Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In this traditional first debate of the parliament after a federal election, it's always been my practice to begin by saying thank you. Thank you to the voters in my electorate in Gellibrand in Melbourne's west for their trust and confidence. Thank you to them for choosing the things that unite us and seeing that the things that we have in common are bigger and more important than the things that divide us. Thank you to the outstanding, professional and independent staff of the Australian Electoral Commission, who undertook a very well-run election in Gellibrand in Melbourne's west. Thank you to the other contesting candidates who ran in Gellibrand at the last federal election. They all conducted themselves with, I think, very real respect and dignity, and I was proud to spend many, many hours standing next to them at prepoll and on election day.

But, of course, the most important group that I need to thank here in this chamber are the Labor true believers and my supporters, who made the election win in Gellibrand for the Labor Party possible. We couldn't have achieved the result we did without the volunteers who shared our vision for building Australia's future, including those who, without complaint or ego, showed up in a common cause to support our Labor campaign. I'm proud that our campaign in Gellibrand was as diverse as the place in which we live and work. It reflected modern Australia and won the endorsement of modern Australia. It brought together people from all possible backgrounds in pursuit of a common cause: to build a stronger and fairer future for Australia.

I want to name many of these people individually here for the benefit of the Hansard. I want to give special thanks to Alison, Catherine, Freddie, Victor, Azhar, William, Jason, Greg, Leon, Clovis, John and Nitika, who showed up throughout the entire campaign to deliver our Labor government's vision for building Australia's future. Alison and Victor showed up for all the usual events, joining me for doorknocking, prepoll and election day, but also went so far as to indulge me in that very Queensland practice of wobbleboarding on Point Cook Road and Central Av, where our government has committed $58.5 million to get our community where they need to go faster and safer. That funding will deliver duplication on Central Avenue to Point Cook Road to ease congestion. We're also developing a business case to duplicate Point Cook Road between Jamieson Way and Dunnings Road. I'm proud that we're delivering meaningful action for some of Australia's most diverse and fastest growing suburbs.

Scores of people turned up to help throughout the campaign and on election day to share our message for the voters in Gellibrand. I want to thank our booth captains: Tully, Melissa, Felix, Gary, Bill, Japinda, Jason, Anne, Rajash, Alison, Archita, Gary, Nathan, Sean, Catherine, Rajash, Sean, Scott and Aidan. I also want to share our gratitude with all the locals who volunteered on the doors, at train stations and at voting booths: Amar, Ken, Noel, Mel, Peter, Narelle, Isaac, Dylan, Myles, John, Effie, Andy, Houssein, Kifeh, Raha, Claire, Ahmad, Ghassan, Milad, Micheel, Olivia, Ehsan, Amany, Khaled, Louay, Kemal, Wajid, Tefera, Meserat, Matiebie, Catherine, David, John, Peter, Daniel, Dan, Margie, Craig, Marguerite, Lucien, Mark, Muffy, Chandni, Nadia, Tilak, Kazim, Israel, Abdi, Azhar, Abdul, Lorraine, Robin, Dean, Peter, Dan, Enchalew, Di, Lance, Andrew, Rajash, Palak, Solomon, William, Hasan, Julie, Kiran, Rubay, Tekeste, Alula, Neha, Jeeva, Aymart, Rashmi, Mac, Vinesh, Eva—but, wait, there is more—Rabindra, Mita, Ravi, Amit, Ivo, Kay, Gavin, Matt, John, Tom, Greg, Nahida, Rayane, our third Rajneet, Greg, JP, Katherine, Reena, Anagha, Niharica, Nick, Abnash, Ali, Trish, Sumit, Nick, Maryam, Ian, Kerry, Kevin, Molly, Maria, Justin, John, Linelle, Patsy, Ralph, Carrol, Trevor, Kai, Joel, Sandy, Scott, Jane, Kate, Ken, Sam, Andrei and Bill.

I also want to thank our state members, Mat Hilakari, Melissa Horne and Sarah Connolly. It was a team effort. Thank you for giving us all your early mornings at train stations, your voices at doorknocks, prepolls and polling booths, your time scrutineering, and for coming together to celebrate on election night. Thank you to all—it really means a lot. Can I also say thank you to my staff, some of whom were experiencing their first election campaign working from an electorate office. I should assure them that they're not all like this one! Thank you to Lachlan, Priya, Arth, Alex, Annabel, Laura, Mel, Francis and Archita.

I do want to single someone out here, and that is, of course, Stevie Le. I want to briefly recognise the contribution that he has made as a long-term member of my office, who finished up with me shortly after the last election. Stevie Le has worked with me since I started as a member of parliament 12 years ago. He's the only staffer who's done the full journey. We've gone through five elections together and seen thousands of volunteers and staff come and go through our office and our campaigns. During that time, Stevie has been the foundation stone of the work of my office. He's been a mate, and he's been a personal rock for me.

