. The obligations of the labour movement then remain the obligations of the labour movement now—to strive for the betterment of our society and our nation, to support those who have put their trust and their faith in us that we may improve their lives, and to be there to support those around the globe who need a helping hand. We are the Lucky Country and I believe it is incumbent on us, as a matter of international decency, to aim to meet the Millennium Development Goals, to help those who, for whatever reason, find themselves in a country less fortunate than ours.

It is with these obligations in mind that I recall the first time I had the great pleasure of meeting a gentleman who would become a mentor and a sounding post for me, a man who in his own right embodied the values of Chifley. The man I refer to is Peter Cleeland. As members would be aware, Peter sadly passed away in 2007. But it is my firm belief that his legacy of public service remains a standard to which others should aspire. As a policeman, as a councillor and as a federal member, Peter gave so much of himself to his community, and, in my case, he gave me a start down a path the result of which, in part, is my presence here today.

I first met Peter at a local community festival. Following a pleasant exchange I left with a native tree and, importantly, an invitation to the next ALP branch meeting. Suffice to say my gardening skills meant that the tree did not last long, but my friendship with Peter continued for many, many years. Peter introduced me to great Labor people, many of whom have been involved in the most recent election campaign, most notably my good friend Councillor Pam McLeod. These people assisted and encouraged me to develop my understanding of the political process. To my mind this was critical to my journey, as I had decided by this time that I could not effect change for the betterment of our communities without being prepared to put myself forward, to stand up to scrutiny and to be part of a movement to make this country better.

In 1999 I gratefully received the endorsement of the ALP as its candidate for the Central Highlands in the Victorian Legislative Council. History records that I was not elected. Ben Hardman won the seat of Seymour, Andre Haermeyer retained the seat of Yan Yean, and, most importantly, Steve Bracks led Labor to a historic victory. In the following years I watched as a minority government delivered a new style of leadership—one which would listen and act for all Victorians, no matter where they lived—and ended the conservative parties’ treatment of regional Victoria as the toenail of the state.

In 2002 I decided to again stand for preselection. On this occasion I was elected to the Legislative Council, where under Steve Bracks we started a challenging process of parliamentary reform. At the same time, the state government placed an emphasis on rural and regional community needs, in turn delivering much needed investment in infrastructure and services that has allowed regional Victoria to grow and prosper. It was during this time that I also met Joe Helper, who has become a great friend to me, and I thank him for his assistance in my being here today.

In 2007 I received support from the ALP to stand for the federal seat of McEwen. As I reflect upon this period I can honestly say that, despite the end result, this was an exciting time for all involved. The campaign had a real energy about it. It was clear that the Howard government had become arrogant and out of touch in the eyes of the community and that Labor was ready and able to govern. As members would recall, McEwen came down to the wire. It took some eight long months and five recounts to finally get a result. Sadly, it was not the result that I had sought.

Those members who sit here today who have themselves been the unfortunate recipients of electoral defeat will understand the period of self-reflection that inevitably follows. It was in this time that I recall the words that I had learnt at a very young age: it does not matter how many times you get knocked down; what is important is that you get back up one more time. That campaign and the community support I received made me more determined to continue on and work for the ALP victory in McEwen.

As the member for Maribyrnong quoted to the House in 2008:

Mankind … is divided between the party of Conservatism and the party of Innovation, between the Past and the Future, between Memory and Hope.

Never more evident were these words than at this year’s federal election. We had Julia Gillard’s Labor Party ‘moving forward’—moving forward in protecting the economy, moving forward in health and moving forward in education and infrastructure. On the other hand there were those opposite. Their message was clear: stop, cut, end, turn back—not an inspiring plan, hardly what one would call a vision for the future of this great nation. They are stuck in the past and not offering the community any hope, any innovation or any future.

McEwen is by its very nature diverse—diverse in topography, diverse in demography and diverse in the needs and the wants that will drive our communities towards a more prosperous future. There are the growing outer-metropolitan suburbs of the south, the regional towns and communities across the north and west and the leafy ranges of the east. There are sections of the electorate which require better access to health, education and job opportunities to grow and survive, while other rural areas have suffered through the worst drought in living history and need continued economic support.

In 2009 the local community was devastated by the disaster we know as Black Saturday. Whole towns were ripped apart and decimated by these awful fires—fires which, in the space of a single day, had become the deadliest and worst-ever natural disaster in Australian history, with a death toll of 173, more than 2,000 homes lost, several townships completely obliterated and more than 7,000 people displaced and struggling to rebuild their lives. The scars on the landscape are slowly beginning to heal but we should remember that the scars in the hearts and the minds of the community may never heal.

Personally, I was pretty lucky on that day. The fire came into our street on three sides. I want to put on record my thanks for the unbelievable courage and dedication shown by our volunteers in fighting this raging inferno. They kept it at bay and saved us from joining the many families who lost all they had. It was a terrible night. I recall a lady in a car driving very slowly down our street. I went over to her and she sat there sobbing at what she thought she had left behind. Was her husband still alive? Did she still have a home to go back to? Sadly, I felt a deep sense of helplessness. Having no water and no power, I could not even invite her in for a cup of coffee or a drink to try to ease her fears. But I stayed with her until she was composed enough to continue to town, to her family, just before the rain of burnt gum leaves started to fall in our yard. Yes, it was a sleepless night for me, but my family was safely out of the area already. As I said, we were lucky. At a community meeting some days later I met that lady who had driven up my street. I am glad to say that both her husband and her home survived.

18:15:20

At this point I wish to pay tribute to the former member for McEwen, who worked tirelessly for the community during the days and months that followed those tragic events. I also wish to acknowledge former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who led a government which acted decisively and assisted the member for McEwen by opening up direct lines of communication and delivering assistance and extra resources to help her at that extraordinary time of community need. Ms Bailey’s long career is evidence that she indeed served her party well in this place and I really wish her well for her future.

Election campaigns are never about the candidate alone. They require the support of a network of people willing to contribute and sacrifice their time, and certainly my campaign was no exception. It is my belief that the strength of the ALP is derived from our branch members who for so long have manned our polling booths, held fundraisers, attended street stalls and helped out campaigning. I do not for a moment doubt that we would not have been successful in McEwen without the fantastic support, the hard work and the commitment of all the members and volunteers. So to all involved, I say a special thank you for your long-standing commitment to our party locally.

