Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is an honour to stand here as a Victorian senator. I congratulate my fellow incoming senators for their insightful and inspiring words this past fortnight, and I am confident that given the strong bipartisan traditions of this place we will collectively be able to make a difference.

This week's news reminds us that we live in troubling times. The very real challenges to our economy and our way of life cannot be met with wistful thinking or glib press releases, looking at the unrest overseas over the past months. That we can all sit here today as democratically elected senators, arguing where the line is drawn between individual freedom and notions of equity, means we are truly, truly blessed.

For my first speech, I shall in true conservative fashion not outline an agenda to be pursued blindly; my role is to reflect and represent rather than revolutionise. I will outline my belief in regional Victoria and share with you the values and experiences which have led me to the Senate and hence the prism through which I shall pursue my work here. First and foremost, I am a very proud country Australian, the first generation born off the farm. The relationship between my sense of self and the land is strong—the way it is used and the natural environment have shaped who I am and how I think.

As a child, I learnt to ride through the creeks and paddocks of north-east Victoria, I swam in the dams and, yes, I listened to the birds. Many decades later when I was travelling through Canada on one of those soulless night trips that you do when you are a young person—I had been away from home for a long period of time—the sound of a magpie came over the airwaves. I smiled in surprised recognition at the impact that that sound had on me. The natural world really had an impact on me during my formative years. The memories run deep. Victoria is a beautiful and an industrious state. The coalmining areas of the Latrobe Valley, the snowfields of the Great Dividing Range, the wide plains of the west, the Murray River communities, our magnificent surf coasts and our vibrant regional cities attest to that fact. And, just for the record, Melbourne is absolutely the best city in Australia—and I am happy to take that one outside. It is only natural for me, then, to find political expression in the party which has represented regional Australians for more than 95 years: the Nationals.

My pledge tonight is to the people of Victoria. I commit to putting forward our case for a sustainable future and pursuing it with energy and passion. This pledge is underpinned by the concepts of authenticity, generosity, simplicity and hard work. For me, these characteristics epitomise regional Australians, and nowhere have we seen them on display more than in Victoria during the past two years. With perseverance and stoicism, country Victorians battled 10 years of drought and its crippling impact on the health of our families, our local economies and our environment. Similarly, the floods last year devastated much of the north and west of regional Victoria. The cleaning up was still going on when floods struck us again in Gippsland, a place very dear to me. We were visited by the worst loss of life, other than in war, in our nation's history when, tragically, 173 Victorians died in the horrific bushfires of 2009. The physical and social effects will be felt for generations. Throughout these natural disasters the empathy of all Australians was extra­ordinary. And the character of regional Victorians was clear as we pulled together to fight those fires, rescue our neighbours, sandbag the flood and then just get on with the recovery. That is leadership.

Such collective strength is all in a day's work for country Victorians. We live in communities where we understand and appreciate the necessity of interdependence. It has long been essential to our survival. Each individual's skill is appreciated and respected more than the income or property they own; thoughtfulness actually counts; and the concept of an honest day's pay for an honest day's work is still commonplace. It's the place to be.

Despite the impact of these natural disasters, we have a great story to tell in regional Victoria. We have exciting future prospects for growth, particularly in food production and processing, education provision, manufacturing, the development of energy resources and the arts. Whilst only one-third of Australians live outside our capital cities, more than a quarter of Victorians choose to live in the regions, where research shows that they are connec­ted to their communities, participating in activities with strong social networks. I paint a rosy picture of regional Victoria obviously because I have chosen to make my home there, with all the benefits available to my family.

The Nationals come to Canberra with an understanding of the people they represent and a necessary appreciation of that inter­dependence. As a Nationals senator, my focus is completely and unashamedly on the needs and interests of regional Australia. When the Country Party was founded in Melbourne in 1922 it was because a group of parliamentarians recognised the need for unified regional representation. Dr Earle Page, leader of the Country Party for over three decades, stated:

It was now made plain beyond any doubt that the rural areas must attain a voice in the government of their own affairs.

From our earliest days, our initiatives and infrastructure projects have inspired: the formation of the national scientific agency, the CSIRO; the restructure of the Commonwealth Bank as a central bank. And, much later, we established the Reserve Bank. We introduced medical treatment for pensioners and free access to medicines for Australians.

We have delivered for the regions and the nation, but 95 years on there is still much to be done. Issues of low median income levels, skills shortages and high youth unemployment are consistent across the regions. Similarly, health outcomes are lower for regional Australians. In Victoria, educational attainment is another area of concern, with a significant disparity in year 12 completion rates and more than half of rural Victorian residents with no form of vocational or tertiary qualification. And although major regional centres such as Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong are growing rapidly, 11 of our regional local government areas are currently shrinking.

So, whilst recognising that improvements have been made, it is a desire to address the disparity that drives me and drives my party. A sustainable future for regional Australia is worth fighting for. It is a future that the other Victorian coalition senators—Senators Fifield, Ronaldson, Ryan and Kroger—will fight alongside me to deliver, but I also hope that Senators Madigan, Di Natale, Carr, Conroy, Collins and co. will work with me to promote policy that benefits all Victorians.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Victorian Nationals who have played a pivotal role in developing our state and our nation, in particular Jack McEwen and Peter Ryan. The first was Prime Minister, patriot, advocate for soldier settlers, promoter and protector of country Australia and our manufacturing industries. Black Jack was pragmatic, loyal and would only compromise for his constituents—values exemplified by the Nationals Senate team today. The Leader of the Nationals in Victoria and Deputy Premier, Peter Ryan, is also my local member. His advice is simple: if the policy is good for regional Victoria, support it; if it is not, don't. And that is advice that I plan to listen to.

The history of the Victorian National Party senators is actually one of diversity. There is no such thing as a stereotypical Nat pollie—it's true. I am the 11th Nationals senator for Victoria. Although I am the first woman, I am not the first teacher. Laurence Neal was a politics lecturer from La Trobe. Others have been from the armed services and—yes, even in Victoria, Barnaby—we have had our fair share of senators who were also accountants. We have also had a disproportionate number of Scotsmen.