John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call Senator Furner, I remind honourable senators that this is his first speech. I therefore ask that the usual courtesies be extended to him.

Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Standing here today in this great democratic house before all senators, visitors and family is a humble and proud opportunity. I congratulate all senators for their success in the last election as either new or continuing members of this 42nd Parliament. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land upon which we are gathered here today. When I was in Parliament House on 13 February this year, the focus of the day was consciously and quite appropriately on the apology to all Indigenous Australians.

As a newly elected senator, I cannot help evaluating the future. We are all fortunate and responsible in having a genuine opportunity to accomplish proper legislation to showcase our great nation as leaders in sustainability for our future generations—generations who should be able to take for granted access to better education, generations which should not have to live week to week and worry whether the family can afford to pay the next bill in the pile on the fridge and generations which should be able to hold their heads up high in their workplaces knowing they have dignity and equality to bargain with their employers for a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. For our future generations our biggest challenge is the environment. It concerns me to hear sceptics claim that there are no changes in the climate or that the economic price is too high to deal with climate change. If we do not act now, the droughts and unseasonable weather patterns we have experienced over the past several years will pale into insignificance.

Twelve February this year marked my inaugural journey to Canberra and Parliament House. I had never had the opportunity or occasion to visit this esteemed house until then. My journey to this house and Labor values, unbeknown to me, started back in my young prime as a youngster growing up in a housing commission home on the northern side of Brisbane in the suburb of Chermside. My parents never spoke of politics. Those conversations came from external discussions and debates with other families. Later on in subsequent years I was handing out how-to-vote cards for a Labor Brisbane City councillor. That was the start of my political journey. Shortly after, on 11 November 1975, Remembrance Day, while working as a trade’s assistant at ACF and Shirleys fertiliser plant in Brisbane, I became embroiled in a stirring, momentous occasion. News had just been released that the Governor-General had sacked Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. From there, there were gatherings of tradesmen and labourers to discuss this harrowing event. What I recall of the day is a mixture of anger and disbelief that one of this country’s greatest Labor leaders had been sacked. It followed that every worker decided to withdraw their labour for the remaining part of the day in abhorrence over his sacking by the Governor-General.

Following my period of work as a trade’s assistant and floor-covering layer, I ended up in the transport industry, driving initially small delivery vehicles then escalating to semitrailers. Little did I know at the time my further development in political life was about to unfold through the trade union movement. Not long after, at the age of 18, I became the youngest union delegate of the Transport Workers Union Queensland branch while working for Luya Julius. Furthermore, not realising it at the time, I would also become an elected organiser for the TWU 12 years later.

No journeys in life are possible without the assistance of caring people. The people in my journey are my families. Of these, I reflect upon three. The first family is the Furner family. As mentioned previously, I grew up in Chermside, Brisbane, along with two older brothers, Ken and Russell, and my younger sister, Helen. My parents were conscientious and worked to make ends meet and to provide a home and food and education for the family. Dad, who I am pleased is here in the chamber today, was a police officer, and Mum, who is ill and was not able to make the journey, was a nurse. Sometimes like ships in the night they passed each other when they came home off opposite shifts. Both were loving and caring, although with a stern hand. I believe they are both personally responsible for the strong work ethic and social justice values I have today, values and beliefs which shall hold me in fine stead when I converse with and represent people of our nation.

In my early twenties and having married my beautiful wife of now 29 years, we started the next generation of Furners. My darling wife, Lorraine, who is here today, I would like to thank you for all your love, patience, support and insight throughout the last two years of my Senate campaign. My son Troy I saw firsthand during the election campaign become a man of strength, encouragement and faith in the Labor movement. Thank you for all your assistance. My two beautiful daughters, Stacey and Sally, who I believe slowly flourished and, like Troy, without their father’s influence began to understand the social differences between right and wrong. I would not have survived to be here today without you all, so in many ways that means I owe everything to you. I would also like to acknowledge Lorraine’s parents, who are in the gallery here today and who are really like second parents to me.

The second family is the Labor Party. I come to this chamber as a representative of the Australian Labor Party, one of the oldest and greatest social parties, a party forged out of the great union struggles of the late 1800s in Queensland to give workers a parliamentary voice, a party with the accountability to represent their interests and a party whose foundations have been built on values that I have always been committed to: fairness, parity of opportunity and social justice for all.

