Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Menzies, Howard, Morrison. Last week, the Liberal Party celebrated our 75th anniversary. In my maiden speech I mentioned that Lindsay is in so many ways a microcosm of the Australian community. It's got families; it's got retired people; it's got lots and lots of small businesses; and it's got a very strong community spirit. These are the words of former Prime Minister John Howard OM AC on his visit to Lindsay during the campaign—and, as I've said before, former Prime Minister Howard is always right: 'From Menzies' forgotten people to Howard's battlers to Morrison's quiet Australians, Lindsay has been and will remain a microcosm of Australia.' From working for former Prime Minister Howard to working with Prime Minister Morrison, it is now my responsibility to ensure the hardworking, aspirational people of Lindsay continue to be listened to and fought for.

Almost 70 years ago, Australia elected the first Liberal government. Since then, we have witnessed Dame Enid Lyons enter the House of Representatives and serve in cabinet, and Neville Bonner and Minister Ken Wyatt, our first ever Indigenous cabinet minister and Minister for Indigenous Australians.

Sir Robert Menzies extended an invitation to my dad in the early 1950s to come to Australia from a little town in Austria called Graz. In my early twenties, I worked for former Prime Minister John Howard, and he supported me during our recent campaign. Now, as I have said, I have the privilege of working with Prime Minister Morrison.

Since 2013, the Morrison government has been getting on with the job of delivering jobs for Australians. Since coming to government, we have created nearly 1.5 million jobs. In Western Sydney alone, the Morrison government's $5.3 billion infrastructure investment will see 11,000 jobs created during construction of the Nancy Bird Walton international airport and 28,000 jobs after opening. Our partnership and collaboration with the New South Wales government will mean that over 200,000 jobs will be created as part of the Western Sydney City Deal. That's just the beginning.

I speak a lot about the commute I did from my home into the city, of over 15 hours a week over 10 years. Every day, 300,000 people commute out of Western Sydney for their jobs. As I've said before, my story isn't very unique, particularly in Lindsay. It's about family, opportunities, aspiration, wanting a good job and working hard to get ahead for your family. I think this has always been the Lindsay way. The Morrison government is creating jobs for those people, and locally we're working on collaborative projects such as the Lindsay Jobs of the Future Forum, to prepare our local kids for those jobs that are coming in science, advanced manufacturing and even the space industry, as part of this great infrastructure investment by the Morrison government. As the Prime Minister said last week: 'There are more people in work today than at any other time in our history. And for more than 30 years, we have the lowest level of welfare dependence of the working-age population than any other time in that period.'

Having worked at the US Studies Centre leading a think-tank program, I know that the Liberal government has always had a very strong relationship with the United States over our 75 years—and our relationship with the United States is stronger than ever. Since we first forged a partnership at the Battle of Hamel in 1918, we have worked closely on our economic and security relationship while holding the same values and commitment for peace, prosperity and liberty. As our largest economic partner, the investment between Australia and the US is worth more than $1.2 trillion and it supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. We recently announced a partnership with the US on space and science and technology breakthroughs, and our two-way trade has grown almost 60 per cent since we signed the Australia-US free trade agreement. I was lucky enough to meet with US Chamber of Commerce representatives last month and discuss our very positive relationship. Our government is unlocking the potential between our two great countries, and this has been important for well over 75 years.

Australians elected our government to ease the cost-of-living pressures and unlock the potential here in Australia and with our international friends, including the US. I look forward to continuing to work for my community as we celebrate 75 years of our Liberal Party. I was lucky enough to meet with US Chamber of Commerce representatives last month and discuss our very positive relationship. Our government is unlocking the potential between our two great countries, and this has been important for over 75 years.

Australians elected our government to ease the cost-of-living pressures and unlock the potential here in Australia and with our international friends, including the US. I look forward to continuing to work for my community as we celebrate these 75 years of our Liberal Party.