Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians have been given a long time to compare and contrast the two major parties that are seeking to form Australia's next government since Prime Minister Gillard's surprise announcement of a potential 14 September election date. Tonight I would like to compare and contrast the two candidates that are seeking to represent the people of Lilley in Queensland: the current Treasurer, Mr Swan, and the LNP candidate, Mr Rod McGarvie.

Before I do so, I would like to comment on the fact that Prime Minister Gillard appears to have once again misled the Australian people in her attempt to artificially divide the year into the 'days of governing' and the post-August 'days of campaigning'. If having her photograph taken reading to children so that she could announce an existing reading program—without any tied funding—is not campaigning, I wonder what is. If announcing that she will live at Rooty Hill next week while she tours the potential train-wreck Labor electorates of Western Sydney is not campaigning, I am not sure what is.

The coalition leader, Mr Abbott, has said that the 2013 election will be about trust. I would like to invite the voters of Lilley to consider the trustworthiness of Mr Swan and his opponent from the LNP, Mr Rod McGarvie. Given that Mr Swan is the Treasurer of Australia, I would also like to invite all Australian voters to consider the comparison. I will not start by questioning Mr Swan's track record for dishonesty and misleading since he has been the Treasurer; I will start somewhat earlier than that.

In 2002, Christopher Pearson, writing in the Age, noted that Mr Swan's colleagues saw him as one of the party's:

… "white bread politicians" who not only speak in sound bites but think in them too.

The comment is attributed to Labor's then national secretary, who rather awkwardly is now the Special Minister of State, Mr Gary Gray AO. Mr Swan has also been variously tagged by his colleagues as a 'policy vacuum', a 'policy stumbling block', a 'machine politician' and a 'loyal lieutenant to Bill Ludwig and the AWU faction throughout his career'.

In 1996, when Mr Swan realised he would lose his seat in Lilley in the upcoming election, he even went so far as to donate money to the Australian Democrats campaign in Lilley—money the Democrats party never received. There is still dispute about whether it was $500 or $1,400 and whether it was in a white envelope or a brown paper bag. In 2000, when this deal became public, Mr Swan insisted that no preference deal had been done with the Democrats, that no preference deal had been discussed and that the money was for electorate signage. The matter was referred to the Australian Electoral Commission and then to the Australian Federal Police. They took no further action, although the police comment at the time was particularly telling. 'I can't say there is no case to answer, but no further action will be taken,' the police spokesman said. Former Queensland Labor MP Gary Johns claimed that preference deals were done with the Democrats in four seats, including Lilley, that were held by Labor in Queensland—and not because of the potential for success but because the candidates were 'aligned with or part of Queensland Labor's most powerful faction based on the AWU'. Mr Johns told the 7.30 Report in November 2000:

I'm even stunned having been in it for 27 years and a member of the party, the extent to which a group of people simply played the game according to their own rules for their own purposes without regard for the wider party.

…   …   …   

… I think it had more to do with not whether you could be saved, but who was to be looked after.

Fast forward to just last week, when Treasurer Swan was still singing the praises of the AWU and claiming that governing for union members is the equivalent of government for all Australians, despite the fact that only 18 per cent of Australian workers are union members.

At the AWU National Conference on the Gold Coast, where both Mr Swan and Ms Gillard sang—and pleaded—for their supper, Mr Swan thanked the 'brothers and sisters of the AWU' for supporting 'your Labor government'. Mr Swan said that all he wanted was a fair go for Australians:

That's why I joined the AWU. That's why I joined the Labor Party, it's also why I proudly serve in the Gillard Government.

It is this background that has kept Mr Swan out of contention as a potential leader of the Labor party. With all the suggestions around Mr Rudd, Mr Shorten and Mr Crean—and the list goes on—no-one has ever suggested Mr Swan for the leadership. That is not because of his lack of leadership talent; his looseness with the facts and the truth regarding policy; his inability to keep an apparently solemn, and oft-repeated, promise to produce a budget surplus; his press gallery title of 'worst parliamentary performer'; or his well-remembered knifing, along with Ms Gillard, of Mr Kevin Rudd. The real reason he is not in contention is not even the blowout of the budget deficit to, as in most recent news, $15 billion—and counting. It is his past.

Compare and contrast this record with that of the LNP candidate for Lilley, Mr Rod McGarvie. As you would know, Mr McGarvie won the seat of Lilley on primary votes at the last election. It was Greens preferences which saw Mr Swan narrowly re-elected. Mr McGarvie began his working life as a house builder and general construction worker. He then became a member of the Australian Army. He served as section commander with the Royal Australian Engineers at Enoggera. During this time he served in a UN peacekeeping mission to Namibia and received numerous service medals. During his Army service, Mr McGarvie led troops, searched for land mines, built bridges and ferries, and developed clean-drinking-water programs.

During his service he was also trained as a search-and-recovery diver—a skill he put to good use years later at Uganda's Lake Victoria following a light plane crash. I have been privileged to see a letter of gratitude to Mr McGarvie, which I must admit Mr McGarvie does not show around, from the then director of the German ministry for foreign affairs, Dr Wolfgang Schultheiss. It reads in part:

… thank you for your selfless efforts in searching for and recovering the bodies of the five German victims of the tragic air crash of 23 Oct 2000 … Your task as a diver, which required special experience, was particularly dangerous and you even risked your life in this operation. You have our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation.

This was during the time that Mr McGarvie worked for SIL International as the executive director of the Uganda-Tanzania branch, developing language training courses in those countries and being responsible for a staff of 200, half of whom were specialist expatriate teachers. Mr McGarvie has since had experience with SIL in the Pacific area.

He is now working for UnitingCare Community as a disability support worker, completing an MBA and campaigning as the LNP candidate for Lilley. Mr McGarvie is married with five children. In short, he is an experienced leader, trained by the Australian Army, with many years in leadership roles not just in the Army but with NGOs in developing nations in Africa and the Pacific area, and with a background in the real world. He is not a machine politician. Mr McGarvie joined the LNP because he supports its philosophies. He is not interested in only his own survival. Mr McGarvie will continue to advocate for the people of Lilley and marginalised people in Australia and overseas. And he is not a sometime friend; he has helped thousands of people and he will continue to do so.

I am pleased to advise that, since the faux election campaign was announced by Ms Gillard, the odds on Sportsbet for Mr McGarvie winning the seat have shortened considerably. Mr McGarvie and Mr Swan are now at the same odds—level pegging at $1.90 for an input of $1.

As you will appreciate, Acting Deputy President Moore, this means there has been a lot of money waged on Mr McGarvie's success, and I believe that Mr McGarvie's honesty, trustworthiness and good faith will ensure that this trend continues. (Time expired)