To the broader Labor family, I will run the risk of naming some names and inadvertently therefore leaving some people out. There are so many capable and dedicated people who deserve acknowledgement. I think in the current circumstances it is more crucial than ever that the contributions of these people are recognised. All of us in the Labor Party know that we would disappear overnight without the unselfish dedication and commitment of numerous people who contribute so much of their own time, money and energy simply because they believe in the ideals and policies of the party. Labor people who require mentioning include branch people like Bob McIntosh, Mick Colwell, Michelle McJannett, Patrick Bulman and Mark Warmsley, who are just the absolute salt of the earth. You are only a few of the countless many who gave up their valued time to help numerous candidates like me.

Queensland Labor Party officials who guided and helped me through the campaign include: state secretary, Anthony Chisholm; lead organiser, Chris Forrester—my good friend; party treasurer, Damian Power; Linus Power; and past state secretary Councillor Milton Dick. Senator John Hogg and Senator Claire Moore—as a Queensland Senate team we campaigned well together and I am extremely appreciative of your help. To the other Queensland senators, Joseph Ludwig and Jan McLucas, it is great to be here with you. Member for Brisbane, Arch Bevis, member for Blair, Shayne Neumann, member for Dawson, James Bidgood, member for Rankin, Craig Emerson, member for Flynn, Chris Trevor, member for Oxley, Bernie Ripoll, member for Petrie, Yvette D’Ath, member for Longman, Jon Sullivan and member for Capricornia, Kirsten Livermore—thank you for all your committed support during my campaign. Of the Labor ministers of the 42nd Parliament, I thank Kevin Rudd for his inspiring leadership and Treasurer Wayne Swan and the Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, for their guidance. And I thank past Labor minister the Hon. Con Sciacca who, with his business partner, Vince Kartelo, helped me no end.

The third family is the trade union movement. For the past 30-odd years I have been proud and honoured to be a member of various unions. They are, in sequence, the Transport Workers Union, the Australian Services Union and my own union, the National Union of Workers—and an official of three unions for over 19 of those 30-odd years. There are so many people I wish to acknowledge today for their role in developing me and assisting me throughout my union career and Senate campaign. My first union organiser, Allan McPaul, who subsequently became my union boss at the TWU Queensland branch has been an inspiration and friend to me. In fact, I would go as far as advocating he was my mentor in my union career.

For four years I served the honest professional men and women of the Queensland Police Service as an industrial officer for the Queensland Police Union of Employees. This role was both rewarding and challenging, with many disputed conditions achieved in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission. I was honoured to organise the involvement of the Queensland Police Union members in two consecutive Labour Day marches for the very first time.

And, of course, there is my own union, the National Union of Workers. I first commenced employment with the Queensland branch in May of 1996 as an organiser, progressing to senior organiser then onto branch secretary in October 2003. The NUW is a progressive and professional union representing many types of industries throughout this country. I wish to thank branch secretary John Cosgrove, Les Seaman, Russell Vieritz, all other officials, staff, all the branch committee of management, union delegates and members who helped me tirelessly over the past years in Queensland. I wish to thank Derrick Belan and the officials and staff of the New South Wales NUW branch—which is well-represented in the chamber today—for their exceptional assistance during my campaign. Also, I thank the national office for their help. I recognise David Smith, secretary of the Australian Services Union and Dave Hanna of the Builders Labourers Federation for their generous support. And I, for one, will be working with Dave and his fellow members shoulder to shoulder in seeing the back of the excessive powers of the ABCC. Additionally, I thank the Queensland Teachers Union for their help.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned unions, no-one can disparage the professional and committed ‘Your rights at work’ campaign in which the whole of the union movement engaged workers and their families. The ACTU, under the stewardship of Sharan Burrow and Greg Combet, now member for Charlton, led a sterling campaign for workers rights and are congratulated. If it had not been for the ‘Your rights at work’ campaign and the election of a Kevin Rudd Labor government, with their commitment to introduce new IR laws which will bring back the fair go, many workers would be worse off under John Howard’s insidious industrial relations laws.