We've been through a lot together over the last 12 years. There's been a lot of joy. Steve's had a wedding and three kids while working in my office. Steve won ABC's Hard Quiz with his expert knowledge of S Club 7. He won the APH footy tipping competition—an extraordinary achievement that deserves recognition in the Hansard. We were both there when the Western Bulldogs won the flag in 2016. We were also there for the open training, the banner making, the grand final parade and all that good stuff that goes along with a grand final win.

There were hard times too, though. We've been confronted by neo-Nazis at the pub. We've lost dear friends from our office and grieved our fellow staffers Clara and Walter together at their funerals with our electorate office family and the community that they served. We got through the long Victorian COVID lockdowns together, for stretches of which it was just Steve and me in the electorate office.

Through all this, there has been no-one who has helped more people in my electorate than Steve. As a result, he's been a beloved member of our local community. It would be a rare day for me at a train station, polling booth or supermarket that someone in my electorate didn't thank me for something that Steve had done for them. So thank you, Steve. More importantly, thank you, Marylyn, for sharing Steve with us on so many weekends and late nights. To Sammy, Spencer and Maisie: you can all be very proud of your dad.

For the benefit of the Hansard, I want to say thank you, mate, for the last 12 years, and I do want to note that Steve isn't out of the electorate office game just yet. He's just moved on to work with a dear friend of the both of us, the new member for Gorton, helping her set up her electorate office in the electorate down the road. So he's got plenty more people to help in Melbourne's west just yet. I want to send him off into this new role with the words of S Club 7. Let me say this just once for the record. I say:

Don't stop, never give up

Hold your head high and reach the top

Let the world see what you have got

Bring it all back to you

Thank you, Steve Le.

Point Cook in my community in Melbourne's west is the largest and most multicultural suburb in Australia. In Point Cook, one of those spaces for connection where we come together in our diverse backgrounds is the Point Cook Pop Up Park. For nearly a decade, this diverse and growing community has come together at the Point Cook Pop Up Park at Stockland. The Point Cook Pop Up Park would not have existed without the tireless work of CoLocal, a not-for-profit grassroots group who have championed the park from inception and nurtured it to the success that it is today. It's been supported by a series of state and federal grants along the way and has hosted a swathe of important local and multicultural events which reflect who we are as a community in Melbourne's west.

I have personally attended at the pop-up park many Diwalis, Holis, Lunar Festivals, Pasifika Festivals, a Latino festival, Filipino Fiesta, Tamil New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Harmony Day, the Africa Festival, Halloween events, spring racing activations, kids fun days and the Christmas market and carols. There's also a wonderful Rainbow Serpent mural celebrating First Nations culture, symbolising community unity and cohesion. The events that have been at the Point Cook Pop Up Park are a reflection of the rich tapestry of culture, tradition, food and storytelling that makes Point Cook unique as Australia's most multicultural suburb.

The park not only provides community space and celebrates our community but provides real economic benefits to local traders and has revitalised Point Cook Stockland's dining precinct, with 81 per cent of people who have said that the events at the park encourage them to explore new shops, cafes and restaurants in the area and 83 per cent of people surveyed who purchased food or went shopping at nearby stores before, after or during attending events at the park.

Located on a pedestrian street in one of the community's biggest shopping centres, events aren't just something on the way to your weekly grocery shop. They're a destination. It's clear that CoLocal and the Point Cook Pop Up Park's events are deeply valued and supported by the community, drawing 60,000 people to the town centre in the last 18 months alone. The park has become a cherished gathering place for westsiders to frequent today and a focal point for building community and connection and an array of events and entertainment.

Although it is a collaborative project, the driving force is CoLocal, a grassroots community group who conceived of and power the park's development and success. Sadly, CoLocal have made the difficult decision to step away from future involvement in the pop-up park in coming months, and now the future of the park is at risk. Stockland has indicated its preference to wind up the park and reopen the road it currently occupies. As a community, we can help ensure this doesn't happen. Wyndham City Council is currently seeking feedback from people in Melbourne's west that will determine the future of the park. This feedback is vital to the pop-up park's existence. The council will be guided by what our community tells them. Although CoLocal is stepping away from the pop-up park for now, their hard work and legacy will not be forgotten. I want to thank CoLocal for their leadership, determination and passion over the past eight years. They turned a regular suburban street into a welcoming space that celebrates diversity, fosters connection and champions collaboration.

I want to thank in the Hansard in this place today the CoLocal volunteers who made this project possible: Sudhit Juneja, the organiser of the Diwali and Holi events I mentioned earlier; Phebe Yeo, the organiser of the Kids Lunar Festival; Luciana Manrique, the organiser of the Latino festival; Kaliope Vassilopoulous, the organiser of the Greek Festival; David Mullins; Steve Jaz; Karthick Thanigaimani; and Senthill Sundaram. And, of course, I want to personally recognise Sara Mitchell, the founder of CoLocal. Sara has really put her whole soul into the Point Cook Pop Up Park. I've seen it over the years, and I've seen the very real personal sacrifices she has made investing her time and labour into this passion project. I've seen it, I valued it, I recognise it in this place and I thank her for everything she's done—and I do understand the reasons that she is now walking away from the project.

