House debates

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Governor-General’S Speech

Address-in-Reply

Debate resumed from 25 October, on the proposed address-in-reply to the speech of Her Excellency the Governor-General—

May it please Your Excellency:

We, the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, in Parliament assembled, express our loyalty to the Sovereign, and thank Your Excellency for the speech which you have been pleased to address to the Parliament—

on motion by Ms O’Neill:

That the Address be agreed to.

Photo of Harry JenkinsHarry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

Order! Before I call the member for Aston, I remind honourable members that this is his first speech. I therefore ask that the usual courtesies be extended to him.

5:19 pm

Photo of Alan TudgeAlan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise to give my first speech in this House and am honoured to do so as the representative of the people of Aston. I come here as the custodian of their interests in this parliament and commit to working for their benefit. In coming to this parliament, I follow in the footsteps of two great former representatives of Aston—the late Mr Peter Nugent and the Hon. Chris Pearce.

Peter Nugent brought to the parliament a commonsense approach to the environment and a belief in technology as the foundation for our future. But the respect and praise from both sides of parliament on his sudden death in 2001 was for his championship of those less fortunate, including Indigenous Australians.

Chris Pearce was a businessman and local councillor who had a passionate belief in the value of policies which strengthened the community and family, and a desire to see music and the arts better incorporated in the curriculum. He achieved much of his agenda, and Australia and Aston are better for it.

The changes these men wrought in this place, and in themselves, were the end results of the vast opportunities membership of a parliament brings. This is its strength and power if you are willing to embrace and run with it. I want to take all the opportunities presented to me in this place. I want to put my 15 years experience in business, in government and in the community sector to the best use I can. I want not only to be a great representative for the individual families and businesses in my electorate but also to make a national contribution to keep our society open and free, to minimise the role of government in our daily lives and to provide real choice and opportunity for all Australians.

The seat of Aston, in outer eastern Melbourne, is named after Matilda Aston, otherwise known as Tilly—a remarkable woman ahead of her time. Born in 1873, she was totally blind by the age of 7 at a time when, as she described it, blind people were often kept like ‘birds in a cage’. She helped bring about great changes to provide freedom and opportunities for visually impaired people, often overcoming intolerance and downright prejudice to achieve her ends. Her example has been honoured by the previous two members. It is a legacy I will strive to continue in the years ahead.

The electorate itself also lives up to the example she set throughout her whole life: hard work, participation, humour, strength of character and care for others. All of these attributes are seen each day amongst the people of Aston. It is middle Australia, full of everyday heroes and untold acts of goodness. It is about real people, such as Colin Golding, who has given 40 years of service by rescuing people and property with the Rowville CFA. It is about Lawrence Turnbull and his parishioners at the Highway Parish in Vermont South and Wantirna, who provide guidance and support for each other, including my own family—as do the other churches throughout the community. And it is about the hundreds of people within the Knox Football Club community who have rallied behind one of their players, Damon Fent, who was recently made a paraplegic in a tragic accident.

Volunteers who work in op shops, people who deliver meals on wheels, drivers who support the work of the Red Cross and the Salvos, organisers of the scouts and the sporting teams—this sense of community in Aston is more than worthy of support and must be preserved. The people of Aston respect the need for taxes but they expect value for money. They expect government to alleviate the cost of living pressures, not add to them. And from running their own businesses and household budgets, they know that governments cannot go on borrowing $100 million per day.

With the third-highest proportion of homeowners in the country, Aston residents need interest rates to be low. With crime rates rising, they want community safety to be treated as a top priority by government, with more police on the streets and security cameras in local hotspots. They have a right to basic services. That is what government is meant to do. Then they want to make their own decisions free from interference.

Aston shares a problem with many outer suburban areas: the issue of congestion, which impinges on quality of life. The journey from Vermont South to work in the city used to be a simple 30-minute drive; today, it takes an hour or more, assuming you leave very early. You simply multiply the chaos the further you stretch out along and from Burwood Highway. Congestion is crushing the fundamental choices of where to work and study. We may be getting wealthier but if our choices are diminishing we are lesser for it.