Young Labor came out to help on many occasions during the campaign—they are a dedicated group of young adults who believe in our party. This was obvious when they spent the day in the rain and the hail letterboxing the Romsey community. I pay tribute to our union friends who have been so supportive in campaigning in McEwen against Work Choices in particular. I want to thank Caesar Melham and the AWU, Wayne Mader and the TWU, and Michael O’Conner and the CFMEU timber workers who were there with me all the way. I also appreciate the support, guidance and advice I have received over my journey to this place from my friends in the parliament—Senator Steve Conroy, the member for Maribyrnong Bill Shorten, Senator David Feeney, and of course my neighbour, the member for Scullin Harry Jenkins.

The former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, came out and campaigned with me—he is a man who loves the party so much that he continues to travel the country to support our candidates. Of course, to Julia Gillard, our Prime Minister, who I have known for a long time, I want to thank her for her continuous support, for her great leadership, and for the visions and plans that she has for this country and our community. I thank all the members of my campaign team, and in particular Denise Power, Santo Spinello and Carmel Barrot. Carmel has been with me throughout the ups and downs of this journey and her loyalty, dedication and commitment have never wavered. I would also like to say a special thank you to Claire McClelland. Claire’s patience, friendship and work ethic are something to be admired and I cannot thank her enough. I do not think we would have achieved this result without her.

I want to thank our local community. This campaign was about moving forward and it inspired so many voters to get involved in the political process for the first time. It was truly amazing to see the emails and grassroots support I received from community members who stood up and took their own action to ensure a better future for our country. I want to note a couple of these people in particular, such as a woman who emailed me and made me laugh on one of those darker campaign days. Such moments of levity can be worth their weight in gold. In her email she wrote:

I’m really hoping that the Liberals don’t win this election because if Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister I’m leaving the country.

I assured her we were doing our best to keep her here. And there was the pensioner who hand-wrote a letter saying:

I heard the ALP needs money to keep pressure on the campaign …The ALP has already done so much to bring Australia forward it can’t stop now…I hope this donation helps…PS: I wish I could give more.

She enclosed $30 of her pension. And there was the lady I met at a street stall in Doreen who emailed me saying:

I lead a comfortable life. Whatever the result on August 21st, nothing much will change for me … But it is not about me, it’s about my three grandchildren, and your kids and the type of society we want them to grow up in.

This was part of a letter that she wrote, printed and hand delivered to her community:

Sometimes a person has to stand up against political policies that are blatantly unjust. Sometimes a person has to stand up for what is right, responsible and fair. On August 21 I will be voting against the Liberals and I hope you will do the same.

In my mind this is what the political process is all about. It is about our future, our community and their voice. It is not just about what I will do; it is about what we can do together. This is why I chose to stand again to represent our community and listen and work with them to deliver a better Australia. I firmly believe it is our job to leave this country in a better place than it was when we arrived.

Mr Speaker, I reserve the most important thank-yous for the end. Firstly, I want to give an extra special word of thanks for the non-stop support and love to my partner, Lisa. Lisa understood that I needed to spend time away from the family to pursue my dreams. This meant that she inevitably had to shoulder more of the family workload, often attending important events in our daughter Rachael’s formative years on her own. Without Lisa’s unqualified support I would not be here today. I want to thank Rachael for her support over the years. As Rachael is very aware, it is sometimes not easy being the child of a politician, especially when you get your photo in those flyers that go out to the electorate!

I am honoured and proud to be given the responsibility of representing the good people of McEwen in this place and I look forward to representing their views and contributing in a constructive way to a government that will govern for all Australians. I thank the House for extending me the customary courtesy.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Governor-General’s speech demonstrates that the new Labor-Green-Independent alliance government will be no different from the old Labor government rejected by the people last month. It is clear that the new government will be characterised by the same all-talk no-action, all-stunts no-results, all-spin no-substance style of its predecessor. There will be more broken promises, more waste and more mismanagement.

In the Governor-General’s speech she talked about a public forum and a debate on tax reform even though the government ruled out new Henry taxes during the election campaign, and a multi-party climate change committee even though the Prime Minister said absolutely ‘There will be no carbon tax’ during the election campaign. The speech refers to more reviews, strategies, committees and policy development. There will be at least five new bureaucratic and regulatory agencies. This is the Labor we know. It is the Labor government that we saw in the last federal parliament and that we see in New South Wales, Queensland and other states.

The 2010 federal election was a rejection of the Rudd-Gillard government. The coalition received over 600,000 more primary votes than Labor. For the first time in 70 years there are more people sitting in the opposition party room than there are in the government room. Yet through an alliance with the Greens and the majority of the so-called Independents Labor remains in government. The prospect of a Greens-Labor rainbow coalition has certainly sent shudders through the people of regional Australia. The regions feel threatened by Greens policies, like an even bigger mining tax, a giant new emissions trading scheme also imposed on agriculture and fishing in many marine areas, death duties, an open-door policy on boat arrivals and an end to coal extraction and other mining. There will be food and fibre shortages in Australia as the Greens pursue their policies to end intensive agriculture and stop irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin. Of course, that is not all.

Labor itself has been a very city-centric government. In the Rudd-Gillard government every cabinet minister lived in a capital city. The regions were simply out of sight and out of mind. Because of its lack of interest in regional Australia, Labor treated regional Australians with contempt. Labor closed most of the offices of the regional development department but set up a ‘better cities’ unit in Sydney. Labor axed area consultative committees, even though during the 2007 election it promised to keep them. I note that the new Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government said at the Press Club today that he actually wrote that promise which the government subsequently dishonoured. It has replaced the area consultative committees with empty RDA committees that have nothing to do.

The first budget of Labor slashed $1 billion from regional programs, and even more went in the second budget. Labor moved funding from regional roads to the cities. Eighty-two per cent of the money spent on their strategic roads program went to Labor electorates. Labor abolished the Sustainable Regions program and the Regional Partnerships program and have replaced them with a Better Regions program, but only projects nominated by Labor candidates could be funded under that scheme. Labor wound back the quarantine service and Customs, 312 staff were dumped from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the entire department was turned into just a part-time portfolio. They axed the television and mobile phone black spot programs. They stole $2 billion from the perpetual Communications Fund, allegedly to prop up the NBN. But two million Australians, mostly in rural and regional areas, have been removed from the commitment to receive high-speed broadband through fibre optic cable. The Melbourne-Brisbane railway has been put on the never never. Labor neglected the regions. Is it any wonder therefore that in this last election the regions rejected Labor?

