Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with deep humility and immense pride that I rise to deliver my first speech in this House as the newly elected member for McPherson. Not long ago I sat in this chamber not as a participant in debate but as a parliamentary attendant, a silent observer to the great conversations that shape our nation. I listened, I learned and I grew in my resolve to one day add my voice to the legacy of our national story. Today, that day has come, and I rise with gratitude to my community, with reverence for this institution and our great democracy and with a commitment to serve with integrity, energy and purpose.

My presence here today is a testament to our national character—that someone who once sorted mail in the basement of this very building can ascend from humble beginnings to define the future of our nation as a member of parliament. I am proud to be the first to make this journey, but I sincerely hope I'm not the last. Ours is a country where opportunities can be seized, through hard work, perseverance and belief in the value of public service, and where every voice, regardless of where it begins, can contribute to the great tapestry of our shared Australian journey. I will always come to this place as a place of service—to the people of McPherson, to my state of Queensland and to my country.

I feel blessed that I had a remarkable childhood. I benefited from a world-class education, a multicultural family that embraced a global perspective, the freedom to practise my faith freely, and the love and support of a strong family unit. My father is a tradie, an electrician and refrigeration mechanic. My mother is a dedicated public servant, still working in the service of her country to this day. To get ahead they worked second jobs, took risks to invest in property and small business and never questioned their obligation to stand on their own two feet. Weekends weren't for rest. They were for renovating houses for extra money and printing tickets for milk bottle deliveries as part of our family business. We were optimistic, not because we had wealth but because we believed in effort. And when our hard work paid off we felt pride in having earned the rewards. Together we supported one other as much as we relied upon one another. We were a family.

My upbringing was a traditional middle-class Australian story. It was grounded in values of personal responsibility, self-determination and respect for the institutions on which Australia was built. As migrants, my parents never let a day pass without reminding me to hold a deep and profound gratitude for all that Australia made possible. I stand in this place because of their quiet patriotism and because they raised me to believe in Australia and in her promise, and that service in her name is a tremendous calling. It is no wonder these values took me to the Liberal Party here in the ACT and the Liberal National Party in the great state of Queensland.

I joined the Liberal Party because I was taught to believe in personal responsibility—that if you drop something you pick it up, and if you want something you work for it. And yes, I may not be a stereotypical Liberal, but I am a Liberal—proudly, unapologetically. I'm a Liberal because I trust Australians to make decisions for themselves and I believe that the role of government is to lift people up, not lock them in. I'm a Liberal because I believe in limited government, not out of a desire for less but because I believe Australians are capable of far more. And I'm a Liberal because I believe in giving Australians a stake in the economy through free enterprise and home ownership and that this is more important than giving them a stake in the government.

We are a party that has stood for what's decent, what's compassionate and, more often than not, what's grounded in common sense. My start in life was available to me as the beneficiary of an Australia that my parents came here for—an Australia where one's fortune was the result of their determination and contribution, an Australia that understood that aspiration, not entitlement, was the foundation for progress. But that Australia is becoming harder to recognise. Across this country, among men and women, young and old, there's a growing sense of disempowerment. Too many Australians feel discouraged to dream, strive and achieve. I stand here today for them, and because I fear we are losing our way. We have drifted from celebrating self-reliance to being conditioned to expect government to step in, not just in times of crisis but in place of personal initiative.

Our national psyche has evolved, whereby the instinct to prepare for a rainy day is dulled by an expectation of government intervention. This mindset has not just taken hold in our community; it has infected government itself, where short-term spending too often replaces long-term discipline. And we have fallen in love with regulation that is punitive to the many, instead of making an example of the few who set out to do the wrong thing.

In our desire to shield Australians from hardship, we are wrapping the population in cotton and, in doing so, we are stifling our national spirit. We risk being slowly pulled into the quicksand of bureaucracy, overreach and ideologically driven agendas that forget that it is the individual that is at the heart of our democracy. The result in my electorate is a housing crisis, where young Australians are now unable to afford a home, and, even worse, everyday working people are less able to afford rent and essentials.

I come to this place to reignite the traditional role of government as an enabler instead of a provider, and I seek to reinforce the role of the Australian parliament as future focused, placing Australia and her people foremost in every decision we make. In my time in this place, it is my duty and privilege to represent the people of McPherson, to share with this place their thoughts and their values and to work hard to ensure that they get the attention of government when they need it. Equally important, I'm committed to crafting a future Australia that they can take pride in. I'll contribute to the domestic and international agendas that will define our nation's path forward, ensuring our future is a positive evolution built upon the foundation of our past. I'll seek to address new-world challenges without weakening our old-world values.

The greatest reforms we will achieve in this place will not be coupled with great expense. They'll not be marked by grand monuments; nor will they burden the public with costs of creation and upkeep. The greatest reforms will be those that redefine how we conduct ourselves as Australians, both as individuals and as a nation. We are navigating a national identity crisis, and it's imperative that we restore a deep sense of purpose. We must reignite our national spirit, set the bounds for our shared identity and rediscover our values and basic common sense.

