Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to acknowledge that we're meeting today on the traditional lands of the Ngunawal people. I acknowledge them as custodians and traditional owners of this land and I extend my respects to elders past and present.

I am so deeply humbled to stand here in this chamber as a newly elected Australian senator representing the state of New South Wales and the Liberal Party of Australia. My journey to this place began 44 years ago. Of all the political leaders to share a birthday with, it turned out I was fated to share mine with Abraham Lincoln. I'm sure none of us in the class of 2019 would claim to be heirs to Lincoln, but, standing here in this great parliament, we all feel the power of his words—his description of democracy that has never been bettered, 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people;' his conviction that democracy has to be protected—it has to be worked for, fought for and sacrificed for; and his strong belief, one that I share, that politics is about empowering individuals, not engineering society.

Today I think of the founders and builders of our own Australian democracy—politicians inside this parliament but also countless everyday Australians outside it—and I make this observation: until relatively recently, that history of our country, and so many others, has been told as the history of great men. Of course, our Australian democracy has indeed been shaped by great men—too many to name—from our own founding fathers through to Menzies, Hawke and Howard. But our history is also every bit as much the story of strong women, from pioneering parliamentarians who have served with such distinction here to the women in every community around the nation who work and fight and sacrifice every day for a better life for themselves and their family.

In my own personal story, strong women loom large. I'm thinking of Thelma McQuillan, my maternal grandmother, who, judging by every wartime mini-drama ever made, committed the sin of all sins by conceiving a baby out of wedlock. But, unlike many women at the time who feared social castigation and in spite of immense pressure, Thelma did not give up her baby. She kept him and raised him with the fierce love that we knew her for.

Thelma went on to marry my grandfather Charles—Chicka—who raised baby John as his own. That strength and steely determination was passed down to my own mother, June. Whilst Mum cannot be here today—the toll of severe dementia—I've never known a woman so strong and so selfless. You see, when my mum married my dad, Dennis Nolan, 50 years ago this past March, mum was a flight attendant. It was then both a legal requirement and an accepted part of society for women to resign from their jobs once they got married. In one generation, our society has moved from a place where women had to remain 'available' if they wanted to have a job to where a woman who is both married and has children can be elected to the Australian Senate. I pay tribute to all the women, and especially all the mums, serving in Australian parliaments today, like my friends Lucy Wicks and Sussan Ley in the other place.

Having a family was very important to my parents and I grew up knowing how desperately I was wanted. I was my mother's eighth pregnancy. My beautiful mum lost seven babies before me, all at different stages and some not early. My parents were in the planning process of adoption when I became determined to make an appearance on Abraham Lincoln's birthday. I like to think it was a sign of early political ambition! My mum and dad went on to welcome two more babies into their lives after me, my brothers Tim and Sam. After a lot of heartbreak, they finally got the family they tried so hard for, and my brothers and I could not have been more loved.

Without the fortitude of these women, without their strength at times when it would have been easier to conform to patriarchal norms, I would not be the person I am today, and nor would I be standing here before you. Strong women form the core of my being. But while I had these amazingly strong women in my life, I do have to fess up to being my father's daughter. We're alike in almost every way: our personality, temperament and even the fact we both pretty much have the worst two singing voices to ever grace this earth! While my dad cannot be here today, as he is caring for my mum, I want to acknowledge him. At the time of their lives where 'till death do us part' has real meaning my dad as excelled in his new and difficult role.

My family history meant my own pregnancies were often hard fought and anxious, but three times I have been blessed to hold my own newborn babies, Millie, Fred and Rupert. Everything changes in that moment you meet your baby for the first time. You know your life has new meaning. Your perspective shifts forever and for the better. Millie, Fred and Rupert, who are here today, are the greatest blessings in me and my husband Stewart's life. I am here today because of my parents and grandparents. I rise today determined to make the most of every second in this place because of my children. The strengths and perseverance that they have shown me give me all the purpose I could ever need, and I hope they see the same resilience in me.

I want to take some time today to reflect on another strong woman whose influence has helped shape my path to this place. A woman who had the strength to dissent, to ignore what the hierarchy insisted upon and to resist calls for her to know her place, even to the point of imprisonment. A woman who knew, even 400 years ago, that women in time will come to do much. That woman was Mary Ward, founder of the Loreto order and ever present at John XXIII College in Perth and Loreto Kirribilli in Sydney where I went to school. Mary Ward fiercely believed in the education of girls and the enabling of young women to do anything a young man can do. When you grow up with the legacy of Mary Ward as your educational philosophy it never occurs to you that you can't or won't. I was encouraged throughout my childhood and education to strive to be the best I could be and never feel constrained by my gender or anything really for that matter.

As I embark on my term in the Senate, I bring with me an amazing network of strong Loreto women who support and encourage me no matter what. Women such as Shayne Miller, Belinda Bremner, Lisa Whibley, Susannah Lawrence, Anna Chandler, Amanda Rawnsley, Mary-Lou Jarvis, Aerin Gordon Heinrich and, of course, Deb Gordon. In this highly critical, often viciously judgemental, online world we must never lose sight of the importance of real, tangible, unconditional friendship and love.

For those of you not to benefit from Mary Ward's teachings, but who have shown me the true meaning of friendship, plus demonstrations of understanding the importance of dissent: Lucy Purcell, Susan Adamson, Lisa McGee, Victoria Bertie, Edwina Vine and Paula Richardson thank you for always being there.

Along with the example of Mary Ward, the other great philosophy I bring with me to the Senate is, of course, grounded in the timeless values of the Liberal Party. The belief in equality of opportunity, free enterprise and reward for hard work.

I joined the party in 2002 and ever since then it has given me the priceless chance to put my personal beliefs into political action, as well as the chance to meet incredible party members and inspirational party leaders. Serendipitously, one of those leaders was a certain Scott Morrison, who saw me working on a local campaign with my then mentor, Rhondda Vanzella, and brought me into campaign headquarters first for the 2003 New South Wales state election and then for the brilliant 2004 federal campaign. It's my great privilege, 15 years later, to serve under Scott as Prime Minister and as part of a government determined to do the right thing, create opportunity and secure prosperity for the quiet Australians.

