Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, have you noticed how self-centred people have become these days? They are concerned about what is the next show on TV, who is saying what on Facebook, what is going to be happening on the weekend and what is for dinner. The big picture is quickly forgotten. We forget about those who cannot watch television, use a computer or just have a hot meal. Day in, day out, there are many forgotten people on the streets of our great Australian cities. They struggle to find shelter, food and safety every day. Life is not so easy for homeless people, it is an immense challenge. In order to survive they need aid from both the government and fellow Australians to help them have a brighter future. They need to be given a hand up to empower them as individuals so that they can be lifted out of the regrettable circumstances. The time and effort that many Australians already give to aid these forgotten people is much appreciated, but more support is needed to truly remove this injustice in our great nation. More volunteers are needed to help give hope to homeless people.

One organisation that does remarkable work for homeless people in the nation is the Salvation Army. Many people in the Salvation Army do their part to ensure that homeless people and all Australians who are disadvantaged by circumstances are given a better future. I am reminded of two Salvos officers I know in Brisbane—Major Wayne Maxwell and Major Robyn Maxwell. They have given years and years of service to the Salvos great cause of providing a better future for all disadvantaged Australians and purging injustice from the streets of our nation. Robyn and Wayne, thank you for the service you have given, and thank you to all of your fellow officers and the Salvation Army itself for what you do for those who are disadvantaged. We need to capture the message of the Salvos and do our part to assist these forgotten people. I cannot stress enough the importance of every Australian getting in and doing their bit and not being the self-centred people that we are today.

On a totally unrelated matter, with the election of the Rudd government in 2007 there was set to be a great big change in politics in Asia, and a change in Australia’s approach was to amplify the shifting dynamics of the Asia-Pacific region. However, the Prime Minister, a self-described ‘Asia expert’, has managed to wind back the significant progress made with key states in Asia during the Howard years. The change in policy direction away from a more realist approach of regional security and bilateral trade with the strongest democratic powers in the Asia-Pacific to a ruthless pursuit of a greater stake in China’s growing power and regional influence was certainly evident. The Prime Minister has only managed to unsettle Australia’s friends and enrage influential regional players without making any significant inroads on our relationship with China. While Australia’s Asian neighbours remain indifferent to Australia’s bid for the Security Council—recent developments in the Arab world have had minimal impact on our Asian relationships—the Prime Minister’s pursuit of an Asia-Pacific community is highly unpopular in the region, particularly with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The Prime Minister’s new Commission on Nuclear Disarmament did not gain enough traction to stop our relationship with Tokyo from souring, after he initially decided not to visit Japan on his first international tour, and he ignited debate in New Delhi over the reversal of the Howard government’s sales of uranium.

Within the first few months of Kevin Rudd’s prime ministership it was clear to his Asian neighbours that he was going to risk decades of diplomatic footwork on improving his personal relationship with China. Kevin Rudd’s Lone Ranger attempt to determine South-East Asia’s future has failed. The last two years have shown that the Prime Minister’s reliance on the flurry of activity or poorly thought out articulation of big ideas about policy and process has failed. The Prime Minister should not lose sight of the fact that for the foreseeable future the most reliable guarantor of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific will be the United States and regional allies like Japan, with whom Australia shares its values. We are all concerned, of course, about the destabilisation that is being caused by North Korea at the moment, and we do hope that this can be resolved with the help of China as soon as possible.