For the Nationals this was our best election result since World War II. All of our sitting members received substantial swings to them. Our marginal seats have become notionally safe—although we never regard any electorate as safe. I particularly congratulate the new members for Dawson, Flynn and Riverina, who will no doubt make their maiden speeches in this parliament very shortly. It is great to have those areas in the Nationals fold. Tony Crook was elected under the Nationals banner in O’Connor. I hope that someday soon he may see his way clear to join other Nats in our party room. I also acknowledge the election of Bridget McKenzie, who restores the Nationals position in the Victorian senate team. It was an excellent result for the Nationals. In particular, also, it was a rejection of Labor.

But the Governor-General in her speech said that the government will be different this time around—that there will be a new approach towards regional Australia coming from Labor and that we are going to have a new cabinet level minister for regional Australia. I thought Mr Albanese was a cabinet minister when he had responsibility for regional Australia. I know he did not do much for regional Australia but he was a cabinet level minister. What we still have from this government is a city-centric cabinet. Every minister in the cabinet still lives in a capital city, except one who recently moved to Newcastle. We no longer have a regional development minister in central Sydney; now the regional development minister comes from central Melbourne. The ag minister is no longer living in central Sydney; now he comes from central Brisbane. I do not think their focus will have changed. There is no difference in the sort of decision making and city-centric approach that Labor will take.

I have noticed some saying in recent times that there will be an unparalleled focus on regional Australia. As Leader of the Nationals I say that this is a very good thing. I welcome this new-found interest from the capital city media in regional Australia. I frankly resent suggestions from some city writers that extra assistance and support for the regions is somehow or other not warranted. I find it offensive when the city media are quite happy to accept expenditure of billions of dollars in cities on new stadiums and convention centres and firework displays and are quite happy to have endless subsidies for urban public transport but if somebody in a country area wants a bit of help to get a doctor to locate in their town or they want to rebuild their broken down local hall or get a decent road or an air service that is somehow or other characterised as pork-barrelling. Frankly, that is unacceptable.

For some, the attention on regions is a novelty. For us on this side of the House, and especially for the party that I lead, that has been our focus for more than 90 years. There is a very long list of policies and programs that the Country Party and the Nationals have championed and implemented that have made this nation a better place. For instance there were the Sustainable Regions Program; the National Water Initiative; the $1.1 billion Connect Australia package and the $2 billion perpetual Communications Fund for regional telecommunications; the support for the dairy industry and the sugar industry when they were going through difficult times; and the modern drought assistance program which has helped keep country Australia alive during the drought, which hopefully is now drawing towards an end. There were the AusLink program, the first national program for the construction of road and rail services; country of origin labelling laws; we doubled the size of the quarantine service; the $500 million Agriculture Advancing Australia package; the Natural Heritage Trust; the rural transaction centres to help restore services to regional communities; the development of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme; the campaign to eradicate brucellosis and tuberculosis; and the standard gauge railway line on the India-Pacific between Sydney and Perth. There were the Australian Industry Development Corporation; the expansion of the Australian Trade Commission Service; the abolition of Commonwealth estate and gift duties; the expansion of uranium mining and exports; the Primary Industry Bank of Australia; the ban on commercial whaling and on exploration for the drilling of oil on the Great Barrier Reef; and the declaration of the first stages of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. There were the Burdekin River dam; the Australian Bicentennial Road Development program and, if you go back further, the beef roads program; the introduction of television in 1956; and of course the historic Australia-Japan Agreement on Commerce, now more than 50 years of age, followed up by a whole range of free trade agreements.

For the Nationals, these have been our core objectives. These are things that have mattered to us and that we have been able to deliver in company with our coalition partners. We have always thought that the regions deserve a fair share of our nation’s wealth as they create the majority of our export dollars. When the regions prosper so does our nation.

When I went to school I was taught that wool made up over half of our nation’s total export earnings. Of course, other agricultural sectors made up a fair share of the balance. Now it is iron ore, coal, gold, gas, bauxite and a range of agricultural products that make up the majority of our exports. These exports all come from the regions.

In years gone by this contribution was perhaps better understood and noticed in Australia. But because we have become so urbanised the cities do not seem to care so much as they did in the past. They do not understand the nature of our economy and the way in which the regions contribute to its growth and development. There is a massive transfer of income from the regions to the cities.

We all proud of having good cities and we want them to grow and be strong, but regional Australia does have a right to a fair share of our nation’s growth and prosperity. It is because Labor lost its focus and understanding of those issues that they also lost so many seats outside of the capital cities. It was because the Rudd and Gillard governments treated regional Australia with contempt that country people revolted. Voters looked at almost three years of Labor and three years of waste, mismanagement and neglect and said, ‘Enough is enough.’ Labor’s vote collapsed absolutely in the regions because the Labor Party had no core interest in those people who lived outside the capital cities and just saw it as a place where they could extract money and abolish programs and in the process, unfortunately, destroy the hope and optimism of people who live in country areas.

Let us also get the facts clear that the Greens’ vote only marginally improved in the regions. That fact remains far from Senator Bob Brown’s incredible claim that his party is the most popular party in the bush. The Greens won only one out of 150 seats that they contested and that was in the city. The Green vote was not strong in regional Australia and what vote they did receive was boosted by protest votes against the major parties.

Three regional Independents were elected, but that is the same as three regional Independents that we had in the last parliament. Other country Independents did quite poorly during the election campaign. Very few, if any, cracked double figures. The concept that somehow or other the Independents have some special new function or new place in the parliament, particularly the rural and regional Independents, needs to be treated on the basis of the facts. It is for these reasons that I find it surprising that the majority of the Independents chose to back Labor to form a minority government. In their seats Labor polled eight per cent, 13 per cent and 20 per cent. The people of Lyne, New England and Kennedy did not want a Labor government. They voted decisively against Labor.

Worst of all this has been a lost opportunity for the regions. The Independents were not offered a better deal by the ALP for their electorates or for regional Australia. What the coalition put on the table during the election campaign was far superior and far more generous to the regions than what was offered by the ALP. For instance, during the election campaign the coalition committed to a new $1 billion regional education fund to seek to address the imbalance in educational outcomes in regional Australia and a new $300 million bridges renewal fund. Our affordable approach to broadband would have delivered similar or faster speeds to regional people in a quicker time than Labor’s wildly expensive and largely uncosted National Broadband Network.