Elections bring people together like no other experience in politics. And I have been fortunate to work with some amazing state and federal directors and campaign teams who remain colleagues and friends to this day: Mark Neeham, Tony Nutt, Chris Stone and Andrew Hirst, Louise De Domenico, Jarrod Lomas, Luke Nayna, Mitch Redford, Alicia McCumstie, Vincent Woolcock, Susan Leithhead and Reg Chamberlain. Particularly, I have been blessed by friendships with three people that have included births, deaths, marriages and everything in between. To Alex Hawke, Nick Campbell and Bill Heffernan: the three of you have been with me since the beginning and are here with me today. Your support has been unwavering and words really cannot fully convey the weight of my thanks. I tried to think of some of the many words of wisdom that Bill has passed on to me over the years. Unfortunately, none of it was repeatable here is this place!

To Scott Farlow, Taylor Martin, Natasha Maclaren-Jones, Damien Jones, Tobias Lehmann, Dean Shachar, Simon Fontana, Chantelle Fornari-Orsmond, Penny Fischer, Yvonne Keane and Joe Tannous: I'm so very grateful to these people and so many others—too many to name—in the party and the organisation for your presence in my life over the years. Thank you to Danielle Blaine, a former federal executive colleague, a mentor and, more importantly, a friend, for always believing in me.

To my friends who have become family—Michael Tiyce, Lee Furlong, Adla Coure, Marie Simone, Marie Sutton, Kent Johns and Anne-Marie Elias—you provide support and humour whilst always demonstrating a sense of community and the importance of giving back. A huge thank you for all the support from the Salt & Shein Team. It means so much that all of you are here today. Whilst politics can be adversarial, at times relationships across the political divide can become some of the most important. To my lovely friend of 15 years, the member for Oxley, Milton Dick: what a journey it has been for both of us since that young political leaders trip in 2004. I have no doubt that our friendship will remain strong, boosted by the fact you sit in the other place!

All of you here in the chamber, have played a part, in one way or another, in helping me to stand before you today. As we all know, my journey to the Senate has been anything but typical. In the immortal words of Sir Paul McCartney, it really has been a long and winding road. The door it has led to—the door to this chamber—is one of many that I thought might never open to me. Now that I'm here, I am determined to use every minute in this place to strive to open doors for Australians. For those Australians who feel that their road to help is just too long and winding and especially for those whose voices are going unheard in our national and political debate, these are the Australians who I came here to represent.

I am proud to be part of a Liberal team that is dedicated to strengthening our nation with a strong, forward-looking economic agenda that is focused on the aspirations of all Australians. But there are two areas I am deeply passionate about, that are very close to my heart and that I will pour my blood, sweat and tears into. The first is drought assistance and regional economies. The second is autism and disability support. Fortuitously for me, I get to work for a Prime Minister who has promoted the NDIS portfolio to cabinet, ensuring it is now a national priority, as well as bringing the importance of our country communities to the forefront of the national debate. To come into this chamber sharing my passions with the Prime Minister's priorities gives me even more drive to work as hard as I can for him, for families, for the quiet Australians and for everyone.

Let's start with the drought. This crisis, occurring in many parts of regional Australia, seeps into every aspect of rural life, the way water would be sucked into every skerrick of a dry creek bed. I have experienced this firsthand in own family. Stewart, myself and our three kids spent over a decade on the land, running a farm services business, helping to harvest and being involved in the local community in a multitude of ways. We would be making a little money one year and smashed by a flood the next. We were always trying to do the best we could to make it work. Stewart was out on his harvester for long hours, away for months every year, as he chased the work.

Like so many other Australians on the land, we struggled along and we kept it all together, until climate and fate dealt us a double blow. First, sustained drought devastated our small business and then my mother's decline accentuated the need for us to be closer than a 10-hour car ride away. It was incredibly difficult, seeing everything we worked so hard for gone, but we have each other, our health and three wonderful kids. We're rebuilding, trying to start again, in many ways.

So many others don't have that same option, and this is the real tragedy of drought—the businesses reliant on agriculture which don't have land based assets as a safety net, businesses that for too long have been left out and allowed to fail. Yes, it's the market, but, once they're gone, they're gone. Grass grows when it rains; businesses don't reopen. Towns wither and die, and it becomes so much harder to provide essential services to those left behind. There are businesses such as Mick and Zelch Cikota's Econo Lodge Moree, expanding in the face of drought, supporting a town that is facing a third year with no winter crop; or Print Anything, which Georgie and Roly King run across three country towns all impacted by drought.

Farmers are the backbone of regional economies, but families are the lifeblood of the towns that centre around them. They are resilient and determined, but they need our help. They need Liberal government help. They need this parliament's help.

I've always fought for families in rural and remote New South Wales, whether it was securing the return of QantasLink services to Moree through a community led campaign, along with the indefatigable Lou Gall and Gig Moses, or establishing a rurally focused charity for special needs families. As a senator for New South Wales I will continue to fight for our farmers and the communities that depend on them; to honour their relentless efforts, not with sympathetic words but with real action—not bandaid solutions but policies that create long-lasting, positive change.

We need a big, bold, optimistic vision for the economic future of our primary industries. We need a plan to droughtproof agriculture without destroying our stunning natural environment. How good would it be if we could repurpose our existing infrastructure—like the NBN, which encapsulates regional Australia—to provide families with a secure income in places where they are primarily dependent on agriculture? We are a nation of innovative, smart thinkers. We can figure this out. For those farmers who are agile enough to adapt to change and harness new technology, I will work hard to bolster their visions, rather than cutting a blank cheque for those who simply aren't willing to do the work.

I'm determined to build on my personal experience, my years of advocacy, and my legacy as chair of both the Liberal state and federal rural and regional committees, and use the platform this great chamber provides to be that strong, loud, voice—that thunderous fighting spirit—for my country constituents.

I also intend to use my voice in this place to speak up for another community, one our family unexpectedly joined over seven years ago, when my gorgeous son Fred was diagnosed with autism. Fred is the light of our family's life in so many ways. Whether it's all the developmental milestones he's passed, when doctors said he wouldn't; his love of Godzilla, New York and San Francisco, old-fashioned media; or just he and I watching David Attenborough specials, there is no-one more loved, or who brings more love to this world, than our 'Freddo Frog'. And, while we did not choose to become part of such a large club as the autism community, we have found it to be one united by a great passion and determination to succeed. These children and adults work so hard every day just to get by. They don't ask for much. They just look to us in government to provide an easier path forward for them.

I am a huge supporter of the NDIS. I am a huge believer in the NDIS. It has given us a significant infrastructure and building block from which all in the disability community can receive much more significant support. But there is a lot more work to be done to make it truly fit for purpose. And we need to remember as parliamentarians, as Australians, that the NDIS is for all of us. Whether it is as the parent of a child with autism, whether it is due to a loved one being injured in a car accident, the NDIS is here for all of us at any given moment, and that's why we should all be invested in it. That's why we should all make sure that we get it right as we move into the future.

