David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, and I also want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waterways that make up the area of Hughes—the Dharawal people and the Cabrogal clan of the Darug Nation—and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. They've looked after this country since time immemorial, and not lost on me is the responsibility that I have to live up to that stewardship.

I grew up as the child of two maths teachers. I studied maths at a postgraduate level, and, for a long time, I viewed politics through a mathematical lens. You draw up a Mackerras pendulum. You write good policy. That policy assists people. The people vote for it, and the swing moves down the rungs of the pendulum. This is not an accurate assessment of politics!

In a democracy, good policies mean absolutely nothing if they aren't supported by the population, and they won't be supported if they're not communicated. I grew up obsessing over politics a little bit, and I'm sure a lot of people in this place and our social circles did too. But most Australians do not spend their days thinking about politics, and that is not a bad thing. We shouldn't expect everybody to focus on the matters that divide us all the time. People are getting on with their lives. They're paying their bills, spending time with their families and running their businesses. But as we do those things our lives are being affected by the decisions that are made here and at other levels of government across our country. It is not our role to wish that those people paid more attention to our amazing policies. It is our role to explain what we're doing with the responsibilities given to us and to seek input on how it can be done better. I firmly believe that good policy cannot be produced without consultation from the people that it affects. That is why engagement from politicians and candidates is so important.

To me, the most direct form of engagement is doorknocking. I occasionally hear political candidates complain about having to doorknock or advise that you really only have to doorknock for the photo: 'Once you have one, you can stop. Who's going to know?' While I understand that every individual has their own way of engaging, I do not relate to this sentiment in the slightest. Doorknocking is not a chore for me. It is core to who I am, and it's core to why I'm here. As public representatives, I believe we should be students of the communities we represent, and there is no better way to learn about them than doorknocking. I have seen doorknocking transform candidates from name-on-the-ballot also-rans to suburb-by-suburb experts on their constituencies and the matters affecting them. Doorknocking teaches me about what my community cares about and guides me on how to communicate about matters that affect it. You earn the right to speak about policy because you listen first.

I put my hand up to run for Hughes because I believed that our community was seeking meaningful engagement. I put my hand up because I believed that our population wanted representation from a local who understood who they were as a community. I put my hand up because I thought we needed a doorknocker, a local who'd lived here, walked these streets and heard their stories.

During the campaign, there were some days when I had an army of volunteers with me, to whom I will always be so grateful. Some days it was just me, going from house to house, street to street, pounding the hot tarred pavement with my walking shoes on my feet and a brimmed hat on my head, on scorching hot days of the summer that didn't seem to want to end. The conventional wisdom was that Hughes was not a winnable seat for Labor. Analysts and psephologists much smarter than me had looked at the seat, it's position on the Mackerras pendulum, and decided that it wasn't the time.

I would often pause at the doors I'd reached after I'd knocked and rung the sometimes up-to-three doorbells—yes, I always ring every doorbell at the door presented to me!—and, while waiting to see whether anyone would come to the door, I'd consider this conventional wisdom and whether this was a rational way to spend my time. But I had seen the power that engagement could have. I remember doing a street stall one Saturday morning during my time as a state staffer, and a community member came up to me and conveyed their cynicism: 'I have so many problems that I could raise with you, but you won't be able to do anything. I've worked in the system. I know how it works.' 'Just try me,' I eventually said, 'What's the harm?' She explained that there was an intersection on the Princes Highway that, in her professional opinion, was too unsafe. It needed better signage. 'But they won't do anything about it,' she said, 'I've tried.' Nevertheless, I noted down her contact details and her concerns. I drafted a letter to the minister. We sent it off, and, a few weeks later, I drove past that intersection, and what did I see? There was brand-spanking new signage. A couple of days later we received correspondence from the minister saying that they'd assessed the intersection as requiring better signage and promptly installed it. I immediately rang that community member. She'd seen the signage and she was happy it had been put up. What she hadn't realised was that it was a direct result of her engaging with her local member. This was a tiny victory. In the scheme of things it was a sign on the road, but one that could have saved her life. But it was something that the government structure had overlooked. One of the strengths of democracy is that we can identify these gaps in our system through the eyes and ears of every citizen. I also like to think that this small victory and others like it put a small dent in the cynicism that has been afflicting democracies around the world, including our own.

My community wanted their income tax cut but most were unaware that a vote had occurred in this place to secure one. My community wanted energy bill relief but they didn't know for what reason that deduction had appeared on their bill. Opportunities like that are why I doorknock. The most common question I've gotten over the last few months has been some variation of, 'Did you know you would win?' I find it to be a difficult question to answer. The mathematician in me wants to say that Hughes had been redistributed to be a marginal seat and winning was within the realm of possibility. The political analyst in me wants to say that the analysis presented to me indicated that it was not winnable. Ultimately, winning and losing were not what I was thinking about. What mattered to me was finding out what issues were affecting community members and doing my best to help them.