In his farewell address, President Reagan put the question to Americans: 'Are we doing a good enough job of teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world?' I ask the same of us here in Australia. We must reignite an unambivalent appreciation of Australia and the Western values that form the foundation of our nation. This will give us the resolve and the capacity to confront the pressing challenges that demand urgent attention.

We face a population surge fuelled by a reckless immigration profile, one that no longer reflects the careful planning or national interest that critically underpinned our migration success story. In allowing this, we risk diminishing both the privilege of coming to Australia and the cohesion that has long made our multicultural society a strength, not a strain. The desire to come to Australia, while admirable, should not be the sole qualification. It is the willingness to contribute to Australia that must be the true test. Having studied in Europe, I've witnessed the social and economic pressures that arise when migration is poorly managed: rising social tensions, buckling infrastructure, divided communities. These are no longer abstract policy debates; they are lived realities overseas. We would do well to heed these warnings.

At the same time, our education standards are falling, with too many young Australians leaving school not only lacking the skills to succeed but also uncertain of who we are as a nation. There is a growing detachment from our history, our democratic institutions and our values. A generation is emerging that is less proud of Australia and has little understanding of how fragile yet precious our democracy truly is—that it must be understood, defended and never taken for granted. This is not just an academic concern; it's a national one. Civic education has been neglected for too long, and it must be installed at the heart of our national curriculum, to teach young Australians why pride in Australia is justified.

Our welfare system, once a vital safety net for those in genuine need, has ballooned into something broader and, in many cases, far less targeted. Too often support is now distributed based on identity rather than circumstance. Compassion should not be measured by how much we spend but by how effectively we lift people out of hardship. A welfare system that is sustainable, fair and focused on need will always do more to empower Australians than one built on division or ideology.

Governments don't create wealth; businesses do. When my father lost his job shortly after arriving in Australia, he sought to rebuild by starting an electrical business much like the one he had successfully run overseas. Yet, when he approached a government department for advice, he was told that assistance would only be available if he first went on welfare. That experience speaks volumes about a system that too often disincentivises initiative. If we are serious about national prosperity, we must do more to encourage enterprise, not hinder it. It is the resilience of small business that underpins our economic strength and employment opportunities. But Australia is now losing too many of them to countries with more favourable economic conditions. This quiet exodus of ambition and ability cannot continue. If we are to grow our economy and secure our future, we must foster a climate that rewards effort, investment and innovation. That means undertaking a serious internal review of our tax system and industrial relations policies, ensuring they're competitive and encourage productivity.

As the youngest member of the federal coalition, I am acutely aware that I am viewed as a representative of my generation. And, as a millennial, I cannot in good conscience avoid the issue of our national debt. When I look at the way government has treated the national accounts, it leaves me with deep concerns about the message we are sending and the culture we're creating. We have created a culture of expedience—one that justifies present comfort at the expense of future Australians—and we act as though we bear no responsibility for the weight of this burden on generations to come. This approach cannot be sustained. It underpins the ongoing degradation of personal responsibility and retires the obligation to leave things better than we found them. We can spend our time assigning blame and pointing fingers at different governments or we can acknowledge that this is a fresh parliament and, with it, a fresh opportunity—an opportunity to restore strong fiscal management where government practises the same self-control that we expect of the people we govern.

We must ensure Australia remains an attractive and competitive destination for investment, because investment means jobs, innovation and national prosperity. To achieve this, we must commit to reducing the burden of unnecessary regulation and red tape that too often stifles opportunity before it begins. As a foreign investment lawyer, I have seen firsthand how Australia is fast becoming a less attractive investment destination. Investors are deterred not by our values or by our people but by a system weighed down by complexity, delay and uncertainty. If we are to secure long-term economic growth, we must restore confidence by creating an environment that rewards enterprise and welcomes investment that is in the national interest.

As an island nation, our geography has long served us as a strategic advantage, but in the decades ahead, our location at the heart of an increasingly volatile Indo-Pacific region will present complex and testing challenges. It is already clear that these challenges are emerging not only in a military context but also through persistent and covert attempts to weaken our values and fracture our unity. Meeting them will require foresight, resolve and deliberate strategic planning.

The men and women of the Australian Defence Force represent the height of our national character, but admiration alone is not enough. We must be honest about the resourcing constraints they face and respond accordingly. Australia must invest in building a strong, sovereign defence capability—one that's equipped, modern and ready to defend our national interest. But national interest begins not just with hardware but with heart. This is why it's so important that young Australians grow up with a sense of pride in their country, because a generation that understands what is worth defending will be prepared to stand for it.

In a time of growing uncertainty in the international order, we should seize the strategic and diplomatic advantages of our trusted allies and, importantly, our membership of the Commonwealth. The defence of our nation is not limited to military defence; it's also defence of our interests. I am a firm believer in diversifying our import and export markets so we don't rely on any one country and expose ourselves to being held ransom by adversaries. Australia must support the expansion of our domestic manufacturing sector in line with our strategic and comparative advantage.