In 2013, I established the Country Autism Network. It is a charity to assist rural and regional families and help them find their way through the autism maze. At the beginning of this year we were asked to partner—and I say 'we' because I'm no longer on the board of the organisation—with Surfers Healing, a charity originally founded in the US by Izzy Paskowitz, former world champion surfer and father of Isaiah, who has autism. Izzy discovered early in the piece that one way to keep Isaiah calm was to take him out on the water, and since he started this charity it has taken thousands upon thousands upon thousands of children surfing all around the world. Surfers Healing has a committee in Australia run by Steph Smith, Sean Tobin and Belinda Hitchcock, and they do the most outstanding job. They asked to partner with Country Autism Network, as they require an Australian charity to work through. They partnered with us and they gave me the privilege and the honour of taking close to 800 autistic kids surfing at the beginning of this year. If you ever want to see the personification of joy, I suggest you take up the opportunity, especially for those colleagues in New South Wales and Queensland. They do an absolutely outstanding job in the way that they work.

I do want to acknowledge some of the amazing autism families that I have had the chance to work with and to witness the amazing efforts that they put not only into their own children but also into the community as a whole, particularly Sam and James Best and Benison O'Reilly, who literally wrote The Australian Autism Handbook, Charmaine and Jack Fraser, David and James Langford—I'm going to forget someone now because this is not written down—and Viv and Isabel Hodgson. There are just so many wonderful, wonderful people who make such a difference every single day to not only their own child's life but so many other lives around them.

I was lucky enough to get some of them together the other week. One of the things that we talked about was our experience at diagnosis. Even though we all thought we were kind of past that—we're all quite a few years into the journey—we established that one thing that has stayed with all of us was the darkness that we all felt. The one thing that stuck with us from that time of diagnosis, at the beginning, was the isolation and fear that you felt. And when you do finally pick up the phone and make a phone call, the last thing you need is red tape. The last thing you need is reams and reams of paperwork and challenging situations to get the assistance you need. We need to do better at that. We need to do better at the beginning, because that is where we can help, and it's where we can change the trajectory for these children as we go forward.

With that, thank you everyone. It's been an amazing journey. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for so many of the people in this room. Luckily, I talk about autism all the time! I will wrap up more formally. If my journey to this parliament has taught me anything it's that Australians are deeply resilient, inventive and optimistic. We have the capacity to shape the brightest of futures. As Australia's representatives in this great democracy, it's our responsibility to walk alongside our fellow Australians—to hear them, to support them and to empower them.

My long and winding road to the Senate would not have been possible without the support and friendship of so many of the people that I've touched on in this speech, none more so than my incredible husband. What a ride it's been! Stewart, hopefully we see a little more of the bright side for a while, but your humour, resilience and dependability has seen our family through it all. I love you. My incredible parents; my children, who light up my life; the strong women who surround me, support me and inspire me—Aerin Gordon Heinrich, Hannah Monaghan, Amy Lehmann, Jane Beer, Candice Steffensen, Abbey Neeham and Callum Gurney; my amazing team—we'll just clock this up for a story later on!; the Liberal Party colleagues, whose values I share and whom I've worked alongside for so long; the rural and regional communities; the families and carers of autistic children; and the many others I've had the privilege of meeting—everything leading up to this point only makes me more determined to honour your belief in me for as long as I have the privilege and responsibility of serving in this place. As your representative in the Senate, I will never lose sight of where I come from, who I represent and why I'm here: to keep travelling the long road, to keep opening doors, to keep fighting, to keep speaking up, and to play my part here for a better Australia and a stronger democracy. Thank you.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have a number of people waiting to make their first speech. I ask senators to resume their seats as quickly as possible. I thank senators for their courtesies.

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'A Senator's first speech is daunting,' I had in my first line, but it's not as daunting, I think, as what Senator Hughes just faced. I want to congratulate her for what you could describe as courage under fire. I want to use my comments today to set out how my life experiences shapes my approach to democracy and equity, and to point out the challenge that inequality poses to our democratic system and some of the principles that will drive my work in the Senate.

I want to begin by acknowledging the Ngunawal people, traditional owners of the land where this parliament meets, and—given that this is my first speech—acknowledge First Nations all around Australia. No other nation can boast 65,000 years of continuous history, culture and custodianship of its lands.

Australia is, as the Governor-General said, a work in progress. We should embrace this continent's grand history of culture, of art and language, of music, of dance, of governance and of songlines. Aboriginal languages are Australian languages. Indigenous art is at the core of Australian art. And continued First Nation custodianship enriches our nation. I want to acknowledge and pay respects to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander elders past, present and emerging and, in particular, to my Labor colleagues the Hon. Linda Burney MP and Senators McCarthy and Dodson.

The Uluru statement sets out a course for the nation toward reconciliation and advancement of the First Australians. I wholeheartedly embrace it and the opportunity to make change possible. Voice, treaty, truth: simple, powerful demands. Clarity of purpose is vital, if Australia is to grow together. That the voice to parliament has been so wilfully misrepresented so early should be a source of shame.

Makarrata, the coming together after injustice through the telling of truth, is as Galarrwuy Yunupingu said, a gift to the nation. He said it's:

… a fire that we hope burns bright for Australia.

Truth is powerful. Let the truth of the history of invasion, conquest, resistance and living together be told. It should build a foundation for all Australians to come together with a common heritage and share a set of national values for our future. Truth matters.

I will never forget hearing Troy Cassar-Daley's 'Shadows on the Hill' for the first time. Cassar-Daley's song describes a massacre of Aboriginal men, women and children that happened on the Glen Innes to Grafton road, near where I grew up. I heard it while preparing a speech about Armidale Aboriginal Labor legend Pat Dixon for NAIDOC week. Pat Dixon's family was from Bellbrook, Sugarloaf Mountain country, just 60 kilometres south of the Glen Innes to Grafton road. The accounts of violence and cruelty there matched the horror of the song. It hit me like a steam train. Truth-telling matters. It should change the way all Australians relate to their history and their relationships with the people around them.

I am a product of country NSW, of public education and of the Australian labour movement. I grew up in northern NSW, the eldest son of Roberta and John. My mum was a public school teacher dedicated to teaching kids with special learning needs. She later wrote a doctorate about equity in education, particularly for First Nation kids. Dad jackarooed as a young man. He became a principal research scientist for the NSW Department of Primary Industries. He's maintained a deep connection with rural Australia for his whole life.