During the election campaign the past government tried to demonise union officials. Despite this, my resolve became stronger in defeating that government and installing a Kevin Rudd Labor government. One only needs to look at the community work many unions are involved in to dispel the myth that union officials are thugs. One such example is, over the past three years, the National Union of Workers Queensland branch officials and members, Senator Moore, other local branch members and I have been involved in ‘Relay for life’ for the Queensland Cancer Council, rasing up to $50,000 searching for the cure for cancer—a far cry from thugs, in my view.

On Friday, 14 December 2007 I was privileged to be at the Australian Electoral Commission’s declaration of the Queensland Senate results. As all successful elected candidates spoke, I listened with interest to their varied experiences during their campaigns. Personally, during my campaign I was fortunate in meeting and forming friendships with lovely people from our multicultural groups we have in this country. Thank you to Nabiel and Awatief, from the Middle East, who I met on Anzac Day 2007 at a Lebanese memorial event; Lan and Chau and their son David, who have been long-term friends who helped me on 24 November in important Vietnamese election booths in the seat of Oxley; and Ramish and Satwinder, from the Indian Sikh community, who have shown me different cultures and rewarding experiences.

In spite of the number of persons I have thanked previously, it would be remiss not to pay tribute to all Queenslanders who put their trust in me and the election of an Australian Labor government on 24 November 2007. Queensland Labor performed to its optimum in the federal election, delivering the largest swing across the nation, a swing of 7.5 per cent to Labor. Queensland Labor added nine seats to its stocks, the best result of all the states. Queensland Labor now holds Blair, Bonner, Dawson, Flynn, Forde, Leichhardt, Longman, Moreton and Petrie. Additionally, Labor went marginally close to winning Bowman, Dickson and Herbert, with exceptional candidates.

I would like to extend my genuine appreciation to all the Senate staff in the various departments who have made me feel welcome. You are a group of professional and dedicated people. To my own staff—Michelle, Jasmine and Alana—I do not think I could ask for more dedicated and committed electorate staff.

I have many interests, including the following. Having coached my son and fellow team members of Pine Rivers United Soccer Club, I am interested in most codes of football. As a keen bush trekker, I hold a deep empathy for the environment. Having visited and trekked many of Queensland’s national parks, my second home is the bush. My favourite walks and relaxation are O’Reilly’s in the Lamington National Park, not far from the Gold Coast. In fact, 2008 commemorates the establishment of Witches Falls, the first Queensland national park in 1908, later becoming a section of Tamborine National Park. I am interested in diverse cultural and culinary experiences not only in Australia but in other parts of the world. I am a strong believer in human rights for all. I believe in fitness of the body and mind. Therefore, I will no doubt see many of you in the Parliament House gymnasium of a morning. As a unionist, and having spent over half of my working life thus far devoted to the union movement, I am interested in industrial relations and the union movement.

As a Queenslander, I have been fortunate to travel most of the state either through work or on vacation. Queensland, in my biased view, is a vibrant and beautiful part of this country which develops good people and amazing opportunities—people like Andrew Fisher, the first Queensland Labor Prime Minister, whose term as PM commenced on 13 November 1908. He was the first Prime Minister to hold a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, in 1910. During Fisher’s period as Prime Minister a number of important projects were undertaken. The Royal Australian Navy was established, the Commonwealth Bank was set up, the northern territory of South Australia was transferred to the Commonwealth, the federal capital of Canberra was founded, and the construction of the trans-Australian railway line linking Perth to the other capitals began. As well as introducing maternity allowances, Fisher acknowledged the need for greater political equality for women.

Ironically, a century on in the same month, November, we saw the second Queensland Labor Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and his government elected. Why would you want to be anywhere else other than in Queensland? This Friday, as a Queenslander I will stand proudly in this chamber watching Quentin Bryce’s swearing-in as Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Queenslanders face many challenges in the next decades. However, we are well positioned to govern for the future. Queensland grew 6.8 per cent in the last financial year—the 11th consecutive year in which Queensland exceeded Australia’s economic growth rate. For the seventh year in a row, Queensland will outstrip the growth of every state other than Western Australia. Queensland now contributes $187 billion to the national income and $35 billion to the national exports.

In the past five years, Queensland has created more than 367,000 new jobs and the population has grown by close to half a million. Our challenges include population growth, with approximately 1,700 people crossing the borders into Queensland every week. Infrastructure in South-East Queensland is under enormous pressure. Queensland is Australia’s most decentralised mainland state, with 40 per cent of those who come to Queensland every week moving to our regional areas. With booming cities like Gladstone, Mackay and Cairns, in 2008-09 the government will invest $826 million in nation-building road projects. After 11 long years of neglect, the artery that runs through the heart of these communities, the Bruce Highway, will receive from this government a $2.2 billion upgrade.

