Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

It is an absolute honour to have been sworn in as the member for Kingston in the 48th Parliament, my seventh time having this privilege. I continue to be absolutely grateful for and humbled by the confidence that my local community has placed in me to represent them in this place. I continue to be deeply committed to listening to the views and priorities of my community and making sure that they have a voice in this place.

I'm a bit biased here, but the southern suburbs of Adelaide are the most beautiful place in the world to live. They have some beautiful coastline that is experiencing some challenges at the moment, but that doesn't take away from the absolute beauty of the coastline, of course, and the many, many open spaces that we have. But, ultimately, what makes our community strong is its people—people from all walks of life, raising families out in the areas further flung from the CBD and contributing to community, whether that's through the local Lions, Rotary or Kiwanis; the local CFS; the local coastguard association; the surf lifesaving clubs; or the sporting clubs, such as football clubs and netball clubs. I am astounded, every weekend and during the week when I get away from Canberra, to go around and visit some of those clubs and organisations and think about the volunteering that is put into this—ordinary people doing, I think, extraordinary things to serve the community. So I want to say that I really always admire and am humbled by the effort and work that people put in.

Of course, in my electorate people work very hard. They work very hard to put a roof over their heads and give their children and their grandchildren the best opportunities. For my electorate, making sure that in this most recent election we looked to the future was critically important. It's pretty clear across the country that Australians have chosen to build Australia's future. They voted for fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all and the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need. This was very important in the election.

I think also that, for me and my electorate, people really wanted to connect. I have to say that over my time in parliament it has been absolutely amazing, and I feel so privileged that so many people have invited me into their lives, whether it's through doorknocking, at street corner meetings or by coming into my office. They have trusted me and my office to be brought into their lives. Whether they're seeking assistance, giving me some good advice—which happens on a pretty regular basis—or having a genuine conversation, I feel really honoured that so many people have brought me into their lives and told me of their aspirations. This election was no different. People's aspiration to support their community, to give their kids a better life than they perhaps had and to make sure that they can just get on with life and look after others was really profound.

I would like to particularly acknowledge all the members from South Australia and congratulate everyone on their election to this place. I think it's true—hopefully it's true—to say that at times South Australia bats above its weight. I think we are very blessed to have a new member for Sturt join us as well as a new senator in Senator Charlotte Walker. They join other representatives from South Australia: the member for Boothby, the member for Adelaide, the member for Hindmarsh, the member for Makin and the member for Spence. They join the Labor team and make up the Labor caucus. I acknowledge and congratulate the member for Barker, who is in the chamber; the new member for Grey; and the member for Mayo for their re-election as well. I know that, each in our way, we will fiercely fight for South Australia and for the communities that we represent.

I want to reflect on the fact that this government was re-elected on a very clear vision for the future building on what we started in our first term of government. I think that everyone—certainly me—decided to enter into politics to ensure that everyone could reach their full potential, that we could as government allow everyone to try and reach their full potential, that we could put the supports in place to ensure everyone got that enabling opportunity, whether that was education or healthcare, to allow them to really do the best they can. I think that really is a critical motivation. Therefore, I'm really proud that, in our first term of government, particularly in my role as Minister for Social Services, we were able to do some really important work to ensure that we did better for people.

I would particularly like to say that the reform we did in disability employment services, which will now come into effect as Inclusive Employment Australia, is a really important reform to ensure that people with disability do get the opportunity for economic empowerment to get a job and to make sure that the service system was not trying to make them change but responded to their individual needs to make sure they were working with employers to deliver better outcomes. I heard over and over again from people with disability that they did want the opportunity but no-one was giving them that chance. I'm very proud of the disability reform we did.

There was also our National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. That was work we put in to make sure we could really have a common anchor to guide us all. The document itself drives Commonwealth investments and state and territory investment and really gives us a framework in which we can end violence against women and children. We've got a long way to go, and I remain absolutely committed to that goal along with, I'm sure, everyone across the parliament.

Of course, we expanded and strengthened paid parental leave, paying superannuation on it for the first time. We boosted social safety increases, including JobSeeker, the single parenting payment and Commonwealth rent assistance. They were some—I can't go into all—of the work that we did, and I would like to thank all of my ministerial staff, who worked so diligently on ensuring that we could get the best for people. They really were passionate and believed in what we were doing, and I'd like to thank them very much.

Now in this new term, I am absolutely honoured to have been appointed Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Of course, part of this work continues some of the work that I did in social services to make sure that Australians have the opportunity to obtain and retain a well-paid job. I think it is really critical to acknowledge the work that was done by the now minister for home affairs and Senator Watt for the work that they did in laying a very strong foundation to get wages moving in this country and to work on secure jobs.

Some of the work that has been done, that we will continue working on, is a world first in minimum standards for employee-like work. Other countries are looking to us. We have set a pathway to make sure gig economy workers actually get a minimum standards safety net. I think that's really important. We will continue to deliver in this portfolio on our election commitments to workplace relations. But also, importantly, there will be new challenges coming at us. There is, for example, artificial intelligence and its opportunities but also its challenges that we must grapple with. So I think there is still a lot of work to be done.

For me, getting back to what the election was fought on, there was a very clear message from my electorate. They wanted us to talk about things that would make a practical difference to their lives, whether that was a tax cut for every taxpayer, energy bill relief, cheaper medicines or a cut to student debt. I heard over and over from young people, and also older people who still had a debt, about just how important that student debt policy was.