I really feel at home in New England, where antecedents of my family have lived for 180 years. It's the landscape depicted in Tom Roberts' masterpiece Bailed Up: which features my ancestor 'Silent' Bob Bates, as he was called—no doubt because he was noisy. He was the coach driver in a robbery near Tenterfield. It's an extraordinary masterpiece in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Bob is buried in the cemetery in Glen Innes. The dry grass, the pale eucalypts and the range country depicted in that painting give way to some of the best agricultural land in the country.

All of my early life was farm life, until I was fifteen, on two small beef cattle properties in northern New South Wales. I loved riding, fencing and cattle work—all the aspects of farm life. I absorbed the books and the poets that celebrated and romanticised country working life. Up until I was 15, that is what I thought I would do with my whole life. Ultimately, farming life didn't work out for the young Ayres family. Farming is unforgiving, particularly for small, family operations. We moved to what I then saw as a big country town—Glen Innes, population 7,000. It was Glen Innes High School that opened my eyes to the world of literature, of thinking about politics, of history and of how the forces of economics, class, gender and power have shaped Australian society. Country town life was crucial to forming my sense of social justice, of pragmatic social responsibility and of commitment to equality and egalitarianism. The sense of place, the love of country and the environment and the stark social and economic divisions of country towns are all crucial to my outlook and will drive my work in the Senate.

Twenty-eight per cent of Australians live outside of the major cities. The political system has not served them very well. The average income in my home town is 40 per cent lower than the national average. Over one-third of households make less than $650 a week. Employment is lower than the national average, and unemployment is much higher. It is significantly worse for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. The political, economic, environmental and technological developments of the last 40 years have shaped social forces that have unravelled regional communities.

The shift of wealth from ordinary people to very wealthy individuals and corporations has hit these communities hard. Family farms give way to big corporations and mining interests, and jobs are offshored as economic activity is increasingly concentrated in the big cities. The rural labouring and blue collar manufacturing jobs that once delivered middle incomes and dignity to working class Australians in the regions have withered away. The growth of new jobs in the big cities in finance and services has not been matched in country towns. The growth of unemployment, as well as low-value, casual and contingent work in these communities has robbed people of opportunity, dignity and the chance at a decent standard of living.

Worse than just standing by while these social forces have wreaked havoc in these communities, government has in fact been the enabler of social and economic destruction. The government have closed train lines, scaled back hospitals, shut TAFEs, starved local councils of funds and privatised services. They sacked public servants, nurses, TAFE teachers and the people who help young Australians find work, who fixed roads and helped build on-farm productivity. All of our political parties have failed to defend and advance these communities. Labor can, and should, do better at representing and listening to the people who live in country towns.

Labor has a proud legacy of sending country people to state and federal parliament with a mandate for change and reform for regional communities. But there is something more cultural and more sentimental that I am reaching for here. Firstly, it is nostalgia for the bonds of solidarity, the shared experience of country town life and community, family, the ordinary and the dignity of country life and work. So much of this has unravelled over the last 40 years, as waves of failed trickle-down economics, globalisation and technology swept away old certainties and as power, wealth and opportunity have retreated back to the capital cities.

Secondly, it is the history of the Australian labour movement—of Tom Mann, Miles Franklin, Henry Lawson, land reform, the Eureka Stockade and Vincent Lingiari at Wave Hill—and the struggle between oppressive governments, vested interests and capital on one hand and the unions and ordinary courageous Australians on the other that have lifted these communities up over centuries and been the real builder of Australian nationhood. Henry Lawson called it the struggle between the old dead tree and the young tree green, and that is the central struggle for our common future.

Thirdly, it is the politics of place: a sense of Australian egalitarianism that is firmly rooted in the soil, landscape and sky of the bush. Some of these values—of dignity, solidarity, family, work, defiance of authority and resilience—are universal. Some are unique to the history and story of the Australian labour movement in rural and regional Australia, but they are all fundamental to our national story.

In the first sitting week of this 46th Parliament, this chamber passed a piece of legislation that will have far-reaching consequences for Australia and the fiscal capacity of the Australian government. Labor voted for the package after our amendments failed. Labor will not stand in the way of the tax cuts for low-income earners, which we promised at the election in May. These tax cuts will flow through to cleaners, factory workers and part-time workers across Australia—the kind of people who I represented as a union official. I believe that that was the correct approach and that it was both pragmatic and principled. However, stage 3 of the tax cuts for higher income earners guts the future fiscal capacity of the Commonwealth. They are a fiscal time bomb set for 2025. Stage 3 will demand extreme cuts, belying a commitment to austerity—the radical reduction in public services in the United Kingdom and other countries in Western Europe imposed by the EU's self-defeating response to the global financial crisis.

The Labor Party must oppose austerity, which is an inevitable result of these cuts. It is the opposite of what the Australian people demand from their government. When Campbell Newman sacked thousands of public servants, the people of Queensland sacked him. The 2014 budget was so unpopular it ended the prime ministership of Tony Abbott. After the vote on the tax cuts, I received an email from Josephite nun Sister Jan Barnett. She asked me the right question: what kind of society do we wish our economic relationships to serve and how might we realise that society? Government must serve all Australians and put the economy at the service society, not the other way round. An active government large enough to support its priorities, allocated to the right areas, can more than any other force make our country fairer, more productive, more democratic and stronger—an active state that reaches every Australian and gives them the support they need and treats them seriously as citizens rather than customers or taxpayers; an active state that prioritises the poorest in this country, that takes care of the vulnerable and helps the unemployed back into work and not into destitution.

I'm proud to support the calls to raise the Newstart payment. Yesterday the Prime Minister described raising Newstart as 'unfunded empathy'. It's a grotesque, cowardly and dishonest comment. It's an insult to the one million Australians trapped in poverty and unemployment by the current rate. This raise is unfunded only because his government refuses to fund it, presumably to defend his fragile promise of a surplus. It reveals, I believe, a deeper, darker malice behind this Prime Minister and his government. A cruel, pea heart beats inside the chest of this mean-spirited government. A modern social democratic fiscal platform should be progressive in its structure to deal with inequality. It should encourage productive investments and be large enough to meet the challenges of a fiscally sustainable state that can deliver services, infrastructure and equity to its citizens. Labor will take its time to consider the best approach on these questions, to listen to the Australian people and to build a fiscal agenda fit for purpose in the 21st century.

