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

I would like to speak about Mr Luke Howarth who is the LNP candidate for the federal seat of Petrie in the upcoming election. As part of telling about Mr Howarth and his qualities and the reason that he should become the member for Petrie, I will compare and contrast his characteristics and talents with those of the current Labor member for the seat, Ms Yvette D'Ath.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's no comparison.

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

You are quite right, Senator Farrell, there is no comparison.

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind Senator Farrell and members on my right that, under standing order 197, senators have the right to be heard in silence, and you can only interrupt on a point of order or of privilege or to call attention to quorum.

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

It is my hope that Luke Howarth will become the federal member for the seat of Petrie after the election in September. Luke Howarth is a 40-year-old small-businessman. In fact, it is his experience and the experiences of so many of his colleagues in small business that has led Luke to nominate as our candidate for the seat of Petrie. Luke, his extended family and his friends were sick to their stomach at the incompetence of the federal Labor government—an incompetence that Luke knew was based on the complete lack of real-life experience amongst Labor MPs.

Luke Howarth has a deep and abiding connection to the electorate of Petrie. He is a lifelong resident of the electorate, having been born at the Royal Brisbane Hospital—where I was born—and brought home by his proud parents, Ron and Denise, to their home in Bracken Ridge.

Luke and his wife, Louise, were married in 1999. They have three sons, William, Thomas and Samuel, and the family lives at Woody Point, in the electorate. Luke and Louise have grown and operated their family owned pest control business together. Their staff has grown from an initial three people to now 15 local people. Some have been with the company for more than 20 years. Luke is very proud of the family culture and respect that exists within the company's workplace—the management and staff have jointly developed the company's core values.

Luke is a keen sportsperson. He represented our state in judo as a teenager and he continues to teach judo at the Redcliffe PCYC. He has spent many years on the management committees of local PCYCs and of Crime Stoppers Queensland. He is currently a member on a local school chaplaincy committee and has been involved with local chambers of commerce in the area for the past 10 years.

Luke wants to continue to serve his community by becoming the federal LNP member for Petrie. He says that it is his frustration with the Rudd-Gillard government as a small business owner that has prompted him to put his hand up for the honour of representing the people of Petrie. Luke says:

I've watched the Rudd-Gillard Government stumble from one failure to another and I've seen them take our nation from zero debt under the former Coalition Government to now owing hundreds of billions of dollars that my sons—everyone's children—will be paying off.

I've seen my local community suffer. I've seen friends in business suffer and I want to give the voters in Petrie a genuine alternative to the incumbent.

I would now like to turn to that incumbent, Mrs Yvette D’Ath. Back when Mr Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister, she was the blond who sat behind him doing the noddy-doll impersonation—the more Mr Rudd smirked, the more Mrs D'Ath nodded.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. I do not think that is an appropriate way to describe a member of parliament. I ask the Senator to withdraw the unpleasant suggestion in that claim.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not consider it to be unparliamentary, but, Senator Boyce—

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

I withdraw, but I would continue to comment that Mrs D'Ath would nod her head regularly whilst sitting behind the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he was answering questions.

Since Mrs D'Ath's good friend Ms Gillard became Prime Minister, Mrs D'Ath has prospered and has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation. Having a focus on industry and innovation sounds like a great idea, especially for this government. A bit of industry and innovation might help to brighten up the economic dross that they have presented to us. I immediately checked to see what Mrs D'Ath’s qualifications for this role were, and you will be pleased to hear that she was the AWU’s—the Australian Workers Union’s—senior industrial advocate—

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. I am concerned that Senator Boyce did not write this speech and that someone else has written it on her behalf.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order.

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

I would point out that I did actually write the speech myself and I will continue to make the point that the union domination and the lack of real life experience is the real reason for the incompetence of the current government. We have Mrs D'Ath—

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. I do not think Senator Boyce knows anything about Mrs D'Ath. She does have real life experience.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order.

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

I would assume from the number of points of order being taken by the government that these comments are actually affecting them. The real life experience of Mrs D'Ath from 1994 to 2007 was as the senior industrial advocate for the AWU in Queensland. It is a great qualification for developing industry and innovation policy. As I said, you will remember that Mrs D'Ath and Ms Gillard are such good friends that one of Ms Gillard’s first actions became notorious. One of her first acts as Prime Minister was to use the VIP jet—at a cost of $9,000 to taxpayers—to fly to Brisbane and back to support an AWU fundraiser for her friend Mrs D'Ath. We are told the function, which was attended by one of Ms Gillard's strongest supporters, Mr Bill Ludwig, raised $10,000 but it cost taxpayers $9,000 to get Ms Gillard there so that $10,000 could go into Mrs D'Ath's electorate coffers. As Senator Ronaldson from our side joked at the time, it would have been cheaper had Ms Gillard stayed home and written a Treasury cheque to her good friend.

By contrast, Mr Luke Howarth’s record is in itself a great reason to vote for him. He understands the needs of small business in his electorate—Petrie has particularly large light industry and commercial regions in it, and Luke knows those people and knows them well. The fact that Luke Howarth will be part of a Tony Abbott led government that will restore hope, reward and opportunity is another great reason for the electors of Petrie to vote for him. But I have here an additional reason that I think people should vote for Luke Howarth. It is a photo of the woman who has led—

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Boyce, that is not orderly. You can continue, but do not use props.

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

I beg your pardon. What I have here is a photo of the woman who has led Australia’s most incompetent government, Ms Gillard, flanked by her good friends Mrs Yvette D’Ath and Mr Swan. If you vote for Mrs D’Ath, you are voting to keep Ms Gillard and Mr Swan. My plea to the electors of Petrie is that they vote for Luke Howarth, not just to save the constituents of Petrie from the incompetence of this government and the inabilities of Mrs D'Ath but also to save the people of Australia. The most amusing aspect altogether is that we have Mrs D'Ath claiming in a speech this year that she has $742 million for the Moreton Bay Rail Link that has been talked about for over 100 years. Senator Macdonald, I am sure you would have been in the electorate of Petrie recently—have you seen any rail lines there? No. Exactly. It is just another election promise with nothing—

Senator Carol Brown interjecting—

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

Order! Senator Boyce. Senator Brown, you have continually interjected and I have let you go up to this point and so, please, do not interject any further.

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

Mrs D'Ath's grasp of the real world is quite weird—the Moreton Bay Rail Link is not going anywhere under Mrs D'Ath. She could not deliver it; she will not deliver it. The National Broadband Network, she says, is rolling out in her electorate. She forgets to mention that in fact the NBN Co. did not negotiate with Telstra to connect—(Time expired)