I did want to talk about free TAFE, in particular, though. In my electorate, further out in the suburbs, the Noarlunga TAFE campus had become a little less populated and not as vibrant as it had been. That was until free TAFE came along. What free TAFE has done was not only unlocked the opportunity for so many people to either train for the first time or retrain but unlocked the ability to do so close to home at Noarlunga TAFE. I visited there, and, in areas where construction had been done and which had been vacant for a long time, I saw students training there again. It is so heartening to hear stories as we see more and more students attracted back to that TAFE campus, getting the opportunity for the first time. Making sure that opportunity is close to home is so critically important.

In addition, I did want to talk about health care. Health care is so important. Ensuring you are able to access a universal healthcare system is something I think our country can be very proud of. It's something I actually spoke about in my first speech in this place. The healthcare commitments we've made, particularly in this election, will have a big impact on my electorate, whether that's the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive, which will encourage many more doctors to bulk-bill; the extra funding for our very busy urgent care clinic at Morphett Vale—and a shout-out to everyone who works there; this urgent care clinic is doing amazing work—or the commitment to a walk-in mental health urgent care clinic in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. We know there are times when people are quite distressed emotionally and feeling like they need some support right there and then, and a walk-in Medicare mental health clinic will do just that.

I did want to use the remaining time I had to say some thankyous. There have been a lot of people who have worked very hard, including my ministerial office who worked through the last term and was headed up by Owen Torpy. He's decided to look for other opportunities now, but I couldn't have done what I did in that last term without his absolute commitment. We really were a team, and I really appreciate everything that they did. I had a huge campaign team, who gave up their weekends and weeknights and were really committed to seeing me get re-elected. So thank you to Noah Beckham, Lily Waltham, Lachie Byrne, Lorraine Christalee, Oliver Shepherd-Bailey and Saxa McDonald. We had over 300 volunteers who came out, packed shopping centre bags and worked on prepolling days. But I did want to particularly give a shout-out to Kylie and Alistair Douglas, Jono Gauci, Jim Phillips, Chrissy Slater, Sally Hand, John Naylor, Bill and Maxine Watson, Naomi Piper, Bridie Ward, Georgina Walk and Jess Zilly—all did a huge amount of work.

I would like to give a big shout-out to the many who, in addition to supporting me as minister, helped in my campaign: Lanai Scarr, Phil Nigg, Kate Coleman, Jaimee Hunt, Kirsty Johnson, Leesa Markussen, Jack Loader, Drina Velidka, Marie Goodnick, Ruth Albertson Kill, Rosie Lenty, Genevieve Scarf, Jordon O'Reilly and Louis Gordon. They worked incredibly hard over the last term, and I am very grateful to them.

I am also incredibly appreciative of my electorate staff. Electorate staff do, and I hear this over and over again, make an enormous difference. While I feel privileged to be let into people's lives, they are also let into people's lives, but they have to really spend a lot of time helping and assisting, and they make a difference every single day. They do change lives, and I think sometimes they're not recognised for that. To Angela Duigan, James Carter, Emma Kane, Lucy Nguyen and Eloise Atterton, a really, really big thank you.

I also wanted to shout out Jordon O'Reilly, who's actually here today and who was my campaign manager. He has been with me for a while. He's been absolutely dedicated and, with his leadership, he was able to put together such a strong campaign in a seat where there's not always the same attention as sometimes there is on a marginal seat. We were able to mount a really grassroots campaign. Jordon, your attention, your engagement with people and your commitment and loyalty to both the campaign and myself are desperately appreciated. I'd like to thank you very much for the work you've done for a long time for me, but also of course in the campaign.

I would like to acknowledge the many members of parliament outside of South Australia—though obviously South Australians comes first—including the many, many new members and members returning to this place. I particularly wanted to reflect on the new Labor caucus. I had the privilege of starting to get to know many of the new Labor caucus before the election, as I visited their seats, and since the election. I feel so privileged to be working alongside so many of these new members. The acumen, the intelligence, the policy, the thoughtfulness, the energy—it is unbelievable. I feel so lucky that, for the next three years, I'll be working alongside so many talented people. And the diversity! From all walks of life, this is one of the most multicultural caucuses and governments ever. With women and men from all walks of life, it's an absolute privilege to be part of this new Labor government.

I'd also like to acknowledge the leadership of Aemon Bourke, the state secretary in South Australia, who ran a great campaign in South Australia. I of course acknowledge Paul Erickson as well at the national secretariat. I would also like to particularly acknowledge the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, through his leadership, really defined what it meant to be optimistic, to look to the future, to address people's concerns in a practical way and to also have an eye on the horizon. I'd just like to acknowledge and thank him for his leadership.

Equally, I'd like to recognise our premier, Peter Malinauskas. Peter and the Prime Minister have worked incredibly well together, and nothing better represents that than the decision to keep the Whyalla steelworks going. This was a significant decision and an example of the power of government and of the important role that government can play but also of the importance of partnership between the Premier of South Australia and our prime minister. It was brave to keep Whyalla steelworks going, not only because of the jobs it actually saves and the communities that it supports but also because of the sovereign capability that Whyalla brings to this country, and I would like to commend both the Prime Minister and the Premier for that.

I give a big thankyou to a number of union members, including Josh Peak, Jordan Mumford, Nick Townsend, Jason Hall, Sam McIntosh and the broad labour movement. Of course, I'd better get in my husband, Tim, and Oscar and Percy. I couldn't do it without you.

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