I've been an activist in the labour movement and in the public debate on these matters. It has occasionally attracted controversy. I will continue to be active and build in the arguments for a revenue strategy that supports an active social democratic state that works for all Australians. I am, as I said, a product of the Australian labour movement. Growing up in Glen Innes, I met some of the older shearers and rural workers—some of them complete ratbags! They were veterans of strikes and struggle. They brought to life the stories and the poetry of Henry Lawson and Ion Idriess, the songs of Slim Dusty, the ethos of mateship and resilience, defiance of authority and a culture of unionism that I love. As a 1980s Glen Innes schoolboy subscriber to the Australian Financial Reviewthere weren't many of them!—and The Bulletin, which was a terrific magazine, I followed the ACTU ALP accord. I understood that it was an extraordinary effort by the unions and Labor to reconstruct a new Australia.

I studied industrial relations at the University of Sydney and was determined to work in and rebuild the movement that was capable of changing Australia and improving the lives of ordinary Australians. I enrolled as a cadet in the ACTU's Organising Works program and met many of the men and women who are heroes of mine—great union leaders like Tom and Audrey McDonald, Tas Bull, Laurie Carmichael and Jennie George. I learned so much from the wisdom of hundreds of union delegates and older officials who showed me how to organise, how to win for workers and how to deal with the big productivity and distributional challenges in Australian workplaces. They were men and women like Harry Delaney, Mark Hoban, Pat Johnston, Steve Dixon, Jim O'Neil and dozens more across all sorts of great unions.

The little town of Batlow is at the heart of the Australian apple industry. In World War II, men in the packing and canning factories were displaced by women and, after the war, the women stayed. Everybody in the canning factory and in the packing houses in Batlow were in the union, and the mostly female workforce elected some of the shrewdest, toughest and bravest women union leaders I have met.

There is no mayor in Batlow, but in many respects Jenny Dowell, the formidable AMWU leader, ran the show. For decades, she led campaigns to save the cannery from closure, marshalled the strength of the union to defend decent permanent seasonal work for women and she made sure that everyone had their say at work and in the town. Pity the supervisor who disrespected a woman on the canning line. The democratic aspect of this was crucial. Batlow women and men had real democratic control over their working lives and the local economy.

Australian unions are a public good. While they collectively bargain for nearly two million union members, union activity lifts living standards for millions more Australians and their families. The international evidence is confounding for the anti-union ideologues opposite. Strong unions with effective collective bargaining rights deliver higher productivity, higher wages and higher employment. It makes sense and it fits with my experience for 25 years in Australian workplaces.

But the case for unions in Australia—for a legal, political and institutional framework that facilitates union activity—goes beyond the equity and economic case for unions. Why in Australia do democratic rights stop at the factory gate? Why can't farm workers, childcare workers, nurses or cleaners practise democracy at work? Participation, deliberation, decision-making, representation, conflict and resolution are all deeply democratic activities, and our democracy is diminished when those rights are restricted. Democracy is stronger when ordinary people, everybody, practice it. It's stronger when citizens learn democratic skills at work—to listen to each other, to weigh the strengths of alternative arguments, to speak up and to get involved.

Unions fit alongside other institutions and organisations that provide opportunities for Australians to practise democracy. Parents and citizens groups, environmental groups, cooperatives, women's groups and sporting clubs all offer opportunities for democratic advancement and enlargement. Attacking Australian unions and the disintegration of other democratic institutions hollows out our democracy.

It's been the honour of my working life to contribute to this cause. These are challenging times for the Australian union movement. Free, democratic unions are a central institution of Australian democracy and I will defend them here.

I'm delighted to have been elected to the Australian Senate and am deeply aware of the honour and responsibility of this office—the privilege of working for all Australians. But I'm also acutely aware of our diminished standing among Australian people. In the last decade, satisfaction in Australian democracy has collapsed. We may have avoided the economic recession of the GFC, but the crisis lingers in the heart of our economy. Ten years later, Australians are going backwards. Median household income has declined. Living standards have stagnated. One in 10 households now lives in poverty. For all of the government's rhetoric, Australians are now working harder for less.

I saw this firsthand as a union official. Australia lost 25 per cent of its manufacturing workforce between 2012 and 2016. That loss is felt most acutely in our outer suburbs and regions. Discontent with our democracy is not shared equally. The poorest 25 per cent of Australians are three times more likely to be dissatisfied with democracy than the richest 25 per cent. Our democratic crisis has occurred as Australia has become less equal. Australians in our regions, in outer metropolitan suburbs and in country towns feel like politics does not include them. Their faith in democracy has declined as their communities have unravelled.

It's hard to feel part of our democracy if you can't pay your bills or if you can't get a good job. Who cares about parliament if you don't know what shifts you will get from week to week?

Our democratic crisis is not unique. Australia is not immune from a global drift towards authoritarianism, intolerance and, alarmingly, fascism. It's representatives have found their way into this chamber. The seeds of fascism have always been sown in exclusion, inequality and uncertainty. We shouldn't mince words here—it's too important for our democracy. Extreme right wing parties in Australia closely resemble the fascist parties in Europe. They are a threat to Australian democracy. There should be no room for accommodation or preference deals.

The challenges that the political Left faces in this historical moment are immense. This crisis has demolished social democratic parties across the Western world, and at the last election the Australian Labor Party received the lowest primary vote in a century. I refuse to submit to pessimism. Our party has survived schisms and devastating losses. Indeed, our party was founded in the wake of brutal repression—of shearers and dock workers and the recession of the 1890s. We must maintain our purpose through a renewed commitment to a democracy that includes everybody because our democracy is diminished by bigotry and exclusion. It is unable to reach its full expression if there is injustice, or inherited privilege, or inequality, or poverty, or discrimination on the basis of sex or sexuality, or when our regions are impoverished and alienated. Labor will build a platform that brings Australians together and rejects the politics of division and fear. I'm absolutely committed to a Labor victory in 2022.

Acknowledgements

Of course, I am not a country kid anymore. I've made my life in the city and now count the community of Darlington and Redfern as my home. I want to thank the many people in that wonderful community for their support and for their encouragement.

To the AMWU, my union: thank you for the opportunity to serve as an official and leader for 23 years. It's a great union. It represents thousands of Australians in all sorts of workplaces right across the country, creating, making and maintaining all over Australia. I want to place on record my deep appreciation to Paul Bastian for his support, occasionally blunt advice and friendship for all of that time. He is the most decent, courageous and authentic union leader I know. Thanks also to Peter Cozens, Glenn Thompson and the branch secretaries of the AMWU across Australia.

Special thanks go to the members, delegates and officials of the New South Wales Branch of the AMWU. They have taught me, put up with my idiosyncrasies and supported me for a long time. Their new secretary, Steve Murphy, is an emerging and inspirational industrial leader who has a lot to offer the trade union movement.