Perhaps that is not widely understood. The broadband plan of the Liberal and National parties would have delivered to regional Australia speeds faster than Labor was proposing, at a fraction of the cost. There is now talk about building the NBN from the outside in. It was always our proposal to go to the areas that do not have broadband now and give them priority rather than, as Labor is proposing under the NBN, simply duplicating existing networks to provide more competition in the cities.

During the election campaign the coalition also promised local hospital boards and more scholarships for doctors, nurses and dentists for regional students. We promised more health professionals in regional areas, major road and rail upgrades and the restoration of our quarantine and Customs services to try and restore the security of our borders. We promised lower taxes for small businesses and we promised to reverse Labor’s draconian cuts to the independent youth allowance, which so disadvantaged regional Australia. There was a $1.5 billion mental health initiative, which would have opened up a large number of new Headspace services in regional areas, and there was much more.

I hope that one day we will have the chance to implement these visionary and comprehensive policies for the good of all regional people. The reality is that a coalition government has delivered enormously for regional Australia over the decades. Much more needs to be done. We had much more on the agenda as part of our commitments in the last election campaign, and of course when the coalition makes election commitments we actually expect to honour our promises. Labor simply walks away from them, as they did at the last election and as they are certain to do again.

Labor’s blankets and beads approach offers none of this comprehensive plan to help build better regions for Australia. The centrepiece of what Labor is offering is a regional development program that is dependent upon the introduction of a mining tax which will not collect any revenue until at least 2015, and that is two more elections away. That requires a lot of hope, faith and trust in a government that has never delivered for regional Australia. And of course the mining tax will rip billions of dollars out of investment income and will cost thousands of jobs in regional Australia. To get back a few hundred million dollars from the billions the government actually expects to collect from this tax is hardly a decent or fair deal for the regions.

I remind people of the commitments that the federal Labor Party has made so far for the expenditure of the mining tax funds, which are supposed to go to the regions. The biggest single commitment is for roads around Perth Airport. Whilst those roads are necessary, no-one ever told me that Perth was regional Australia. So in fact Labor is not focusing on delivering to the regions; this is simply another tax for Labor to spend money and pork-barrel their programs.

The deal that was offered to the Independents did not sound like a good one to me when it was made and it does not sound like a good deal to me now. But of course that is a matter for judgment by the Australian people. I am just disappointed that the opportunity for a new start, a new deal, a grand new opportunity for regional Australia, has been lost. In all of the rhetoric and all of the talk about new paradigms and the rest, the reality is that regional Australia has lost the opportunity to have a better future than will now be available.

I congratulate the Prime Minister and her team on the unusual alliance that she has managed to pull together to deliver the magic 76 seats, and when she puts forward policies that support regional Australia she can count on our support. May I also congratulate those who have been elected and those who have already spoken. I am sure they will make a very substantial contribution to the parliament. I hope they will remember that our country is made up not just of cities but also of people who live and work in the regions.

What we need is a fair go for all Australians. If the Prime Minister does not deliver a fair deal for regional Australia, she can count on getting a very difficult time from us. This parliament is not a place for the fainthearted. It should be a place that is prepared to make the bold decisions needed to deliver fairness and a good outcome for all Australians, even those who live outside the capital cities.

Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution as a member returned from a non-capital-city seat, a regional seat. I want to start by thanking the people of Dobell, who returned me with an increased majority. They were listening to the government and looking at the work that the government has done over the last three years. People on the Central Coast made a judgment, not only returning me with an increased majority but, to my great pleasure, electing a new member for Robertson with an increased majority as well. In these two seats in the very fast-growing regional area of the Central Coast, the government’s record convinced people on the ground that the Gillard government would be the best government to represent them to make sure that their interests were best looked after.

The reason for this was quite simple. If you start to look at the things that really matter for people, first and foremost, always, are jobs. In my electorate and on the Central Coast generally, jobs are always a difficult issue. We tend to have higher unemployment than the national average; currently it is just a tick over six per cent. We have difficulties with youth unemployment and teenage unemployment. Youth unemployment is a little over 13 per cent. Teenage unemployment is as high as 32 per cent, coming down from 42 per cent. Of course, when people were looking at the policies and the records of the parties, they looked at what this government had done for the people of the Central Coast through the global financial crisis. The area has higher than normal unemployment and also a great deal of hidden unemployment. As the member for Robertson pointed out in her maiden speech, over 40,000 people commute from the Central Coast to either Sydney or Newcastle. People would prefer to work on the Central Coast, but there are no jobs there. The people of the Central Coast realised that jobs were a crucial issue upon which they would base their decision about who would be the best party to govern. One of the reasons that we got such a good result on the Central Coast is that jobs were, first and foremost, front and centre of the position that our government took in relation to the global financial crisis.

If you were going to design a stimulus package to keep jobs on the Central Coast, you would design it in exactly the same way that the stimulus package of ours was designed. You would make sure that you boosted retail. The biggest employer on the Central Coast is retail. The cash handouts made sure that shops did not shut and that people were not turned out of their jobs in the retail area. This area is most vulnerable when there are downturns in the economy. This area has the largest proportion of jobs on the Central Coast, and we could have potentially seen thousands of people losing their employment.

The second biggest area of occupational employment on the Central Coast is tradies. Building the Education Revolution meant that tradies were employed at schools—there are 106 schools on the Central Coast—and local people worked on those jobs. Building the Education Revolution made sure that local people were employed, that they were able to take home a pay cheque and that their families were looked after because they were kept in jobs. Ninety-eight per cent of the people who worked on those 106 schools were living on the Central Coast. In fact, we had people who used to commute to Sydney but who ended up with jobs on the Central Coast through Building the Education Revolution.