Our challenges come after 11 years of neglect in workplaces, where the past government’s Work Choices industrial relations laws created divisive barriers and confusion between employers, employees and their unions—insidious divides to satisfy ideology of a past-obsessed government, a government which was hell-bent on destroying the ‘fair go’ in our workplaces. Now we are faced with creating a fairer Australia.

This year the Rudd Labor government honoured its commitment to abolishing Australian workplace agreements. Only this government is committed to building a modern, fair and flexible industrial relations system that will provide a decent safety net for future workers—a safety net that provides for national employment standards that prevent workers from falling through the cracks.

On the back of the population growth in Queensland we are faced with an ever-increasing skill shortage not just among our trades and professional workers but among semi-skilled workers such as labourers, forklift operators and fast-food operatives. The past government’s only answer was to bring in overseas migrants on 457 visas. As a modern government, we need to encourage and build our skill base through tertiary education. This government is modernising our employment services system by changing the focus to skill up workers, to engage with employers and, indeed, to provide real incentives for providers to get people into jobs that industry needs to fill. Over the next five years this government will provide 238,000 training places for job seekers at an expense of $880 million.

Our biggest challenge, not only in Queensland but across the nation, will be climate change. There are predictions that Queensland will see the demise of one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef, as we know it and of increases in temperatures of 4.5 Celsius, leading to impacts in the state’s ability to produce agriculture. Out of all the challenges we will face as senators in this 42nd Parliament, I would strongly advocate that we should not be responsible for the demise of our beautiful country and should show initiative and responsibility before it is too late to act on climate change.

I come to the Senate in some trepidation of the history and tradition of this place and of the importance of its part in the democratic life of our nation. I come with an excitement and enthusiasm at the challenge and the trust which the people of Queensland have placed in me. With full respect, I bring the challenge to you, fellow senators, that we combine our skills to be part of the generation that took the opportunity to change the direction of climate change, and not the last generation that was responsible for the demise of our nation and the world.

The commitment I solemnly provide here today is: over the next six-year term I shall work enthusiastically and convincingly to be part of an Australian Senate which delivers for the needy, for equality and for fairness to all. Regardless what school, what work or what culture, creed or religion, you will be the focus. Thank you for your indulgence.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pursuant to order, I now call Senator Cash to make her first speech and ask honourable senators that the usual courtesies be extended to her.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with significant honour that I rise to make my first speech in the Australian Senate. Mr President, I commence my remarks by offering my congratulations to you on your election to the office of President of the Senate. Having watched my father, the Hon. George Cash, in his role as President of the Legislative Council of Western Australia and currently as Deputy President, I have a true appreciation of the roles and responsibilities that befall the President of the Senate and I wish you well.

I extend my congratulations to all senators elected at the 2007 election—in particular, those elected for the first time. I also extend my appreciation to the Clerk of the Senate and to his staff for their assistance and advice since my election.

As someone who believes in the principles of federalism and in houses of review, I am honoured to have been elected as a Liberal senator for Western Australia. There is no doubt that Western Australians recognise that a critical institutional safeguard for all Australians is a competent and properly functioning Senate—a Senate which scrutinises, criticises and passes judgement on legislation having regard to, in the case of the citizens of my state, the interests of Western Australia. This scrutiny ensures that a federal government located in Canberra, many thousands of kilometres in distance from Western Australia, is still held accountable for actions that affect the people of my state.

Although there is a long history of federalism and federalist thought, Australia’s federal system is one of the longest running of the world’s current federal systems. Of course, the establishment of the Australian federal system did not happen overnight. During the 1890s there was considerable debate between representatives of the various colonies considering the merits of establishing an Australian federation. It is well-documented that there was considerable reluctance on the part of Western Australia to join the federation.

It is also clear from the conference debates that when the Commonwealth was created in 1901 the states proposed to transfer only limited powers and intended to retain the maximum constitutional powers for themselves. One hundred and seven years later, it is fair to say that our founding fathers did not envisage that the passage of time, changing circumstances and the broad interpretation of Commonwealth powers by the High Court of Australia would see a profound encroachment by the Commonwealth on previously intended state areas of responsibility.