I want to thank the many others in the trade unions who have offered their support and worked with me to make the union movement stronger: Natalie Lang and Linda White from the Australian Services Union, and Natalie's predecessor Sally McManus; the team at the Finance Sector Union, Julia Angrisano, Bec Reilly, Nathan Rees and former New South Wales Secretary Geoff Derrick; Jo Schofield and Mel Gatfield and the wonderful officials and delegates from United Voice—best of luck with the new merger; I regard it as a critical development in the rebuild of private sector unions in this country—Vanessa Seagrove, the Assistant Secretary of Unions NSW, and Martin Cartwright, old friends who I've worked with for a very long time. To the party officials who I've worked closely with over the last few years, Paul Erickson and George Simon and George's predecessor Rose Jackson, and the members and activists of the New South Wales ALP and the New South Wales Branch for supporting me into this job—I won't let you down.

I want to acknowledge Tanya Plibersek for her support, advice and wisdom. I often think: 'What would Tanya do?' It is not a bad way to approach ethical and decent decision-making. She's a valued friend. Senator Jenny McAllister and her husband, my old friend John Graham MLC—thanks for everything, for your unstinting support and constant friendship.

While I am on the subject of old friends, Verity Firth and her husband Matthew Chesher are two of the most decent people I know, and the place where I go for friendship, love and support—thanks.

Thanks also to Doug Cameron for 25 years of leadership and for his kindness to me over the last few years. He's shown me what it takes to be an effective, principled and progressive Labor senator. He is also now on Twitter, which is a very worrying development indeed. It does mean that I will never need to ask Doug what he thinks.

Anthony Albanese MP: he now has the toughest job in Australian politics, but I think he will make a great Australian Labor Prime Minister. He has the guts, the capacity and the ideas that Australia needs right now. Thanks for all of your support, advice and mentoring over 25 years of friendship.

To the Cooper family, Clare: thanks for all your care and commitment to our family.

To my Dad, Dr John Ayres: I couldn't ask for anything more, I couldn't possibly thank you enough, and I couldn't put it in words that are appropriate anyway. I know that right now both of us wish that my beautiful Mum was here with us today as well.

Family is the most important thing, and I love my little family. Meeting Rae Cooper is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Convincing her to let me take her out was the wisest thing I have ever done. You are my best friend, the real source of my better ideas, an inspiration for me and a wonderful example and beautiful mother to our two kids. We are very fortunate to have you.

Matilda and D'Arcy: I'm so proud of you and the young adults that you are growing to be. I hope that my time in the parliament makes you proud and that it contributes to making a better, fairer Australia for both of you. Thank you, Mr President.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pursuant to order, I will now ask Senator O'Sullivan to come forward and make his first speech, and I ask senators to observe the usual courtesies.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, as this is my first speech, may I start by congratulating you on being elected as President of the Senate. I'd also like to congratulate my fellow Western Australian Senators elected at the 18 May election: Senators Linda Reynolds, Patrick Dodson, Slade Brockman, Louise Pratt and Jordon Steele-John. Together we have the immense privilege of representing Western Australia, and I look forward to working with you to deliver for the great state of Western Australia.

Like all senators, standing here in this place has to be one of the greatest honours one could ever experience. It's difficult to describe just how I feel. For those who have known me for a long time, and some of you are here, you know just how passionate I am about this nation—the potential of our place in the broader world, and the potential of our people.

For all that Australia represents, and for the opportunity it provides, we truly are a blessed nation. Western Australia has been home to six generations of my family. It's terrific to have my parents, my amazing wife and my beautiful children with me here today. I'll have more to say about them later; but Amy and Sam, this is dad's work! All of us in this place are here to work for you and every other kid like you in this country.

Mr President, my great grandparents, Michael and Kathleen Kilrain, migrated to Australia and seized an opportunity created by the Group Settlement Scheme in Manjimup in the great south west of Western Australia. The Group Settlement Scheme was an assisted migration scheme, which operated in Western Australia from the early 1920s. It was engineered by Premier James Mitchell to provide a labour force to open up large tracts of agricultural land and create a dairy export industry.

Like the other settlers in group seven, Michael and his bride were provided with 100 acres of heavily wooded land and a small interest-free loan to get started. My great grandparents used that loan to purchase a cow, a bucket and an axe. They got to work with other settlers to clear the land, build the fences and dams and, together, they also built a school to educate the local children.

It was an impossible task. This was tall timber country—mostly karri and jarrah—and many of the settlers failed. And after a royal commission into the scheme, it was abandoned. But Michael, unlike many in the scheme, had farming experience back in Ireland and, through their strength and effort, he and future generations were able to make it a success and purchased the surrounding properties, and the farm is still in the family today.

Mick and Sarah O'Sullivan, my other great grandparents, worked and raised their children in Manjimup too. Mick was one of the first foresters appointed by the government. His job was to implement the Forests Act. He would take his horse and sulky deep into the forests, camp for nights on end and mark out the trees which needed to be preserved. He was pro-development, but knew it had to be done in a sustainable way. As a child, my father would tell me the stories of his parents and grandparents, and I would be absolutely mesmerised. These stories were to light a fire in my imagination and became a visceral part of my own thinking and imagination.

The virtues of hard work and determination, personal responsibility, reward for effort, working with and giving back to community, the importance of family and family values have guided my life and my career. These are the values that led me to the Liberal Party.

Upon leaving school, I completed an apprenticeship in electronics and communications. Those familiar with Perth would have seen the Central Area Transit, CAT, buses running around the CBD. Well, my claim to fame is that I installed the passenger information system in those buses back in 1996. You would walk up and press the button on the bus stops and it would tell you when the next bus would arrive. In fact, I had the rather poetic experience of attending the declaration of polls at the AEC offices last month and then stepping out onto Hay Street to catch the bus back up to West Perth. And even though I could see the bus coming down the road, I just had to press that button—and the good news is that some 23 years later, it's still working.

While working in that trade, I was volunteering in my local church youth group, and I soon realised that I much preferred to work with people rather than with an oscilloscope and soldering iron. So for the next eight years I worked as a youth worker across a number of churches and community organisations. It was fulfilling work, but it was tough, because I was exposed to some very challenging circumstances that a lot of young people find themselves in. It was a defining experience which enabled me to work with young people that maybe didn't have the best start at life. Along with the other youth leaders, I was able see the influence that you can have as a role model and mentor to young people in those developing and vulnerable years.

My faith is an integral part of my life. I am a Christian, and I believe and affirm the Apostles' Creed. In my late 20s, I seriously considered studying theology and becoming a minister of religion. But, while my faith was, and still is, a very important part of my life, I came to the realisation that being a pastor wasn't the right path for me.