Rapid population growth is a key driver of congestion. As the son of immigrants, I proudly support immigration but our population is growing too quickly. Our population increase last year was twice that of five years ago. The Treasury advice to the government is that high population growth need not impact on the liveability of our cities, provided:

… the right plans and policies are put in place now in anticipation of it.

I see no such plans in place for the outer east of Melbourne. The people of Aston have plans and ideas to ease congestion, and I fully support them and will fight for them. A rail link to Rowville would take the equivalent of a lane of traffic off the Monash Freeway and link up to Australia’s largest university; the extension of Dorset Road and the duplication of the remaining section of High Street Road; the tram line extended to Knox; the Eastern Freeway connected to the Tullamarine to ease the Hoddle Street bottleneck; and getting rid of the dangerous Stud Road bus lane—all of these infrastructure projects should be prioritised ahead of spending $43 billion on fibre to every home or billions on pink batts. One thing I will strongly stand up against in this place, as a supposed panacea to the issue of congestion, is the government’s consideration of road congestion taxes. In the absence of viable alternatives to our major roads, this will be an outrageous impost in people in the suburbs and will further limit their choices and opportunities.

Economic growth is the foundation on which all else is built. It is important not just because it creates wealth and funds the services that the community wants and expects but because it is about jobs. Participation in the workforce provides for a family, keeps people out of poverty and empowers people to take charge of their lives. If there is one overarching goal for this national parliament, it is to keep unemployment low. While the official unemployment figure is low compared with other nations, there are still tens of thousands of people looking for work.

There are 750,000 people on disability support pensions, of whom at least 150,000 are capable of working, according to the Brotherhood of St Laurence. The barriers which prevent these people accessing the workforce should be identified and removed. Flexible labour markets decided between workers and employers would better meet the needs of both able and disabled people, and they would underpin the real engines of growth—productivity and participation.

This government has a tendency for thinking that a tax is the answer to every problem. The climate is changing, so it says we need a carbon tax. There is a problem with binge drinking, so it implements an alcopops tax. There is a mining boom, so it proposes an extra mining tax. And there is a congestion problem, so apparently we need a road tax. None of these taxes will solve the problems that the government has defined, but all of them will increase the cost of living for Aston residents and for ordinary Australians, add extra burdens upon businesses and increase the size of governments. By association, these taxes will hurt the job market and cripple business incentive.

My parents and in-laws are small business owners. I have run my own small business. I understand the risks that people take, frequently putting their own homes on the line. I am an unflinching supporter of small business, including the 11,000 in Aston. I believe that people should be rewarded for their effort through lower taxes and that people should be able to get on with the job as free as possible from government interference.

My upbringing is similar to millions who have come before me. I was born to newly arrived immigrants—10-pound Poms—who set up on the very outskirts of Melbourne in Pakenham, the last stop on the train line. While my family did not stay as a unit for very long, the abiding commitment of both my mum and my dad was to a good education. I did not appreciate it at the time, but through my school education I was given the skills, confidence and values that laid the foundation for future opportunities.

My desire is for every Australian student to have the same schooling opportunities that I did. Our schools perform well by international standards, but there is more to be done. We must constantly be improving standards. We should unashamedly promote excellence, including the establishment of more select-entry government schools. But, equally, we must ensure that every school in the most disadvantaged area is a school which enables students to soar to reach their potential.

In our great egalitarian society our schools should be the ultimate hand-up, where it does not matter where you start or where you live, it is what happens in the classroom that counts. We have yet to reach this goal and we will fail to do so if stifling bureaucracy limits the ability of principals to run schools according to their own professional judgment. We will fail to do so if educational fads trump evidence-based practices in teaching children how to read and do maths. And we will fail to do so if unions continue to see teachers as part of an industrial power play, rather than as professionals whose influence over our children is second only to parents.

