John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in parliament today to tell all Australians, particularly the men who live in my electorate of Calare, that this is White Ribbon Day. This is the day when men around Australia should, by their very nature, stand up and take the oath not to effect violence against women and girls. It does not matter what ethnic background or what cultural background you are from or what age you are, men have a right to respect and protect women and to get up and speak against violence that happens at any level. As one of the original ambassadors for White Ribbon Day, I think it is a fantastic thing that Andrew and everybody got behind this quite a few years ago. It came out of the armed forces deciding to take a stand against it—not as soldiers; as people. The police have taken a stand against it—not as officers; as people. I think it is fantastic that it came out of there. It is one of the most important things that men can be involved in: stopping men using violence against women and girls. I call upon all the men of Calare to get up and take that vow over this time.

I would also like to talk about the youth allowance. I live in a part of Australia which is almost all inner regional. West of Molong, Forbes and Parkes are the only part of my electorate but also of New South Wales that is eligible now for the youth allowance. When the current Prime Minister was Minister for Education, she initially wiped it for everyone, but popular appeal, popular demand, people action, got it back for those in the outer regional areas. I have to call upon the people of Calare to once again do the same thing. The Labor Party, the Greens and Senator Xenophon have prevented this being voted on in the Senate, and I think it is disgusting. If you live in inner regional places like the electorate of Calare, unless you are very lucky and can perhaps get to Orange or Bathurst for your secondary education, you have to live away from home, the same as if you live out at Cobar or Condobolin. For somebody who said in this parliament yesterday that she was passionate about education to wipe—and I mean wipe—the students in inner regional areas, as they are in Calare, whether they are in Lithgow, Bathurst, Blayney—

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Bunbury.

John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Orange, Oberon or wherever they might be, in the seat of Forrest or anywhere else, is just bias against country people. I am afraid we have to call upon our people, our students, our parents and our teachers, to once again get involved in the people push—

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

People power.

John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the people power, to bring this back and put the heat on the Prime Minister once again, now that she is the Prime Minister and not just the so-called Minister for Education, who is meant to be passionate about education. She is not passionate about it in country areas.

The other subject I rise to speak on today that I was not able to speak on when the member for Cowper moved his legislation on flying foxes is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Public Health and Safety) Bill 2010. I totally support it. This year, for the first time in living memory, flying foxes invaded Orange. This is an area with very serious apple orchards and fruit orchards to a large extent. The flying foxes inundated it, and all the state government did was allow some people to destroy up to 25. There were 25 million of the damn things around. I have nothing against flying foxes personally, but I do have something against allowing an animal to threaten livelihoods and schools. Flying foxes are actually responsible for spreading the hendra virus, which is a deadly disease for humans. We have already had four deaths in Australia and two or three other people who very nearly died. It is total destruction for horses which get it or carry it. I totally support the member for Cowper’s legislation, and I call on the state government and the federal government to get off their high horse and actually allow communities to deal with this pest in the way it needs to be dealt with.