Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a quiet Tuesday evening there is value in talking about first principles. Australia has one of the highest standards of living in the world. We have beautiful sunshine, great rivers and great beaches and our life expectancy rates are amongst the envy of the world. But sometimes we take all this for granted compared to many countries. Our citizens are very blessed.

My strong view is that one of the best resources is, of course, our people. The people I meet in the Wimmera Mallee are very straight-talking, no-nonsense kind of people who just want us to get things done. I fear that people are rolling their eyes at our political system at times. I point to the partnership that we have to win trust with those Australian people. When we think about how we conduct ourselves at question time—because, unfortunately, that is the only thing that many Australians see about the political system—we should perhaps look at our behaviour and try to lift it if we possibly can. We should be able to lift it.

The National Party in Victoria is now 100 years old. There have been men and women of character, but particularly some real men of character, who have been members of the National Party and have served the community that I am part of. I think of a guy called Hamilton Lamb, who was a prisoner of war. In 1943, I believe he was elected unopposed, even though his whereabouts was unknown—and he did not make it back. I think of Sir Winton Turnbull, a member for Mallee, who was a prisoner of Changi. Yet, when he became a member of parliament in 1946, he was instrumental in working with that government to develop a free trade agreement with Japan—that ability to forgive. So we do but walk in the shadow of some giants.

We of course need to build a strong economy. An economy gives us and affords us the ability to build the sort of society that we want. A strong economy must reward people who take a risk. A strong economy must reward people who get out of bed and go to work. Frankly, if our society is structured so that a person who takes a risk and works harder is not rewarded for that, we soon remove the incentive for people to lift their standard of living. The way you make Australia wealthy is to make individual Australians wealthy. It is not about having a good job; it is about having a job and having pride in that work. When I worked in shearing sheds, I saw people who would be very proud that, even through their manual labour, they were able to provide for their family and put a roof over their head. We need to make sure that their dreams and aspirations are attainable. That includes buying a modest house and being able to give their children a better standard of living than what they had.

The economy gives us as a government the capacity to build a great society. There is wisdom, I think, on a quiet Tuesday evening in reflecting on what creates a great society. What are the values that I believe support a great society? I think a great society is one that looks after people who cannot look after themselves—people with a disability; our senior Australians. A great society is one that invests in our children, to expand their world view and give them an appetite learn so that they are not just students but they go on to be great citizens. I unfortunately see in my electorate too many children who are going to school without breakfast. That saddens me, and I think that is something that a great society should be able to address. A great society also invests in our region. I see the great opportunity there is for people in my electorate who have agricultural knowledge and are in their senior years to get out of the way of their sons and daughters and be involved in aid programs overseas, because they have skills that they should be able to share.

The only thing I think that separates us from being a great society is our level of indifference. I believe we need to temper our individual aspirations with our sense of community and our sense of responsibility and obligations. Then, when you ultimately align the hearts of man to the compassionate heart of God—to have a view to give and to share—we ultimately build a great society. And there is merit in reflecting on some of the core values that we attain and try to achieve in this parliament here on a quiet Tuesday evening.