The Labor government’s policies for this term and the previous term are about a lot more than just stimulus packages and getting through the global financial crisis. Issues such as health played a major role in people deciding which way they were going to vote on the Central Coast. Of course, there were some pretty stark choices. The Labor government is investing over $28 million in a regional cancer centre—the first cancer centre to provide treatments on the Central Coast. Before this time, people had to travel either down to Sydney or up to Newcastle to get proper treatment. This area had been neglected for years. During the 12 years of the coalition government, they did nothing for people on the Central Coast who were suffering from cancer. The Labor government got in their, pulled its sleeves up and made sure that it put investment into these services so that people would be looked after. I have spoken to many people who either are cancer survivors or have lost relatives to cancer. They said to me: ‘Look, to travel down to Sydney for cancer treatment when you are as sick as I was, or as sick as my family member was, we just did not do it. We chose not to go.’ Their health was compromised because these services were not available on the Central Coast. But this government has made sure that they are now being provided.

The Central Coast has the fourth and fifth busiest emergency departments in New South Wales. Wyong Hospital has the fourth busiest emergency department and Gosford Hospital has the fifth busiest emergency department. An important issue for everyone living in the area is that they have proper access to these hospitals—that these hospitals are not blocked up. Wyong Hospital had one of the highest incidences of people turning up to the emergency department who should be seeing a GP because we simply did not have enough GPs or enough after-hours services on the Central Coast. So what did this government do at the 2007 election? We promised a GP superclinic. In the term of the last government we got the temporary GP superclinic service up and running at Warnervale, right near the hospital. It ensures that people are able to get after-hours access to GP services.

A super GP centre is about much more than just GPs. A centre will be built—it has been approved by the council and the land is being purchased—and will employ over 100 staff. It will make sure that people who live in the growth areas of Hamlyn Terrace, Warnervale and Woongarrah—where a lot of young families live—and who have not been able to see a doctor will be able to see a doctor; they will not have to queue up for hours at a public hospital.

One of the problems with a busy regional public hospital such as Wyong Hospital is making sure that you can attract staff, and one of the key issues in attracting staff is having them trained at the hospitals so that they understand the area in which they will be working. When they see how beautiful the Central Coast is, they will naturally want to live and work there. This government promised and delivered over $5 million to ensure that doctors and health professionals from the University of Newcastle were trained at Wyong Hospital, making it a true teaching hospital by enabling health professionals and doctors to do their training there. This will mean that some of the workforce shortages that naturally occur in areas outside the capital cities will be overcome as people who are working at the hospital and living in the area will decide to stay and make their future life there.

Another key area of reform in health was making sure that we had local health networks. One of the big bugbears for everyone on the Central Coast is that we have an area health service that includes northern Sydney as well as the Central Coast. It was my campaign to make sure that we put forward a Central Coast area health service and that the network operated for the Central Coast rather than for the Central Coast and northern Sydney. Over 300,000 people live on the Central Coast. It is big enough to have its own health facilities. It needs to have its own health facilities so that it can focus its resources on where they are needed locally. I am happy to say that the New South Wales government acceded to our request and today announced the Central Coast Area Health Service. That is a great win for the people of the Central Coast. It also means that under the Labor government’s reforms to funding health services and the introduction of casemix funding, new growth areas with very busy hospitals like Wyong Hospital and Gosford Hospital will see major benefits. Funding will not be based on some historic model; it will be based on the actual work that is done at the hospital. That is good news for everyone who lives on the Central Coast and who requires those services to make sure that they can live the sort of life that people often do in the city.

I want to go back to education though because that was a major issue that made people choose to vote for the Labor Party on the Central Coast. It was not just about the jobs, even though that was an incredibly important issue. It was also about building the social infrastructure that these schools have been crying out for over many years. At every school opening that I went to, at every building that was being opened—whether they were classrooms, libraries or school halls—the school principal—be it of a private school, a Catholic school or a government school—would start off by saying, ‘We always had these buildings on our wish list but we never thought we would see them being built.’ They always started off by saying how effective this was going to be in being able to deliver increased education services to the kids on the Central Coast. They could see the direct correlation between the capital investment in the schools and the delivery of the education services to the kids on the Central Coast. That in itself is something worth noting, making a great distinction between ourselves on this side of the House and those on the other side of the House. Putting aside the issue and importance of the jobs, just building this infrastructure in schools is going to pay dividends for many, many generations.

The education policies of this side of the House were far more than that. It was about making sure that there were different streams at the schools, making sure that we had trade training at schools. I have visited Wadalba Community School, which has kindergarten through to year 12. They have set up because of the trade training centre that is being built there as part of a consortium with four other schools. They now have three streams of education that people can choose and mix between at that school. It is important with areas like the Central Coast that we look at these different pathways, the different ways in which kids can be taught, because schools on the Central Coast have retention rates of only around 40 per cent, so 60 per cent of kids are dropping out.

That goes back to the point I made at the start of my contribution about youth unemployment and teenage unemployment. When you have teenage unemployment at 32 per cent and youth unemployment at 13 per cent, it is not good enough to say, ‘We are just going to keep on going the same way.’ It is not good enough to say, ‘We will build a few flag poles and put them into the schools and that will mean kids will be able to get jobs.’ You need to change the way in which education is delivered. That is what this government has been doing and is going to continue to do. That is one of the things that the people in my electorate and in the electorate of Robertson clearly identified as being a major distinction between our side of politics and those who sit opposite.

The people on the Central Coast saw that we acted decisively in terms of the economy and the global financial crisis. They saw that we had a plan for the future that included making sure that money was spent locally, that jobs were kept locally, that we were going to stimulate growth. With some irony we heard the member for Paterson talking about our policies pushing up interest rates. Interest rates are still 2½ per cent lower than what they were when the coalition was last in government. The people of the Central Coast understand that you need to have good and progressive economic managers to manage the economy to make sure that their interests are looked after. Compare the way in which this government has managed the global financial crisis with the bumbling efforts in terms of the economy that we have seen from the other side, who cannot seem to add up their money. After the election we found the massive $11 billion black hole in their funding promises. Compare that to the responsible position taken by this government to make sure that we are securing jobs and also that we are going ahead with our important social programs, both in health and education.

Locally we also made sure that in terms of jobs we invested in our surf clubs. Surf-lifesaving on the Central Coast is part of the fabric of the Central Coast. It has a great history. Surf clubs like Soldier’s Beach were pioneers in many of the techniques of surf-lifesaving. One of the problems that we had on the Central Coast was that many of our surf clubs were falling down. It is important to make sure that people who go to the beach, be they locals or tourists, have surf-lifesavers there with the facilities to make sure they can protect them when they are swimming. This government invested $5 million. It created local jobs on the Central Coast, in looking at rebuilding Shelly Beach surf-lifesaving club and Soldier’s Beach surf-lifesaving club.

