Tim Hammond (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about part of my electorate and one of my constituents whom I am very proud to call a very fine friend. Yesterday, the entire world watched the US democratic system provide an outcome—somewhat unexpected, at that, but an outcome nonetheless. No matter what our views are about that outcome, the democratic process itself, in its own right, is something that we treasure and hold very dear. All here know the hard work, the many moments of anxiety and the strong sense of purpose required to seek public office and to seek to serve our community.

My good friend Simon Millman has put himself forward as the local Labor candidate in the state electorate of Mount Lawley. Encompassing the suburbs of Mount Lawley, Coolbinia, Menora, Yokine and parts of Dianella and Inglewood, it is almost entirely within my own federal electorate of Perth. Simon and I have shared great times, we have shared really tough times and we also share a very similar set of values. We have both devoted much of our working life to representing victims of asbestos disease and victims of workplace injury—fighting so they can get justice. That is the side that we work for.

Last Saturday, I attended a forum on jobs in my electorate, hosted by Simon Millman, in Dianella. Simon spoke of his pride in his father, a plasterer, and how his father was made redundant in the recession of the early 1990s. The family home was lost to the bank. It was one of those formative experiences for a teenager like Simon, leaving a message about the importance of jobs—safe jobs, lasting jobs, secure jobs—something that Simon will not ever forget and something that he has shared with me on many occasions.

Of course, there are other issues amongst our constituency, but without decent employment much else in life is at risk—particularly health. In my electorate, the key health service is the Royal Perth Hospital. It is staffed by some amazing health and allied professionals. But they and our constituents have been terribly let down by the state Liberal government. In 2008, the Liberal government campaigned extensively at the time on the promise to 'transform' Royal Perth Hospital into a 400-bed trauma facility with a new emergency department and a new west wing. The expected cost of the transformation was $180 million. It did not happen. This is one of the oldest and most established public hospitals in Western Australia, and it is desperately in need of investment. Now, ambulances ramp or queue with patients waiting to be admitted.

I cannot wait until the people of my electorate and Mount Lawley have for themselves in our state legislature an advocate like Simon, who understands the value of work, the importance of health and the need to keep your word.