As a candidate, it was a privilege to explain government policies and be able to act on concerns raised by voters. I treasured every moment of that opportunity. It is even more of a privilege to be able to act on concerns raised by my communities with me as their local member, and I will treasure every moment of that even more. This role is multifaceted and there are so many important elements to it. I know that committee work is important. I know that voting on legislation is important. But what I really want to do with this role is listen to my community about what issues affect them and do everything I can to help.

When developers tried to move in on land on Bundanoon Road, on which the Woronora Heights community had seen koalas, we engaged with the community to let them know. When the state coalition government turned around and told us there was no evidence of any koalas on that land, we doorknocked because our engagement with the community had picked up something that the government hadn't. On street stalls, community members were coming up to us and telling stories about the koalas they'd seen and showing us videos of the koalas they'd seen. The community hadn't been consulted and information had been missed. I'm so pleased that, in June, this land was declared a regional park.

When the New South Wales coalition government devastated the TAFE system with a decade of underinvestment, I doorknocked. We turned what had once been three safe Liberal seats in Hughes into two marginal seats and one Labor seat. When this place legislated tax cuts, I begged Senator Sheldon's office for material with which to doorknock. Thanks to Senator Sheldon we were able to start spreading the word about them, with many of the people we spoke to hearing about them for the first time. While working for APRA, the prudential regulator, I became a CPSU delegate. I'm proud to have been a member of successive unions since I joined the workforce, and it was such an honour to have been able to represent my colleagues in this manner.

The seat of Hughes was held by successive Labor members Les Johnson and Robert Tickner from its creation in 1955 to 1996, except for a single term which preceded the creation of neighbouring Cook in 1969. Both former Labor members for Hughes served as ministers for Aboriginal affairs during landmark moments in the reconciliation movement. Les Johnson was minister when Gough Whitlam poured that handful of red dirt into the hands of Vincent Lingiari, and Robert Tickner was minister when the Mabo decision was handed down and fought to deliver a just native title act. Inspired by their values, I was proud to play an active role for the 'yes' campaign during the Voice referendum in 2023. I sat on the organising committee for Yes 23 for the Sutherland shire, kicked off our direct voter contact and led the doorknocking. I'm so fortunate to have the support and counsel of Robert Tickner, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to build on the legacy he left in this community.

I started to take an interest in federal politics—a sustained interest in federal politics, sorry; I was always interested!—after the 2010 election. The media focused on the instability presented by a minority government but they couldn't hide the fact that many incredible world-leading achievements were being accomplished by the government during that period. During that period I was particularly struck by the integrity of one cabinet minister, one who stuck by his values even when they were a danger to his career. I was so inspired by that integrity. From that period, whenever I was asked who my favourite politician was, 'Anthony Albanese' was my answer. I even received a 21st birthday card from someone to whom I'd given that answer which had been signed by the member for Grayndler and on which he had been kind enough to add the words 'party hard'. I'm not sure if the party he was referring to was the federal parliamentary Labor Party, but I've chosen to interpret it that way. So, while, yes, I am proud to have that man of integrity and conviction now leading our country, it does not give me much credit in the obscure political trivia community that my favourite politician has been Prime Minister for the last three years!

My electorate contains a diverse range of communities across its nearly 400 square kilometres and three local government areas, stretching from Bundeena to Bardia, from Engadine to Ingleburn, from Menai to Moorebank, from Waterfall to Wattle Grove. Each community has unique needs, and I am honoured to represent those needs here.

Hughes is also home to a thriving small-business community, the lifeblood of our economy. Almost 60,000 local businesses base themselves in the Sutherland Shire, Liverpool or Campbelltown local government areas. I want to work with businesses to help them thrive and to deliver for our community. I want our workforce, especially our young people, to have access to the skills they need to succeed. I'm proud that this government not only believes in TAFE but invests in its future. I understand the value of education, having been raised by two teachers, and I want to see more education opportunities for people in this country that are properly funded.

Health care and social assistance are the largest industries in the local government areas of Hughes by employment. People of all ages have been coming up to me with concerns about the cost of seeing a doctor, after nine years of a government that didn't support bulk-billing. On this side of the chamber, we built and defended Medicare, and I am proud that we're reinvesting in it to make bulk-billing the norm again.

Hughes is home to bushland, waterways and national parks, including the royal and Heathcote national parks, the Georges River, the Hacking River and Woronora River. It is on the forefront of the environmental management conservation movement. Hughes contains the only putrescible landfill site in the Sydney Basin. I have been an active participant in the Labor Environment Action Network and I will continue to advocate for our national environment in this place.