Whilst accepting the change in powers of the Commonwealth due to High Court interpretation, I believe that we, as senators, must always pay proper regard to the constitutional compact as it was originally conceived. Wherever it is consistent with good policy, we should seek to make decisions that, whilst reflecting the national interest, uphold and respect the interests of the states. As former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies was heard to say after a fiery and contentious Premiers Conference, ‘Six state premiers send me up the wall, but I would not have it any other way because it is our insurance against dictatorship.’

Western Australia, apart from being the largest state having an area of almost one third of the Australian continent, is a very significant contributor to the national economy. Without question, my state has emerged over the last two decades as an economic powerhouse. Western Australia, with about 10 per cent of Australia’s population, has historically generated approximately 30 per cent of Australia’s export revenues. However, the recent commodities boom has pushed this figure to now exceed 40 per cent. My state generates more export income than New South Wales and Victoria—Australia’s two most populous states—combined.

Western Australia has been blessed with an abundance of natural resources. The state’s economy is primarily export driven with China, Japan, South Korea and India being key export destinations. Last year, Western Australia exported more than $55 billion worth of minerals and petroleum as a result of global demand for our natural resources. The continued rapid industrialisation of China and India is expected to significantly increase the demand for our mineral exports into the future.

Whilst Western Australia is abundant in mineral resources, it offers much more in its economic contribution to the nation. Agricultural exports make up the state’s second major export industry. The fishing industry is also important. We have a flourishing shipbuilding industry located at Kwinana, south of Perth, and many other industries of international repute.

The growth Western Australia is experiencing is providing great benefits and opportunities for our nation. To ensure that we take full advantage of this opportunity and maximise benefits to all Australians, we need a bold and coherent vision and long-range contextual planning to adequately address the infrastructure needs of Western Australia not just for today but into the future. As a senator I want to contribute to the development and implementation of policies that promote the building of infrastructure that is necessary to ensure that my state, and therefore the nation, enjoys continuing prosperity. Western Australia’s vast natural resources place it in an enviable position but much of its economic potential is still to be realised. One of the foremost opportunities will be the further development of the state’s mineral resources through increased downstream processing.

As government decisions can often impose unnecessary and sometimes unintended burdens on industry, we must make certain that decisions affecting Western Australia’s resources industry do not unwittingly affect the capacity of industry to flourish and grow for the benefit of the nation. There is no doubt, in my view, that a failure by the Commonwealth to properly recognise Western Australia’s unique needs would be detrimental to the national economy. This would ultimately impact on the capacity of government to deliver essential services and social dividends to all Australians.

I am a strong believer in recognising that the development of industry should not be fettered by unnecessary regulation. In my view—a view that has been fashioned by my years of legal practice—every piece of legislation should be subject to rigorous impact analysis. Ideally, this analysis should be published as a formal statement and tabled in parliament as part of the legislative procedure. Such an impact statement should include a considered analysis of the economic, social, environmental and practical impacts of a proposed law. We should never forget that the regulation we impose on industry invariably results in the imposition of compliance costs.

As a Liberal, I believe in minimal government interference and that the role of government is to create and maintain a regulatory and taxation environment conducive to allowing the private sector to get on with the job. We must therefore be cautious when considering new legislation and the consequences flowing from it, and we should not inhibit business with unnecessary red tape. There may well be merit in the argument that law-makers should only introduce a new regulation if at the same time they remove a redundant or superseded one.

Of course, it is imperative that in seizing the opportunities and benefits that flow from economic activity we recognise the social and environmental impact on local communities of actions taken by industry. The concept of the community licence to operate and the obligations flowing from this should be prevalent in decisions that we make affecting industry. We must work to cultivate a future that is not only economically and environmentally sustainable but also socially sustainable. As legislators, we should encourage industry to work with the local communities in which they operate to ensure that, in conjunction with government, important services such as health and education are provided and, where possible, that local and Indigenous employment is promoted.

On a recent visit to the iron ore town of Newman, I was pleased to note that BHP Billiton has established programs designed to support sustainable communities. I am also aware of similar programs being endorsed and implemented in Western Australia by Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and other mining companies. These companies should be commended for the work that they are doing. Government should encourage and enhance opportunities for industry support and participation in delivering services and benefits to local communities with special needs.