We also have committed $2.7 million to a jobs incubator at Wyong. This is to look at trying to tackle both youth unemployment and another way to tackle the sorts of unemployment problems that we have on the Central Coast. A series of workshops will be set up where people can to try to translate businesses that work at home into businesses that employ people on the Central Coast, because small business is the heart and soul of employment there. That is why this government has made many commitments to small business, including funding the BEC for the first time on the Central Coast. It has done a fantastic job promoting small business.

Of course, the NBN was a major issue on the Central Coast. I would just like to quote Edgar Adams who writes for the Central Coast Business Journal. He can hardly be described as a left-winger at all. He wrote in his recent editorial that there is no question that here on the Central Coast, and across the nation, the lack of policies and the ignorance of the difference between fibre optic and wireless communication cost the coalition this election. He understands there is a major difference. Obviously, given his contribution, the Leader of the National Party does not understand that, but I can say that the people of the Central Coast certainly understood that.

The environmental promises that we have made and delivered on include $20 million for the Tuggerah Lakes, making sure that we have secured the water supply of the Central Coast by building a pipeline with over $80 million of federal government money, which will be in place by June of next year, and the strong stance that I have taken in terms of opposing a coalmine to be built on the Central Coast. I have committed to making sure that I do everything I possibly can to stop that coalmine, which is not in the interests of people on the Central Coast. They were some of the major issues in my area that saw a swing in the seats of Robertson and Dobell to the Labor Party.

Of course that swing did not come about just because of the candidate. Quite clearly there was a lot of help on the ground from people who assisted me throughout that campaign. I would like to place on record my thanks to Isobel and Bernie Lowe, Pat and Owen Llewellyn, David Sykes, Peter Cooley, Daniel Parish and Daniel Jaggers. I particularly thank those last two for driving a bus around the electorate. I thank Peter, Alice and Stella Wilson, who had their photo plastered all over a bus. It is pretty hard when you are an ambulance officer and a primary school teacher and you have yourself and your young daughter plastered over a bus driving around the electorate. I would really like to thank them.

I would also like to thank all the staff in my office: Sue Mueller, Emma Harding, Neil Rose, David Gardiner, Luke McDermott, Cheryl Greenwald, and Matt Burke for the time that he was there. I thank Kayla Murnane and Sam Dastyari from the party’s head office, Senator Steve Hutchins for his support, and my parents. Of course I would like to thank my partner, Zoe Arnold, the most and my little baby, Matilda, who had to put up with a lot during the election. I would also like to thank my partner’s mother, Sara Bestry, and her son Lachie, who worked as well. I am out of time and I seek leave to table a list of other people I would like to thank in relation to their support throughout the election.

Leave granted.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this address in reply. It is the first opportunity I have had on an address in reply but it is the second time I have been elected to this place. It is a great honour to stand here. I acknowledge all the re-elected members, particularly the member for Canning, who withstood a ferocious firestorm over in the west and managed to hold his seat in difficult circumstances. He did very well indeed. Congratulations to him and to all the other members who were elected, particularly those new members who have been elected to this place. It is a great honour. With only 1,000-odd people ever having been elected to this place, it is something that people should be very proud of. Today on our side we have seen the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives, the member for Hasluck. We are very proud on our side of the House of his efforts in being elected and of his contribution to the parliament today.

Politics is a cut-throat business and unfortunately there were some who stood at the last election on both sides—more on the other side than on ours—and were not successful. I pay tribute to two people in particular. Jason Wood, who was the member for La Trobe, is a good man and did a very good job from 2004, when he was elected. He faced a very difficult election and nearly hung on in very tough circumstances. He is a good man and I am sure we will remain in contact. Wilson Tuckey served this place for 30 years and served the Liberal Party for all of that time. While Wilson at times tested all of us, he had a proud record in this place and a proud record of contribution to our party. I acknowledge his service and his contribution, as I am sure all of our members do.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You can take his role!

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an honour to be elected in the same parliament as the member for Wakefield and others. I thank the people of Mayo for their trust in me and for the small improvement on the margin that was held by the former member for Mayo at the 2007 election—just a small improvement, but enough for bragging rights at least. I am pleased with that result and I am pleased the people of Mayo gave me that trust. I thank them for that and I do not take that trust for granted. It is there to be taken away at any time at future elections.

During the campaign we all made a series of commitments to our electorates and we all seek to implement those commitments. I am no different to other members of this place on both sides who have made those commitments. I want to address a couple of those commitments in particular this evening. Hopefully Labor ministers and the government take them up and implement them because they were good commitments that were well thought through. They would make a genuine difference to my people in the electorate of Mayo.

At the moment the biggest issue facing people in Mount Barker, where I live, is the second freeway interchange off the South Eastern Freeway into Mount Barker. It is an area that has grown significantly and has been one of the fastest growing areas in the country in the last 10 years. If the Rann state Labor government has its way, it will grow even quicker still, which I will address a bit later. This issue needs to be resolved and it needs to be addressed. We had a plan to provide funding towards the building of this second freeway interchange. It is an important project and I do hope the federal transport minister pinches it and implements it, because his state counterparts have failed in this area. They have failed to provide any decent assistance to the Mount Barker and Adelaide Hills community to upgrade this infrastructure, given the very large amount of development that has occurred in our area over the last 10 years or so. This leads into an issue that did dominate part of the campaign—that is, population growth and population growth in areas such as mine where state governments are not thinking it through and are not planning properly. I know the member for Wakefield has made comments in his electorate as well in relation to the state government planning on how population movement and growth will occur.

At the moment, there is a genuine challenge from the state government, who have decided to release a large amount of land, which is not supported by the community, is not supported by the local members, both state and federal, and is not supported by the Mount Barker council. It has gone through a process in which the development panel took submissions. They are now at the end of that process. However, a really concerning aspect of this process is that a state government minister, Mr Holloway, is saying that he will not release publicly the advice that he will get from this development panel assessment. That is a mistake. I agree with the member for Lyne, who says, ‘Let the sun shine in on these sorts of issues.’ This advice should be released publicly so that we can see what the state Labor government has been told. The infrastructure spending should be there. That is why my major commitment in this campaign was to address some of those infrastructure bottlenecks. This is a big issue and it will continue to be.

