Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

) ( ): I rise tonight again to defend the residents of the Holt electorate and surrounding areas. People who are not from Holt or from the outer suburbs of Melbourne—suburbs like Cranbourne, Narre Warren, Lyndhurst and Devon Hills—are often very quick to judge these suburbs and the character of the people that live there and the industries that sustain these communities. But in actual fact, they know very little about the people, although they rush to judgment about the suburbs and the industries that make up this region. So my grievance contribution tonight addresses again the values, the opportunities and the dreams of the people of the Holt electorate, those little known or often written off aspirations and achievements that are dismissed by people willing to trash talk a suburb based on a sensational incident or article or sometimes even a postcode.

I have often said in this place that I get frustrated with the depiction of Fountain Gate, where my electorate office is, as a suburb defined by Kath & Kim and a party boy called Corey who put Narre Warren on the map for all the wrong reasons or if I read in the local papers recently about driving and speeding offences in Cranbourne. I can tell you for a start that the people in Fountain Gate do not share the particular perspectives on the way they are portrayed in Kath & Kim.

Let me give you a synopsis of the people in my electorate. They are family oriented and they have sacrificed a lot to buy a house, to send their kids to school and university and to maintain their involvement in sport and in their community. They are there to create a better future for themselves, their kids and their grandchildren. Many have come from overseas in postwar years to settle down in Australia as skilled workers or as students. Many others are second, third and fourth generation Australians. In my time representing this area there has been much discussion about young people. Let me tell you about some young people from my electorate that have gone on to do some amazing things.

Let us start, for example, with Andrew Bogut who grew up in Endeavour Hills and has been a sensation for Australia at basketball. Born to Croatian immigrants, Bogut was selected first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2005 NBA draft. The seven foot, 260 pounds centre was a star at the University of Utah for two years before declaring for the draft. Bogut is the first Australian player to be drafted No. 1 overall. Bogut has played six seasons in the NBA and finished third in votes for the 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year award. Bogut's international career began with Australian's 2003 junior world championship team and has also led him to compete for the Boomers of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2006 FIBA World Championship and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bogut has become a local legend and it is great and salient that he still resides in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne during the NBA off season.

Samantha Downie, another young local, has made her mark on the fashion world since appearing in Australia's Next Top Model. Like many other young people from Holt, she studied at Monash University's Barrie campus, just one of the number of tertiary institutions that are in the region, and that make up a rapidly growing education hub for the south-eastern suburbs. Speaking with students from Casey Grammar in Cranbourne last week about their plans beyond year 12, I was delighted to hear the unlimited nature of their dreams and their aspirations. Some were showcasing their obvious talents for The Wizard of Oz musical at the Arts Performing Centre that the school acquired under the BER funding. Others were planning to study law at university and others were more interested in broadening their horizons with significant travel, work and volunteering opportunities abroad.

Contrary to many media reports, many young people in Holt personify the next generation of investment savvy, career confident go-getters that this country needs. They are financially responsible and independent young people. Apprentices have moved on to complete their trades and many I have spoken to have probably moved into business and home ownership. The last census recorded that Holt had the highest figure amongst electorates for homes being purchased at around 55 per cent. Why wouldn't people want to live at the foot of the Dandenongs where there are great schools, great amenities and great shopping centres like Fountain Gate?

As a long-term resident of Endeavour Hills, I know the appeal of living and raising a family in these suburbs, and that suburb in particular. The high level of home ownership in my electorate tells of the dreams and aspirations of the people in Holt. It says that my constituents believe in creating their financial security based on the quintessential Australian asset, the home, and at the same time contribute to this nation's wealth as best they can.

One of the main reasons families are choosing to come and live in the outer suburbs of Melbourne is the great infrastructure—great schools. In my electorate of Holt the Australian government has invested some $129 million across 101 projects to improve the quality of our schools in the local community via the schools modernisation program, the BER. This was clearly evident when I opened new learning facilities at Chalcot Lodge Primary School earlier this month, including a TV studio, radio station, vegetable garden and cookery centre. All families, teachers and students were delighted with these new facilities, which will make a huge difference in helping students reach their full potential.

Another reason for people continuing to come and live in my electorate of Holt is that it offers families a wide range of sport and recreational facilities for everyone to enjoy. Whatever your sport or recreation needs, you are sure to find what you are looking for. According to the statistics from the City of Casey in Holt, in surrounding areas there are over 620 parks and reserves, 258 playgrounds, 10 skate parks, 21 BMX tracks, many off-road bicycle paths, 200 sports clubs and 105 sports grounds. In addition to these many parks, gardens, playgrounds, skate parks and sporting centres, including Casey Fields, the premier outdoor sports and recreation site in Melbourne's south-east, Holt also offers two exceptional aquatic and leisure centres—the Casey RACE in Cranbourne and the Casey ARC in Fountain Gate—as well as Myuna Farm, where the farm comes to the city, and Frog Hollow Reserve in Endeavour Hills. Frog Hollow Reserve in Endeavour Hills is one of those wonderful multiuse parklands in my local area. This park is surrounded by residential properties along the north-west boundary from the eastern corner at Hallam North Road and the southern end abutting the Monash Freeway. Active recreational facilities currently present at the site include rugby facilities, cricket facilities and Auskick.

It is also worth mentioning that the Friends of Frog Hollow Reserve have played a critical role in improving the local environment, protecting local frog species in the reserve and organising events such as the National Tree Day plantings, which were held on 31 July 2011 and were enthusiastically embraced by many local residents. Two individuals in particular, Steve Hallett and Ray Darbritz, from the Friends of Frog Hollow Reserve, have been working in this area for over 10 years. It has been phenomenal to watch the transformation of a place that was almost desert-like into a lush, green, biodiverse area, a fantastic habitat for rare frogs, flora and fauna. It has been an amazing experience watching that transformation, which has been done by two people.

The Holt electorate is also known for its proximity to the manufacturing heartland of Australia. Some 22 per cent of the workforce in my electorate are employed in manufacturing, which is the most of any federal electorate in Australia. What annoys me is that we hear a lot about the mining boom that this country is going through and the benefits to the national economy, and we do not deny that. But, notwithstanding the terrible news that we have been hearing recently, how often do we make manufacturing front and centre in discussion about the national economy? The workers in my electorate, from forklift drivers, fitters and turners to machine operators and many more, are the people who have toiled away to make a living, and many proudly have the rewards of home ownership and financial independence to show for it. Interestingly, many people who I think are ill informed—and economic commentators, I might point out—dismiss the manufacturing sector, forgetting the incredibly proud history that our sector has and the tradition of Australian innovation and building practices. The comment that I have heard even recently in some discussions is: 'Eventually all manufacturing will go offshore—right?' Keep that sort of attitude and it will. But we cannot afford for that to actually happen. Let me tell you, with the quality of the manufacturers in my electorate and the commitment that they have, they are ensuring that that will not happen. Companies like Jayco, just outside my electorate—an amazing company built by one man—Icon Plastics, Grenda Bus Company, basically run by the Grenda family for many years, are icons of manufacturing in Dandenong. For those who criticise people around and in my electorate, get a sat nav, come down and see that these people are some of the best people in Australia and one of the best electorates in Australia to represent. (Time expired)

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