It is well recognised that the most fundamental responsibility of a government is the security of its nation and its people. After the nation’s security come the critical areas of health and education, followed by myriad other responsibilities which are demanded by the community and which are provided by both the government and the private sector. Financing these growing responsibilities demands efficient economic utilisation and management of both our human and natural resources. This requires the input of secure energy and water supplies along with transport infrastructure to enable access to both domestic and export markets.

It is clear to me that the two great challenges that will affect Australia’s future potential will be the production of competitively priced energy and water. In Western Australia it is the lack of competitively priced energy, in particular in the state’s north, which must be addressed so that optimum return on our resources may be achieved. Given the events of recent months in Western Australia, it is clear that we do not have a generation system that is capable of guaranteeing the energy security that is critical to our growing needs. There is a need in relation to Western Australia to focus our efforts in developing bold, visionary policies that provide the incentives for industry to produce competitively priced energy and an adequate supply of water to accommodate the vast opportunities that exist across the state.

A failure to adequately plan for long-term investment in these precious commodities will restrict the opportunities for growth in Western Australia and, as a consequence, will be detrimental to the national economy. Gas and oil located in the north-west of Western Australia, coal in the south-west and uranium deposits in the pastoral and remote regions can, with bipartisan support, be transformed into the energy chain. Currently our gas is exported to support the energy demands of other nations with whom we actually compete in our domestic and global markets. There is significant potential for greater downstream mineral processing within Western Australia at locations close to the natural resources.

The renewable energy options of solar, wind, wave, tidal, geothermal and biomass are all relevant to Western Australia. What we require to promote the development of these natural resources and downstream processing opportunities is a visionary strategy which is underpinned and supported by a national development plan. I have had the opportunity of travelling throughout our vast Kimberley region and I am convinced, given the huge coastal tidal movements, that tidal power represents a feasible energy option for the region. What is currently missing in the tidal energy option is the necessary start-up support at a national level—support which will be repaid many times over once tidal power is producing competitive energy.

Apart from energy, the other great challenge is water. Where there is water there can be food. There are many opportunities in our northern region to grow food and crops for domestic use and for export to the growing markets of nearby Asia. It should be remembered that the export destinations of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are geographically closer to Western Australia’s port towns of Broome and Derby than to Melbourne and Sydney. Those senators who know the Fitzroy Basin area will be aware that there is significant potential for agricultural and horticultural industries being developed in the Fitzroy Basin.

I am also very supportive of the need to move forward with the development of the Ord River stage 2 project, which has been bogged down by the bureaucracy at both state and national levels. It is imperative that the northern Australia task force, which was established by the previous Liberal government, acts with haste in its research studies into opportunities in the north-west of Western Australia. If we consult with and invest greater decision-making powers in the local people and in industry in the north-west, we will reap the economic and environmental rewards through industrial and agricultural sustainability, coupled with diverse employment opportunities.

Prior to the 1993 state election in Western Australia, the Hon. Richard Court outlined his vision. This included a gas pipeline to be built from Karratha to Kalgoorlie along a route that would provide users access to our natural gas supplies. Many at the time were sceptical, but within a short time after Richard Court was elected Premier the pipeline was built by private enterprise and it continues to be operated by private enterprise today. I foresee in the future a gas pipeline linking the Western Australian gas fields with the eastern states. With global oil prices now around US$117 per barrel, I also foresee the potential for clean coal technology and coal-to-liquids operations in Australia, although I acknowledge the first of these plants may be on the east coast.

Unlike some who see nothing but doom and gloom consequent upon the constant changes occurring in our global natural environment, I recognise that the elements that affect our global climatic conditions are complex and that over the millennia of time our global climate has changed and will continue to change. It is my view that for Australia to succeed in the challenges inherent in the issues relating to climate change, we must first recognise that it is a global problem and as such will need to be addressed at a global level. Whilst it may give some people a warm inner feeling for Australia to go it alone in its response to climate change, a unitary approach will not succeed and is likely to place Australia at significant economic disadvantage in comparison to its competitors in the global economic market. Given that Australia, with 0.32 per cent of the global population, contributes only about 1.43 per cent of total global carbon emissions, the most realistic and beneficial approach for Australia in seeking a global solution is to actively engage the major global polluters, such as China, India and the United States, to significantly reduce their own carbon emissions while at the same time focusing on developing clean fuel technologies which result in lower emissions and which can be exported worldwide.