On top of that, there are the issues of community safety and community facilities. We had a very good plan, which was released by the shadow minister for customs, the member for Stirling. He came up with a plan in relation to CCTV and community safety. We had two announcements in the electorate in relation to Mount Barker and, in particular, Victor Harbour, which is an older community whose residents are very concerned about community safety. It is something that governments should look at and consider.

In relation to specific promises, the community of Victor Harbour has for many years been campaigning for a pool. We promised funding towards it. It is a worthwhile project and I hope that the Labor government will consider it in the near future under their regional programs.

The biggest issue in my electorate continues to be water, the Lower Lakes and the Murray-Darling Basin. Fortunately, in the last few weeks and months we have had quite substantial rainfall. It has been for some a very joyous occasion to see the northern parts of Victoria under water. That means that water will flow into the river and into the Lower Lakes. For the first time in about 10 years, there is water flowing out of the mouth of the Murray. For the first time in a very long time, the dredging equipment can stop operation at the Murray mouth. That is great news. Lake Alexandrina is connected again to Lake Albert and the Goolwa Channel. These are all good events. For the first time in a long time, people can see some light at the end of the tunnel after what has been a debilitating and dreadful drought.

The rainfall highlights just how bad the drought was in 2006 and 2007. In the first week of September, the inflows into the Murray-Darling Basin were more than the inflows in 2006 and 2007 combined. That probably shows just how dry those years were rather than how wet August and the early parts of September were.

This issue will continue to be a major challenge for us. Next Friday the guide to the Murray-Darling Basin plan will be released. This plan was initiated by John Howard and the member for Wentworth in January 2007, when we released for the first time a national plan to deal with the Murray-Darling Basin. That was the first time that a government had taken on this issue. It is still to be resolved. The criticism that we rightly made of the former minister for water during the election campaign was that she had been too slow in implementing this plan and that it had been too delayed. This plan will be a very important document. It will give consideration to the science of the basin. It needs to give consideration to the communities that it will affect. We all wait with bated breath to see what is in it so that we can move the basin forward in a sustainable manner, continue to grow our own food in the Murray-Darling Basin and have a sustainable and healthy environment so that the Lower Lakes in my electorate survive and flourish.

There are other local challenges that I will continue to pursue in this parliament in the next three years. Some of those are the ongoing cost of doing business on Kangaroo Island and the challenges that its people have with their road network. Being a very large island with a very small population, it has a very small revenue base and has constant difficulties keeping its vast road network up to date and safe. It is a tourism mecca for South Australia. It is South Australia’s largest tourism icon and one of the country’s largest tourism icons. It does not get enough funding from state government in particular, who have really dropped the ball in dealing with Kangaroo Island. Unfortunately, the federal government needs to provide more assistance so that this island can continue to be the great tourism destination that it is. About 60 per cent of international tourists who visit South Australia do so to visit Kangaroo Island, so it is a great attraction for our state and for our country. It is a shame and a big disappointment that we do not fund it properly, given its very small population—it has only about 4,500 permanent residents. We need to ensure that it can continue to be what we want it to be.

In addition, those 4,500 residents face increased costs because of that 14-kilometre water gap. It is like being in a very remote community. It faces very similar challenges, no doubt, to some of the communities in your electorate, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, in that the costs of doing business, the costs of transport, the costs of getting to market are that much higher than what they are in other areas. That is a real challenge that needs to be considered. I know that the regional development board under Barry Featherstone as the CEO and Mayor Ann Ferguson as the chairman will continue to push for solutions to these challenges as well.

In the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula there has been a large spate of road accidents this year, with up to 40 deaths on roads in my electorate. About 30 of those came in the first six weeks of the year. The nature of the towns and villages and the areas between them is very hilly. The roads are very windy. Unfortunately, sometimes the quality of the roads is not up to the way that people drive on them. There needs to be improved driving efforts but also increased funding to address the many black spots that we have to ensure that people are safer on those roads.

19:13:39

Finally, the other local issue I wanted to address briefly this evening is the ongoing challenge of the freight rail network that goes straight through the Adelaide Hills and which is far out of date. A longer term solution should be planned to look at taking this rail network onto the flat lands north of the Adelaide Hills, bypassing the pristine environs of the Adelaide Hills and into the lower part of Mitcham, which also affects the member for Boothby’s electorate. It is a big issue. I know some do not think it is a big issue but we will continue to look at long-term solutions. It is not going to be fixed in five minutes but it should be addressed in the coming years. It will be economically efficient to get the rail out of the Adelaide Hills because you will get—

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is that a commitment?

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, it will cost significant amounts of money; however, it will be economically efficient to double stack and keep the line flat, rather than go up and down my beautiful Adelaide Hills.

In addition to these local issues, in this term my leader has asked me to take on the additional responsibility of being the coalition spokesperson on scrutiny of government. That is a task I relish and I very much appreciate being given the opportunity. There is much to get into. Only today we saw another Auditor-General’s report on the green loans debacle, which I understand is very interesting reading. I have not yet had the opportunity to get into it, but it seems that there are some interesting comments by the independent Auditor-General—who we all very much respect in this chamber. When he makes reports and findings like this we take them very seriously.

This is a role that I take seriously. I appreciate the opportunity and I acknowledge the work of Senator Barnett, who had this role in the previous parliament. As Senator Barnett did, I will look at the issues arising from this government losing its way in implementing its programs, including the BER program, which was the biggest government waste in the history of the Commonwealth, the pink batts program and, as I mentioned, the green loans program. We will now also have the NBN, at a cost of $5,000 per hook-up, with areas like mine being completely left off the map. At the Forbes rich list conference in Sydney today a very astute observer asked, ‘Why would you spend that much money?’ This issue has got a long way to run. I will be fascinated to see the member for Wentworth pick apart the communications minister this evening on television because I am sure there is much there that I will be able to focus on as the scrutiny of government spokesman.

We are focused on this important issue. It is one of the issues that led to this government, for the first time since the Second World War—since the early 1930s, in fact—losing its majority after just one term. The waste and mismanagement of this government will dog it. It is a bad government and it looks like it will get worse, unfortunately. If I can play my part in exposing its failures then I will be very pleased to do so.