But I do want to say to everyone in Melbourne's west: whether you're a resident, a community group or a local business, share your feedback on how you use the Point Cook Pop Up Park via the Wyndham City Council's community survey. You can voice your support and what you'd like to see happen there in the future. You can complete the survey online or by speaking to one of the council staff present at the pop-up park from 1 pm to 3 pm on Sunday 7 September or from 3 pm to 5 pm on Thursday 11 September. This feedback will directly determine the future of this vital space for Point Cook locals, and I encourage my community to jump online and make sure the community knows you support the park's ongoing operation and existence. Let the council know how important it is to have a place in the most multicultural suburb in Australia for our Diwali events, our Holi events, our lunar festival—a place where you can bring your family and your friends to come together to celebrate. Share your stories of connection, of celebration and of tradition. If you value the Point Cook Pop Up Park as a place for our community to come together, make sure your voice is heard by the council.

After the federal election I was pleased to be appointed as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs. The Indian Ocean matters to Australia. The Indian Ocean region is essential to Australia's prosperity and security. It's a major part of the Indo-Pacific region, home to the world's fastest growing large economies and also a centre of increasing geostrategic competition. Australia faces the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War, and our strategic circumstances are continuing to deteriorate. In the Indian Ocean there's increasing competition for access and influence, including efforts to secure dominance over sea lanes and strategic ports. The shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean aren't just vital to Australia; they are vital to the world economy. The Indian Ocean is already bustling with more than a third of the world's bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of global oil shipments. Around half of Australia's sea-bound exports set sail from Indian Ocean ports.

The Indian Ocean is also critical for our defence and national security. Half of Australia's naval fleet is based in the Indian Ocean. And of course it's home to Fleet Base West and Submarine Rotational Force—West. The north-east Indian Ocean was identified as an area of primary interest in the National Defence Strategy for these reasons, and strengthening our partnerships with key partners in the Indian Ocean is one of the Albanese government's priority areas for action in response to the Defence Strategic Review. Our priority in the Indian Ocean is to enhance regional resilience by coordinating with partners on solutions to shared challenges, including maritime and economic security, climate change and disaster resilience. As the foreign minister, Penny Wong, has said, by building resilience we can help keep Australians safe.

Australia has shared interests with the countries of the Indian Ocean in maintaining the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indian Ocean and in seeing all countries growing their economies and deciding their own futures. The Albanese government is working with the countries of the Indian Ocean to increase our trade, investment, diplomatic and development ties. And we're supporting regional institutions, like the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the region's premier ministerial-level organisation. IORA is critical for Indian Ocean countries to collaborate and resolve shared challenges, and Australia is working to strengthen regional resilience through IORA, including through our investments in maritime security, the blue economy and climate change.

We're also supporting humanitarian initiatives to help prevent regional crises from spilling over and causing instability throughout the Indian Ocean region. For example, we continue to support regional resilience through our development program, including, since 2017, $1.26 billion in humanitarian assistance for people in need in Bangladesh and Myanmar. In Bangladesh, in Cox's Bazar, there are now 1.1 million Rohingya refugees who have been in that camp for going on nine years. This week in the parliament is the anniversary of their exodus from the Rakhine state in northern Myanmar into Bangladesh. It's important for countries in the region—like Australia, the South-East Asian countries, the Indian Ocean countries—to support Bangladesh and support their resilience in hosting this very significant refugee community in our own region.

Where requested, the Australian government also invests in regional resilience by taking targeted actions to help lift the sovereign capabilities of Indian Ocean partners. For example, this year Australia announced that we will gift the first Australian built Guardian class patrol boat to an Indian Ocean country, the Maldives. This gift is a key milestone in our bilateral relationship and a significant step towards enhancing the Maldives's capability to protect its sovereign waters and to contribute to collective maritime security in the Indian Ocean. Lifting the sovereign capabilities of Indian Ocean partners supports them with meeting their challenges in the best way that they see fit. It invests in their agency and their sovereignty.

We've lifted our engagement throughout the Indian Ocean region. We've expanded our diplomatic footprint in the Indian Ocean with a new high commission in Male, in the Maldives, and new consulates in Bengaluru and Kolkata, in India. We're also strengthening our defence partnerships with key partners in the Indian Ocean. Our bilateral defence relationship with India is a primary example of this effort. India is a top-tier security partner for Australia, and we have never been more strategically aligned than we are right now. There are real steps we're taking to grow our defence relationship. We're doing more exercises together, and we're concentrating on how we can build interoperability between our defence forces, enabling us to have greater access to each other's defence facilities.

In times of increasing geostrategic uncertainty, engaging with the Indian Ocean is more important for Australia than ever. We have the biggest search and rescue zone of any nation in the Indian Ocean and one of the biggest EEZs. Australia is using all the tools of statecraft to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean region where each country can pursue its own aspirations.

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