In 2008, a friend of mine told me about philanthropists Andrew and Nicola Forrest and their foundation Minderoo, or the Australian Children's Trust as it was known then. I learnt that the foundation's motto was 'Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.'

And this just jumped out at me. You see, I kind of felt like in my work I'd been handing out a lot of fish. Now, there is nothing wrong with that—in fact, if you're going to go fishing you often need to have had a feed before you go. So I don't take anything away from those wonderful charities and organisations that provide such important welfare services to our community. But, for me, I wanted to be a part of something that could help people break free from the cycle of welfare and teach them how to fish. So I took up work with the Forrests, where we started Generation One, an initiative to create employment for Indigenous Australians.

In a defining moment, on an early project with Generation One I had reason to be in Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley. While I was there, a huge storm broke out and it rained so much that it turned Fitzroy Crossing into an island. The roads and all the communications were cut off. So over that weekend, with some spare time on my hands, I walked down to the football oval and made conversation with a small group of Indigenous teenage boys. After a brief kick of the footy, I asked them what they wanted to do when they finished school, and they looked at me like I was from another planet. They said: 'School? We don't go to school.' I said, 'Well what do you want to do when you get a little older?' They said, 'We'll just go on CDEP'—essentially the work for the dole program, as it was called at the time.

These were smart, funny, athletic kids that ought to not have their aspirations cut so short, yet they couldn't see much more for their life than a life of welfare dependency. That conversation was the turning point for me. I knew exactly what I wanted to do—give kids like these hope and aspiration.

So cue Generation One, an initiative to create employment for 50,000 Indigenous Australians. The program worked by turning the training and employment services system on its head. Typically, an unemployed person would go to Centrelink to register for Newstart. Centrelink would send them off to an employment service provider—or a jobactive as they are now known. The service provider would enrol them in a course and then hope for the best that they would get a job. By and large this is kind of still how it operates today, but, more often than not, the training is just training for training's sake.

The problem is that jobseekers cycle in and out of courses with no job to show for it at the end. It's often said, that Indigenous job seekers in particular have more certificates than there are TAFE colleges, to wallpaper their hallways with. Or as my friend Jeremy Donovan, who is sitting in the gallery today, says, more tickets than a raffle book.

We have to fix how service providers are incentivised. This, to me, seems to be the genesis of the problem. The jobactive contract is the second-largest procurement of government services, second only to defence. It's a $7 billion industry, and I know the government is committed to further reforms, and I look forward to contributing to it, because failure in this policy area is not an option. The training for training's sake issue not only wastes an enormous amount of taxpayers' dollars but it completely depletes the trainee of any sense of pride and aspiration.

Under GenerationOne, we started with an employer who had a job, designed the training around their requirements and guaranteed the individual a job before they commenced training.

For some time Fortescue Metals had been running this model quite successfully in the Pilbara, so I thought: let's see if we can get it working here in Fitzroy Crossing.

We found an employer with 12 civil and mining works jobs available. We designed the training course and went about recruiting.

It was made clear at the start of the program that the expectations would be high. We needed the participants to turn up on time, every single day, and they had to be fully competent across all the units before they could graduate.

And boy did these fellas rise to the occasion. They knew it would be tough, but they wanted to take it on.

Several months later, we held a graduation ceremony where all the families were able to attend. We gave each of the graduates a certificate and a fishing rod, not because of the plentiful barra in the Fitzroy River but to remind them that their training and their job were setting them up for life.

There was one particular family that I noticed. I could tell by looking at them just how proud they were of their father. Now, I had no idea of the effect that this conversation I was about to have with them would have on me and on my own life. But it profoundly impacted me.

I went up to them and congratulated them. I spoke to the gentleman and I spoke to his family. I said to his wife, 'You must be so proud.' She said, 'More than you could possibly understand.'

She then told me her husband had been on course after course. He'd been through drug and alcohol rehab and all sorts of counselling. He'd been in and out of jail and nothing was working.

She then said, 'It was only a few months ago, on Christmas Eve, that we sat down together and I said to him, "With the way things are going, this is likely to be our last Christmas together."' It was not because they were going to separate, but because it wouldn't be too long before the drugs or the alcohol, or quite possibly suicide, would take him.

She said: 'You came up here, you and your team, and you told us there were these jobs and that you believed in these fellas and that they could rise to the challenge. And now I've seen the transformation in my husband. He turned up 30 min early every single day. It was tough, but he was up for it because he knew the commitment was there. And now we're looking forward to next Christmas and many more to follow.'

You see, employment won't change everything, but without it nothing will change.

This model, originally pioneered by Fortescue Metals Group and trialed in Fitzroy Crossing, became a template for the Vocational Training and Employment Centres (VTEC) program.

As a Liberal, I'm extremely proud the coalition government committed over $40 million to roll out 29 VTECs across Australia. Today, as a direct result of this, over 10,000 long-term, disadvantaged jobseekers have moved off welfare and into work. Not only that, the data shows that over 70 per cent of these jobseekers were still in work some six months later.

We say that the best form of welfare is a job. I've been privileged to see the reality and practical effect of this on countless lives.

When you lift people up so that they can see over the horizon, when they earn their first pay cheque, when they see that they can independently support their family and take part in all the advantages that life in the 21st century enables, the transformation is truly amazing. This is why I'm proud to be part of a government that has created 1.3 million jobs since coming into office.

Those familiar with my background know I'm a big supporter of the cashless debit card, having spent many years working with technology companies and policymakers to develop the platform.

In 2015 I spent much of my time in Canberra, lobbying for its introduction, and later worked with the trial communities to make sure it had the best opportunity to succeed.

It's a critical tool to help communities deal with the devastating effects of alcohol, gambling and drug abuse.

I'd like to see a wider rollout into other vulnerable communities across Australia. But for that to happen we have to invest in the further development of the technology.

It's important that this tool becomes a tool of empowerment, and with item-level blocking on the card, rather than the current merchant-level blocking, we'll be able to see that happen.

I'm also a passionate advocate for early childhood development. As a nation, I believe we need to apply resources to initiatives we know will achieve game-changing results for children and the communities in which they belong.

Fostering and investing in resilience targeted initiatives for young people is critical to prepare them for the rapidly changing world in which we live. We know a child's early experiences have a significant impact on the elemental structures and development of their brains. The evidence around this is well established, as is our understanding of the multiplier effect on the investment we make in this area.