In future years when I look back at my time in the Australian Senate, I hope to be able to say that I contributed to developing and implementing policy that has ensured that the state of Western Australia, and consequently the nation, is a stronger and more prosperous place than it was when I first commenced here. Responsible and ultimately successful societies methodically plan for and build strategic infrastructure for the long-term benefit of their citizens. My challenge, and indeed our challenge as representatives of the people of the states and territories of Australia, is to ensure that we have the courage to make the right decisions and where necessary the tough decisions not only for the short term but also for the long-term social, economic and environmental benefit of all Australians.

It was said by the Reverend Theodore Hesburgh, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame in the United States:

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.

And this is so true of one of the greatest political contributors in my state’s history, former premier Sir Charles Court. A true visionary, Sir Charles was the person who laid the foundations for Western Australia’s resources boom, the benefits and rewards of which the nation is reaping today. In the 1950s, when Sir Charles Court entered Western Australian politics, we were a mendicant state with a small population. However, what we did have were huge repositories of natural resources. Sir Charles recognised the potential in these resources. Over the next two decades he made tough political decisions, decisions that he saw as being necessary if the state of Western Australia was to become the economic powerhouse that he envisaged it could, and indeed has, become.

Sir Charles was a man of action and did not let anything stand in his way, literally. His obituary in the Australian on Monday, 24 December 2007, stated:

When, as minister for industrial development, he led a group of Japanese industrialists to his office, only to find it locked, he smashed the glass door, and turned to his startled guests with the explanation: “We don’t let anything stand in our way in this state.”

And this is the optimism and sense of resolute purpose that is still required to this very day of the people’s representatives.

I am proud to reflect upon the fact that those attributes were hallmarks of my great grandfather Samuel John Cash, who is recognised in Western Australian history as a person who contributed in a significant way to the mining industry. He is a foundation inductee of the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame located in Kalgoorlie. Sam Cash was a prospector whose own gold loaming methods earned him the title ‘The Prince of Loamers’. His contemporaries have credited him with discovering over 100 gold mines, with the pinnacle of his career being the discovery of the Barbara Mine on the Hampton Plains, south-east of Coolgardie, which he later sold to the then Western Mining Corporation. He is the author of Loaming for Gold, which has been read by many prospectors and has been responsible for the discovery of untold wealth by exponents of the loaming system.

There are so many supporters in Western Australia to whom I owe a debt of gratitude and thanks. I cannot mention them all but must acknowledge just a few. I thank the members of Western Australian Liberal Party for their encouragement and support. I thank those members of the party, as well as many other friends, who are here today in the gallery with me. I undertake to be an effective and tireless campaigner for the Liberal cause and your voice in Canberra, advocating the advancement of the interests of Western Australia and the regions which make up our great state.

To my home division, the Moore Division of the Liberal Party of Western Australia, in particular its president, Councillor Ian Goodenough, and his family: your support and friendship is valued and always appreciated. To my staff, who in the very busy first few months of work have performed above and beyond the call of duty: thank you. To Senator Mathias Cormann, my colleague and friend: the advice you have given me since my election has been invaluable and I thank you. To my parents, Ursula and George: I thank you for the support and guidance that you have given me during my life. You have, leading by example, instilled in your four children a strong work ethic. You taught us that life is not easy—to achieve, you must work hard; to achieve more, you must simply work harder. That lesson will serve me well in this place. Finally, to my amazing husband, Richard Price, my sisters Melinda and Joanna, my brother, Andrew, and my niece, Aleisha, who is here today in the gallery: your love and support have been my strength and motivation in my political pursuits over the years, and I record my gratitude to you. I am forever grateful that you are here today sharing this occasion with me.

Mr President, I would like to conclude with two quotations that I believe will be relevant to my role as a senator. The first is again from the Reverend Hesburgh. He said:

My basic principle is that you don’t make decisions because they are easy; you don’t make them because they are cheap; you don’t make them because they are popular; you make them because they are right.

The second quote is a simple one from another reverend—the Reverend Jesse Jackson:

Never look down on anybody unless you are helping them up.

I thank honourable senators, and I thank you, Mr President.