Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Congratulations, Deputy Speaker Aldred, on your appointment to the Speaker's panel and on your election, for the first time, to this place. I have to say it's my 15th year of having the honour of representing my part of Western Sydney, the electorate of Chifley. I never expected to be elected. I'd had a tilt before and not been successful. As I've explained to people, when the opportunity came round, it was akin to stepping on the wrong end of a rake: it came very suddenly, very quickly. And I didn't know what had happened for me to be put in the position of being preselected and then selected to represent the party I've loved since my teenage years and joined in that time.

Having grown up in my part of Western Sydney, I've always taken this job incredibly seriously. It's not been about checking off a list of things that need to get done for the sake of being able to rattle those off. I've always taken the view that my part of Western Sydney has been told long enough that it should wait its turn, that the folks I represent, salt of the earth people in Western Sydney, based in Mount Druitt, should wait a bit longer to get what they need. I saw the needs that they had were great and that they needed to get those things that would make their life easier and, more importantly, that they could use to deliver for their kids, to build better neighbourhoods and to oversee the personal challenges they have in their life, in our area, so they can have a much better quality of life.

I've seen tremendous contributions in my area. We recognise them every year—for instance, in the Coral McLean Awards, named after Coral, who, it was estimated, dedicated over 100,000 hours of her personal time, out of the Holy Family Parish in Emerton, to help people at all hours of the day. In fact, when she moved out of our area to the Central Coast, we were told stories by her children of people knocking on her door late at night who'd driven from our part of Western Sydney to the Central Coast to get help from Coral. When Coral passed away after a battle with cancer, we set up these awards to recognise the contribution of women and girls in our area who are building better neighbourhoods.

The community spirit in our area is often remarked on by people who visit our part of Western Sydney. They always talk about how those from our part of Western Sydney, when you need a hand, will go out of their way, even if they have limited means to do so. They will literally give you the food off their plate or the shirt off their back to help you out. That is why I have been proud of representing Chifley. I've been proud to have such great faith in the people of our area. As a response to that, I have fought really hard. People know I don't take a backward step; I'm always prepared to argue, and argue hard, for the people of our area because, as I've said, they've been told quite often that they have to just wait in line and take their time to get the things everyone else has had the good fortune of being able to receive.

For example, things like education are a big deal in my area—making sure we are investing, in particular, in primary education and secondary education. Once kids finish school, which I always urge them to do—please do. Your fortunes in life will be shaped by the bag of skills you get, and you will not develop them fully just by finishing high school. Being able to take time to go into TAFE or uni is a big deal. The fact that Chifley has some of the highest uptake of fee-free TAFE in the nation shows you aspiration right there. There are a lot of young people that want to go to their local TAFE, like the one in Mount Druitt. I've met automotive apprentices they really want to be able to not only get a job in there but start their own shop as well. That's aspiration right there, and I'm proud of the fact that our government has fought so hard to make sure we have fee-free TAFE. Just the other week we opened up a university study hub with the Minister for Education, the member for Blaxland, Jason Clare. The Mount Druitt Ethnic Communities Agency fought to get that funding and have just opened up a uni study hub in Mount Druitt and will open one in Emerton.

So many kids and young people in our area—they would probably be mortally offended that I referred to them as kids, but it's probably a sign of my age—will be the first ones to go through uni. For so many families in our area, it's the first time they have. I want young people in our area to feel that uni is for them, because sometimes they figure it's for someone else better than them, and that's absolute garbage. It is proper. It is right. Labor governments in times past opened up the university sector to ensure more kids from a first-in-family background took up that study. The thing about the study hubs is it gives them a place to go and quietly do their study and, more importantly, engage with other students going through the same experience as them. I am proud of the fact that our government put forward the money that then got invested into our area. It got taken up by MECA, and now we have these hubs, which I suspect will expand in time.

We're building those skills, and the base of it all is making sure that, if young people are going to TAFE or uni, before they got there, investment in primary and secondary education happened. Our government, in our first term, worked out with the states and territories the funding stream to properly bring to life those Gonski reforms. People may not remember the bloke, but they do remember and do get that if you've got an area of high need, it takes a bit more in terms of resources to be able to make sure you get your way through. That's what Gonski was about. Schools like Crawford Public would tell me that the extra resources they got at the tail end of our last government helped them set up tutoring for kids who were struggling in math. They provided that, and, once they did, they could see a definite difference in terms of the math scores in that school. That is huge because that means the life trajectory of that student has been transformed. The fact we put in $5 billion, with the New South Wales government, to make sure we invested in the proper resources for primary and secondary schools is phenomenal. As much as people think 'life changing' is a well-worn term, that is exactly what it is.

In Chifley we saw the biggest investment in school infrastructure in 10 years. On top of that, about half a dozen schools received improvements to the quality of their infrastructure, so that the schools were modernised, they had modern equipment, and parents could have confidence that their kids were going to a place that is a quality environment. Plus there's the investment we made through the school funding reforms, which has been huge. It is critical.

The fact that we are cutting student debt is a point of pride for us. Some of the largest numbers of students who will benefit from the 20 per cent cut in student debt come from the Chifley electorate. It makes it a bit easier that, once they've finished their studies, we relieve a bit of that debt and that they can get on and chase the things that they want in their neck of the woods.

The other thing I've fought hard for, which I think reflects our national values, is health care. As much as some people might think we go on about Medicare, the reality is that Medicare reflects an embedded value of this country—the value of a fair go. When you hold up that Medicare card, it represents what we truly believe, which is that if you're in strife, particularly with your health, the size of your bank balance should not be the determinant. It should not decide whether or not you get quality healthcare. For us, it is a clear reflection of a national value that we look after our own, and we don't judge them on how big their bank balance is. They'll get the care they need.