Housing must not be understood simply as a challenge of the moment but as a generational issue that demands a generational solution. Yes, we must urgently increase supply and deregulate the building industry, but we cannot stop there. We need to pursue a bold, long-term vision for Australia's future—one that thinks beyond the next election cycle and asks what this country should look like in 2100. My city of the Gold Coast remains the only new sizeable built city that was built since the Second World War in Australia. That fact alone should prompt serious national reflection. We must be prepared to plan and build new cities, invest in infrastructure that improves national connectivity and create the conditions for growth, including tax settings that attract long-term capital and drive investment. This is not just about housing affordability; it's about ambition. Too many Australians feel they must leave our cities or our shores to realise their potential. Our task is to make sure they don't have to.

I'm very aware of the distinguished political lineage of my seat. In his maiden speech, the first member for McPherson and former Australian prime minister Sir Arthur Fadden remarked:

We should be cautious in our decisions, because upon them the final outcome may depend—the making or unmaking of Australia as a nation.

So I say to my parliamentary colleagues, particularly those in my party at a time of national rebuild, let's be bold; let's be visionary. Let's bring forth our very own era of national renewal, anchored in the issues that matter to those we represent. We walk in the footsteps of the generation that saved the world—men and women who fought, served and sacrificed for the freedoms we now inherit. As Sir Paul Hasluck reminded us, we must 'make the most of the chance of politics'. That chance is now ours, and we must meet it with conviction, clarity and courage.

My journey to this chamber would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my campaign family, many of whom are in the gallery tonight and watching from around the world. I am profoundly grateful and forever indebted. We truly were a grassroots movement on the Gold Coast, and I thank every volunteer and supporter for their tireless dedication to our cause and to me personally. It is a truly humbling experience to see the support that each person gave me. I thank the Liberal National Party of Queensland and its members for electing me as their candidate for the seat of McPherson, my campaign committee and my parliamentary colleagues, particularly those who visited me during the campaign.

I thank those who contributed to my journey, many of whom join us here today. To my former colleagues, from my early days as a parliamentary attendant and from my time at King & Wood Mallesons and those that I had the privilege of working with in this building, including under the guidance of my now colleague the member for Fisher and former foreign minister the Hon. Julie Bishop: thank you all for your mentorship and friendship. I thank my teachers and lecturers, whose influence has stayed with me beyond the classroom, and my broader family and friends for their love and support. I thank my staff. I hope this role will inspire us to perform at our very best, always keeping in mind that our foremost duty is to serve our community and our country in all that we do.

As the great president Bartlet asked in The West Wing: Do you have a friend? Are they your best friend? Are they smarter than you? And would you trust them with your life? Because that's your chief counsel. I'm fortunate to have a few chief counsel—Trent Belling, Troy Maloney and Jarrod Lomas—all here today. Trent, for your sharp political mind, sense of humour and for backing me every step of the way; Troy, for your warm friendship and your loyalty; and Jarrod, for being a sounding board that keeps me grounded whether or not I like it: thank you. I wish to make a special acknowledgement of my mentor, the Hon. Dr Brett Mason.

As a distinguished former prime minister once said, 'You win the lottery of life when you're born in Australia.' I'm grateful for having won two lotteries in life: being born to this great nation and being born to my parents. To my mum and to my dad, who are here today: thank you for everything.

My story is the Gold Coast story, and the Gold Coast story is the Australian story—people who have made something from nothing. McPherson is a microcosm of what we need to see more of—people who are willing to take risks, back their ingenuity, contribute to their local community and create a life limited only by their own imagination. It's a uniquely entrepreneurial city that was built on small business and innovation. Tradies, professionals, small-business owners and digital nomads who can work anywhere in the world choose McPherson as a base because it offers them a unique lifestyle and an unmatched natural environment to live, work and raise a family. Their belief in themselves and their willingness to stand on their own two feet are the modern representation of the Australian spirit we need to capture.

So it is only right that my final thanks go to the people of McPherson, without whom nothing here would be possible and everything here would be pointless. For placing their trust and their hopes in me, I will never take the southern Gold Coast for granted, and each day I will work with determination to ensure your voice is heard in our national parliament. It is the greatest honour of my life to be elected as the federal member of McPherson. I am the 1,268th person to be elected to this chamber since Federation.

I love this country with every fibre of my being. I love it for what it has given my family, for the values it holds dear and for the promise it still carries in the hearts of the quiet Australians. Australia is not just a place on a map; it's an idea, a spirit and a shared story. Though we face great challenges ahead, I have never been more confident in the capacity of our people. The task before us is not to manage decline but to shape destiny and to invest in a future where effort is rewarded, freedom is protected and opportunity is not the privilege of the few but the inheritance of all. With conviction, gratitude and hope, I stand here ready to do my part.

I thank the House.

Debate adjourned.

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