I'm also the only member of this place who represents an electorate with a nuclear reactor, with the Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's Sydney facilities located in Lucas Heights. ANSTO produces around 85 per cent of Australia's nuclear medicine, and one in two Australians will require nuclear medicine at some point in their lives. We are fortunate enough to have this world-class institution contributing to both our understanding of science and the strength of our health system.

My electorate also includes the Holsworthy Barracks, one of the Army's major defence presences in New South Wales. I want to honour those who put their hands up to serve this country in our defence forces. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide made it clear that we still have significant work to do in improving the support we provide to our veterans. I'm proud that our government has accepted the overwhelming majority of its recommendations and I look forward to working on their implementation and continuing to advocate for better outcomes for those who have served.

We also must reckon honestly with our past and continue the work of building a more just and reconciled nation. I hope to continue in the tradition of my predecessors Les Johnson and Robert Tickner in this place of First Nations justice and advancing the cause of reconciliation. Our country can never be complete for as long as we fail to come to terms with our past, and we must work to remedy injustices that are ongoing.

My team and I worked hard to win this seat, but we stood on the shoulders of giants. The success of my campaign was built upon the hard work of others who kept the flame alive during the wilderness years for Hughes. The former member for Miranda Barry Collier and the late former member for Menai Alison Megarrity—thank you for setting the benchmark for effective local engagement in this community. Along with former shire deputy mayor Dawn Emmerson, Barry Collier set a high standard on doorknocking, to which I hope to live up. Diedree Steinwall sustained the Labor brand in Hughes during its darkest days and won her ward for the first of three times during a period when it was widely thought impossible, and Maryanne Stuart took back Heathcote and showed us that modern Labor could succeed in the Sutherland Shire when we engage and when we follow through.

There are so many hardworking Labor members and volunteers without whom I could not have made it here. I won't have time to name them all, but there are three I would like to call out. Stuart Munn's enthusiasm and energy knew no bounds and did so much to sustain mine. Greg Poulter put so many hours of effort into making our campaign succeed. I'm not entirely sure when Greg slept during the campaign, but I am so grateful for all of the work that he did to bring us home. Finally, Anthony Duff was the first person who believed that I could do this. I'll never forget that, at the first suggestion of me running, he offered to do whatever it took to help, and he delivered. From booth kits and corflutes to calling volunteers and giving advice on every stray thought that came into my head, he did it all. I am so grateful to Anthony.

I also want to acknowledge my predecessor as member for Hughes, Ms Jenny Ware. Ms Ware brought dignity to the office of Member for Hughes after a tumultuous period for representation in our community. I want to recognise the sincerity with which she approached her role and thank her for the sacrifices that she made in putting up her hand for it. I wish her and her family all the very best. I also want to acknowledge my predecessors in this place representing the north-eastern corner of the Macarthur region, the member for Werriwa and the member for Macarthur. I have big shoes to fill. I am very grateful to you both for your ongoing advice and counsel.

I also want to thank the Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong, the state member for Macquarie Fields and New South Wales minister, for all that you did in assisting me to reach the community that you have served during your time in public life. I also want to thank the Sutherland District Trade Union Club, the spiritual home of shire Labor for generations. I want to thank Senator Tony Sheldon and Senator Jenny McAllister, who both took the time to visit my campaign, and I want to thank Minister Tanya Plibersek for visiting my campaign as well.

I want to thank the union movement, notably Unions NSW; Julia Angrisano of the FSU, my former union; Graeme Kelly and the USU, my current union; and Michael Caine of the TWU for their help during the campaign. Julia, I don't know what we would have done without you. You're a superstar. I also want to thank New South Wales Labor, including Dom Ofner, David Dobson and Callum Bain for your enormous help in preparing me and my office for this place.

And, of course, I want to thank my family for your incredible support. I could not be here without you. As many have stated, this path takes a huge toll on families, and, yes, I don't think it's something that you've ever wanted to be involved with, but I'm very grateful for it.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank the people of Hughes for placing their trust in me. The enormous honour of serving in this role is not lost on me. It's something I will never take for granted. I'm not entitled to serve in this role. I know that I have to earn it every day. I am here to ensure that this community is not overlooked, and I intend to fulfil that purpose.

Sport is a big part of life in Hughes, and politics is a lot like sport. You have your team that you follow through thick and thin. You have thumping victories and razor-thin losses. But, while democracy can feel like a spectator sport, it isn't. A democracy cannot function without active engagement and participation from elected representatives, not just at the ballot box and not just during campaign season. Our democracy thrives only when people step off the sidelines, and that is what I'll fight for every day in this place.

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