The fact that we cut the cost of medicines means a big deal to Chifley residents. It's been estimated that people in our neck of the woods have saved over $9 million, with about 1.5 million of cheaper scripts. For people on low incomes in our area, that is huge. It's a huge relief, and it stops them wondering whether or not they can afford to get the medicines that will make their quality of life better.

On top of that, I pushed for the establishment of an urgent care clinic in our electorate. That happened with the setting up of the Rooty Hill Urgent Care Clinic. By visiting the Rooty Hill Road North urgent care clinic, 12,000 people were able to get the help they needed, and it will continue to provide support for them in our part of the world. Doctors, GPs, nurses and support staff all work so hard—and there are a lot of doctors. In fact, I want to recognise one who's retiring this week: Dr Kek, from the Mount Druitt Medical Centre. He's worked in our area for nearly 50 years. The reality is these doctors could have worked in any other part of Western Sydney. They didn't; they stayed in our area and made a tremendous contribution.

Infrastructure is another big thing. I've fought hard for upgrades for the fastest-growing parts of our electorate, like Marsden Park, Colebee and Schofields, which have had real issues with road funding. Our government put forward a billion-dollar roads plan, which is delivering for people in my area, including the upgrade of Richmond Road. The other big project that I'll be working on is the extension of the metro and the filling of the metro missing link that would see Tallawong to St Marys constructed in the long term.

The other thing that I think we've got to be able to work on is building social and affordable housing in Chifley. I'm proud to be part of a government that has dedicated so much towards the building of new homes and increasing supply. It will be a priority for me in this term to push for the greater development of social and affordable housing. Later this month, we'll hold a housing forum to talk about how we can make that happen. It builds on the fact that we've announced the five per cent deposit scheme for first homebuyers, and we've had a 50 per cent increase in the maximum rent assistance, which helps over 11,000 people in the Chifley electorate. For this term, pushing for more social and affordable housing will be a massive priority for us. All of this can only be done by a government that takes seriously its responses in these spaces.

I want to end with thanks. There have been a lot of folks who have helped us out over many years, but especially I want to thank those who helped in the recent election—working on stations and mobile offices and being there through prepoll and out on election day. I make huge thanks to my FEC, the branches in our area, and volunteers—some who may not be members of the party but wanted to assist and support us in the campaign. I extend to them my deepest gratitude.

I want to thank local state members Edmond Atalla, Stephen Bali, Prue Car and Warren Kirby. It's been tremendous to work with them and Mayor Brad Bunting and the Blacktown City Council team. It is terrific to have the federal, state and local government levels working together. Can I just say to Deputy Premier Car, who's got her own health challenge at the moment, that, if anyone's going to beat a health challenge, it's Prue Car. She is a tremendous fighter, and we look forward to her getting through the challenges she's facing and getting back on the front line in our area. We had a wonderful campaign launch in Tregear, and I want to thank all the branches for being there through thick and thin.

I want to say thank you to my ministerial office. There are a lot of people who have been through the office or worked in the office, led by David Masters and deputy chief of staff Ellen Broad. I want to recognise Brett Gale before them as well and all the team that worked in the ministerial office. I could rattle off a list of things, but the big thing is that we were driven by a belief, a faith, in the power of Australian ideas to make Australians' lives better. It was a huge honour to play a part in that industry and science portfolio—in particular, in terms of supporting the great work of so many people in those areas, Australians who are doing phenomenal things for our nation. I appreciate having that ministerial team there, and I want to say to them: thank you so much for working the hours and doing what you did. It will never ever be forgotten. To be honest, I'm particularly grateful for their service to the country as well because what they did was to help a first-term Labor government achieve quite a lot, and I'm very grateful for all their work

I'm grateful to the electorate office as well. In my time as a minister, I wasn't there as much as I'd have liked, but I can tell you that they made a difference. I had so many people say that their lives had been shaped by the fact that the electorate office would go that extra mile to help people out. I'm sure every single member of parliament reflects so warmly on their members of staff within their electorate offices for the work that they do. I give a heartfelt thanks to every member of my office. To one who just recently left, Ade Amuda, I want to say thank you so much for your help.

Finally I want to say thank you to my partner, Fiona. She's actually my fiance, but my nickname for her is 'wife asterisk', where the asterisk represents a rounding up, because she will be my wife at some point soon. I can't tell this chamber how blessed and lucky I am to have someone like Fiona in my life. We are parenting three boys: Tor, Sam and Harry. It is an absolute blessing to have that in my life. I regard public office as a tremendous opportunity, but ultimately being able to find someone you love who can make such a big difference in your life is truly something words cannot express gratitude for. To Fiona, who I love so deeply, I just want to say thank you—in particular for all her fierce support, her help and, more importantly than anything else, her love. I'm grateful for all of that.

I'm conscious that Minister Rishworth is here and she thought that I'd only speak for 10 minutes but I've spoken for 17. And I notice the member for Barker on the other side coughing. Are you speaking next, or is it Minister Rishworth?

You've been very good to me, Minister Rishworth, so thank you for that.

I want to end on a sombre note. We learnt of the passing of Greg Whitby. Greg Whitby was with the Catholic education office. He was someone I worked with when I was first elected. I was stunned to hear that he passed away on 30 August. He was a teacher, academic and author who changed the lives of thousands, particularly through his principles of inclusivity. He was awarded the highest honour for teachers in 2017, as director of the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, assisting 78 schools, 43,000 students and 4,500 staff. Along the way, he wrote a book called Educating Gen Wi-Fi that looked to modernise the way schools educate and deal with the vast impact of technology, and he wrote that 10 years ago. I'm really sorry. I was just saddened incredibly at Greg's departure. I would like the House to know about his contribution to public life in his way. I thank him enormously and will miss him greatly. Vale, Greg Whitby.

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