As those in this place would have heard my colleagues say many times before, Western Australia is the state with endless potential, but we also have a great deal of work to do to ensure that we fully realise it. The experiences I've had through my professional life are why I'm so passionate about pursing industrial opportunities for Western Australia. My singular focus in this place will be on job and productivity-enhancing initiatives which benefit not just the Western Australian and national economy but individuals and the communities in which they live.

Western Australia has the unique and deepening economic and cultural relationships with nations in our near region. We're also on the same time zone, plus or minus two hours, with 60 per cent of the global population and have overlapping business hours with key markets in Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia. And despite Perth being an isolated city, we're also Australia's gateway to the great cities of the world, including London, for which we have former Premier Barnett to thank. China and India, along with nations on their periphery, have growing middle classes. People for the first time are seeking to explore the world and grow individual wealth. There are also key markets on our doorstep for new inbound investment and tourism opportunities.

As a state, we're leading the nation and, in many cases, the world in research and development for processing and refining lithium and rare earths; in ground-breaking technology for the resources industry; and in building the agriculture industry of the future. But it is clear to me we need to do more. The establishment of critical raw minerals lists by both the United States and the European Union present a key opportunity for Australia to move past the mining stage and into the refining and development of new battery technologies. We have a clear logistical advantage by having a large portion of global lithium and rare earth deposits and a burgeoning share of global research and development happening right on our doorstep.

Western Australia is without a doubt a global leader in automation, remote operations and processing technology, which has been pioneered by our resources sector. These advances in technology mean we can continue to grow this critical industry in a sustainable and responsible way in the face of fierce global competition. They are also opening the door to new partnerships across complimentary industries seeking to exploit the advantages of automation and remote operations in harsh environments both above us in space and below us in the deep sea.

It would be remiss of me not to expand on the potential of Western Australia's agricultural industry. Firstly, I am proud to be part of a government that's committed to growing the value of our national agriculture industry to $100 billion by 2030. As a state, we can position ourselves to contribute significantly to this goal, particularly in our northwest, both by leveraging current infrastructure such as the Ord River Irrigation Scheme and reviewing how we can unlock water resources in our north which can be put to work for the agriculture industry in a way that is sustainable and cost-effective.

Despite our large size of around one-third of the Australian continent, the spread and scope of economic opportunity does not match the spread of our population, with around 92 per cent of Western Australians living in the city and southwest. It's time we restart the discussion of not only how we grow the economy in regional and remote Western Australia but how we ensure this growth delivers employment, opportunities and practical development outcomes for the communities in which it occurs. We need to develop a vision in the same spirit of those great Western Australians who came before us who weren't afraid to think big and be bold.

My great-grandparents Michael and Kathleen Kilrain, with their farm in Manjimup, and Mick and Sarah O'Sullivan, who played a significant role in conserving our old growth forests, are great examples of the everyday Western Australians who have built our great state. Add to this statesmen such as John Forrest and CY O'Connor, with the Fremantle port and Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, and David Brand and Charles Court, who worked with the Menzies government to first open and then develop our iron ore sector. It is the efforts of those who have walked before us—no matter how grand or minor their legacy—which has culminated in Western Australia becoming the economic powerhouse that it is today.

For the next generation, our water, our resources, our people and our passion to get things done hold the key to this future. We have a great deal of work to do. It remains true that if you scratch any Western Australian deep enough, you'll find a federalist; if you scratch even deeper, you'll probably find a secessionist. As the 97th senator for Western Australia since Federation, I come to this place with a full appreciation of the intent of the Senate as envisaged by our founding fathers. In this place, I'll always remain a Western Australian first.

Canberra is a long way from Perth, and it's an even longer way from some of our regional centres. Granted, we now have a much shorter travel time than our delegates who travelled to the Federation conferences in 1800's by coastal steamer, but it remains my job as a Senator for our great state to ensure communities right across WA, no matter how far away they are, do not feel disconnected from our decision-making processes. It's a critical part of our Westminster system: every Australian has equality of access to our democracy. I'm doing my part to ensure this continues to be the case for Western Australia.

As a member of this place I'm going to have a singular focus on ensuring both Western Australia and its people are able to reach their full potential. The best way we can achieve this is through incentives, big and bold thinking, sound economic management, careful and minimal regulation, job-enabling and wealth-creating legislation and a good, traditional Liberal government.

Like all of my colleagues, I have not arrived here simply by my own efforts. I've received an enormous amount of support, firstly to the Liberal party: President Fay Duda and Director Sam Calabrese, what an amazing campaign you ran in WA. We returned each of our 11 Liberal-held seats, won three Senate seats and, with the extraordinary efforts of our lower house candidates—who are behind me here today—we achieved the highest state-wide lower house and Senate primary results in the nation.

To all of our volunteers, I simply would not be here without you. As insufficient as it is, thank you. Thank you to all my WA colleagues, ably led by Senator Mathias Cormann—I've been humbled by his support. Team WA is a united and disciplined team and I'm very proud to be part of it.

I'll also express my sincere appreciation for the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, whose energy and vision inspired the nation. To my TCC brothers, Aaron, Brad, Gareth and their wives, we've remained best friend since primary school and I'll forever be grateful. To all of those who have played a role in mentoring me at various stages of my life—some of them are here today: Brad, David, Bruce, Ken, Court, Joe, Nick, Ben, Andrew and Nicola—I sincerely appreciate your generosity belief and confidence.

Now, to my family. Firstly, to my wife's parents, you've been my mum and dad for pretty much half of my life, almost, come December—that's right. You are the kindest most sincere people I know and I'm truly blessed to have you in my life. To my mum and dad and nanna, I'm completely indebted to you. You've never stopped believing. And my siblings, Simon and Sarah, you've made great sacrifices. You've been the perfect example for our lives. Your love and support has provided me with the confidence to aim high. To the absolute loves of my life—my beautiful wife, Montanique, my daughter, Amy and my son, Sam: you are my inspiration. Babe, we've been married 20 years this December and you have not aged a bit, but me, on the other hand—well. I can honestly say I love you as much today as I did back then. Your selfless love and your unrelenting commitment to our marriage and our children is something that I know will carry me through in this new chapter of our lives. To Amy and Sam, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of who you're growing up to be. You definitely get your good looks from your mother, but you need to know that whilst I'm going to be spending a lot of time over here in the east, you'll never be a far from my heart and my mind. I love you.

Finally, to the people of Western Australia: you've placed your confidence in me to deliver for you. The real work starts now, and I will not let you down. Thank you.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to acknowledge, in the President's gallery, the Premier of South Australia, Mr Stephen Marshall. Welcome to the Senate.