I also acknowledge, as the member for Dobell did, some of the people who helped ensure that I remained in this place and kept the seat of Mayo from the red horde who challenged me on 21 August. Obviously, they include the Mayo FEC and the loyal people—although my FEC president did manage to get out of the country for those three months. That was convenient for young Mr Downer. In his place were Andrew Horwood as my campaign manager, and Marg and Colin Westmore, David Hall and Ross Mitchell, who took a week’s annual leave in the last week to help me out. Without the work and assistance of these people, none of us would be here. These are the kinds of people you always owe a debt of gratitude to.

Obviously, I also acknowledge my staff, who worked as hard as they possibly could in those at times difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, one of those staff who performed very well, Andrew Ockenden, is off now to be an associate of the District Court—for some reason he thinks that is more attractive than working in politics. We wish him well. He is a very bright spark who will do very well in the future, and I suspect that one day we will possibly see him in this place.

Finally, we always need to acknowledge the assistance of our families: my wife, Estee, and my two children, and the additional one we will have February, which we are all excited about. Without their support and help, we would not be able to do this.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I start by congratulating you, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, on your re-election as the Second Deputy Speaker of the House. Well done. You do have the confidence of this side of the parliament. It is indeed a great honour today to be speaking as the newly elected member for Fowler. While I have changed electorates, I assure you my philosophy and attitude as a member of parliament remains the same. I will represent the people of Fowler in the only way I know: diligently and with determination.

During my previous two terms of parliament I have prided myself on having an open-door policy with all my constituents. I know the reason I am here is to give voice to the people and the communities of my electorate. This is something I am definitely committed to. I want the people of my electorate to know that I am available to them whenever they need my help. I want people to know that I will be an active member and will pursue their interests in the federal parliament.

I was recently asked by a local journalist about what my priorities might be as I came into the electorate of Fowler. I told her that I had five ambitions in establishing myself as a local member committed to the people of Fowler. My ambitions include ensuring that I am available to the community, and I will run an office dedicated to servicing the needs of both individuals and the community alike. I will work with organisations that particularly support the disadvantaged, the homeless, the disabled and the aged to assist them in their vital role. Through government, I hope to help create local employment opportunities, particularly for the young—and unfortunately we do have a very high youth unemployment rate. I also like to think that I will bring greater awareness to the issue of domestic violence and the impact it is having on our community. I also indicate that wherever possible I will support our police in the vital work that they do in protecting our community. I am prepared to be judged against these personal ambitions and the results that I achieve for the people and community of Fowler.

It would be remiss of me not to mention some of the organisations that make up the fabric and spirit of Fowler. I am very indebted to those organisations that have made me feel most welcome. Firstly, there is the New South Wales chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, which I know to be an extremely professional organisation led by Thanh Nguyen. The interests of the Australian Vietnamese community are certainly in good hands through the diligent work of that organisation.

The VCA’s hospitality and kindness is matched by many other organisations and people in Fowler, including the south-west Chinese association, which incorporates 40 individual Australian-Chinese associations operating in the area; Juilio Gruttilini and the Cabramatta community migrant resource centre; Ricci Bartels and the Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre; Kamalle Deboussey and Dr Vincent Ogu from the Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre; the Bonnyrigg Men’s Shed; the Liverpool Women’s Health Centre; and the Joan Harrison support services for women, just to name a few. These organisations have indicated their preparedness to work with me. My position is to not simply go out into the community and pretend to reinvent the wheel but to work with all those organisations that are doing good work in the community. In Fowler we are blessed with organisations and people who are prepared to respond to the diverse needs of the community.

It is obvious from the list I just read out that Fowler is a culturally diverse community. In fact, Fowler has the highest proportion of people born overseas than any electorate in this country. Nearly 70,000 people or 49 per cent of the current electorate of Fowler were born outside the country. As a consequence, we celebrate various cultural events such as the recent Moon Festival, the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair, the Vietnamese and Chinese lunar New Year and NAIDOC Week. It is a culturally rich community with a patchwork of extended communities that are nurtured by various organisations committed to maintaining the value of their heritage and their culture.

This country has been welcoming migrants from all over the world for many years now. We are a diverse nation and, quite frankly, we are all the better for it. People from various countries who now call the electorate of Fowler home have helped make this community in the south-west of Sydney far more vibrant, dynamic and inclusive. Migrants come to this country for various reasons. Some seek safety; others want to buy into the freedoms this country has to offer. But all of them come here with a view to building better lives for themselves and for their families. Whatever the reasons are that they come to our shores, the contribution they make to our community deserves to be recognised. They bring their customs, languages and some of their traditional recipes and foods. They also bring their skills, courage and determination, which combine to build a better future not only for themselves but also for the community as a whole.

The presence of a multicultural community should be celebrated as it enriches us as a nation. I am certainly looking forward to learning more about the diverse cultures in Fowler over the coming years. I will be proud to work with each community support organisation to help them achieve what they set out to do—to preserve their culture whilst participating in the general framework of Australian life.

It is not only the traditions and the cultures that I intend to honour as the member for Fowler; I will also honour the election commitments I made and those made by the federal Labor Party. One such commitment was $15 million for the Liverpool GP superclinic. This is a fantastic win for the people of the south-west of Sydney. It will offer after-hours GP services as well as facilities to train future health professionals in the region. I personally lobbied the Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, for one of Labor’s GP superclinics to be located in this area to take the pressure off the Liverpool and Fairfield general hospitals. I understand the government expects to put out an invitation to tender very shortly for the construction and operation of this superclinic.

Health reform was a common topic during the mobile offices I conducted during the nine months leading up to the last election. This superclinic is welcomed by the community as a whole. The community know that we need to take pressure off the current health system in the south-west of Sydney. Through this $15 million investment in the superclinic, the Labor government have made it very clear that we are not prepared to leave the health system in a business as usual situation. The commitment to a GP superclinic follows the $47 million federal Labor commitment to the Ingham Health Research Institute in Liverpool and the $106 million commitment to local schools to improve their infrastructure and provide the tools for quality education for local kids.

Federal Labor are also responsible for the new autism-specific childcare centre that was recently opened in Liverpool, one of six funded nationally. All of us with children know the difficulties and challenges involved in raising kids and helping them realise their full potential. However, the families of children with disabilities face many more complications and worries. Through this specialised early childhood centre, parents will have access to early childhood intervention at the time when they need it most. I pay specific tribute to Grace Fava from the Autism Advisory and Support Service whom I worked with to ensure that this particular centre was built in Liverpool. Her dream has now been realised. (Time expired)