For over a decade I have been involved with school reform initiatives, working with Brendan Nelson when he was education minister, with the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership and through non-profit initiatives. My assessment is that the key reform to improving our schools is lifting the quality and standing of our teachers. Research shows that a student can perform at twice the rate of learning under a good teacher than under an average one.

I am proud to have helped establish the Teach for Australia initiative that aims to lift the standing of teaching through tapping into a different pool of graduates. I am pleased there is bipartisan support for it. I support initiatives for mid-career professionals to be accelerated into teaching in a similar way. However, we must just go further and rigorously assess the quality of the teaching courses at our universities. We should set higher minimum standards for entry into those courses, even if in the short term this means a smaller intake. We should provide greater incentives for the best teachers to teach in areas where kids need an extra hand-up. Importantly, principals should be fully empowered to move teachers on if they are not performing up to scratch.

During this parliamentary term, the next four-year funding agreement will be negotiated to cover the 2013-16 period. I will be monitoring this closely to ensure the best standards are provided for children in state schools and that parents who make tremendous sacrifices to send their children to Catholic or independent schools are not penalised for doing so.

We have many national environmental issues to address—feral animals, soil erosion, water security and air pollution to name a few. There are also practical things that we can do locally in Aston such as stormwater harvesting for local sportsgrounds and beautifying local parks and creeks. However, while we must do more to preserve our environment, we must be equally vigilant to ensure that environmentalism does not become the politically correct ideology of the 21st century, where to scrutinise or question a green measure is considered treason or denial or worse. We must also be vigilant to ensure that it does not morph into an agenda which is more about limiting growth or protectionism than it is about protecting the environment.

There are a few on the other side of this chamber who still openly admit to being socialists. But many under a green guise or under the banner of so-called nation building are advocating for the re-regulation of our economy and government intrusion into areas which are the proper role of private enterprise. Every green measure should be examined closely for its efficacy. This government wasted billions on pink batts and green loans. Land rights have been taken from Indigenous Australians under the cloak of environmentalism, despite Indigenous people being sound stewards of the land for tens of thousands of years. Communities are sometimes destroyed by the introduction of wind farms, which barely put a dent in our dependence on fossil fuels. Most tragically, internationally, biofuels are being planted instead of food, contributing to a global food shortage. The environment is important and so is humanity. Let us use our brains. Let us build up our natural capital. But let us make sure that every dollar spent delivers maximum benefit and that we are explicit about trade-offs while doing it.

In coming to the end of my speech tonight, I would like to touch on a topic that I am deeply committed to, a commitment I share with many here—that is, the plight of Indigenous Australians. It is hard to believe that in modern Australia a group of us still live in circumstances that, on almost every measure, are unacceptable. The broad statistics are familiar to us. The issues seem so intractable. But if we come to this parliament with the aim of doing good work for our fellow country men and women, and particularly for those less fortunate, then we must surely keep the plight of Indigenous Australians high on our agenda.

My views in this area are informed by my experience working as the Deputy Director of the Cape York Institute. They are influenced by my former boss, Noel Pearson, whom I regard as one of Australia’s greatest intellects. I look forward to working with my new colleague Ken Wyatt and learning from his experience.

I believe that if we are to make substantial progress then we must have sharp clarity around the proposition that no group of people can prosper unless they are an integral part of the real economy. In the modern globalised world, economic and social development in any community requires successful basic education and social norms in relation to work. This is not an assertion based on ideology; it is an empirical fact.

We do no favours to any group of people, not least our most disadvantaged citizens, if we believe that normal schooling and normal jobs are somehow less relevant by virtue of one’s location or culture. I believe we need a more urgent and ambitious agenda in these two areas. We need achievable targets for this term of parliament, not just targets to halve the gap in a decade or more. That is a recipe for inaction.

There are four actions that I put forward. First, full school enrolment should be enforced under the law. It should be put on the next COAG agenda. There are no excuses for delay. Second, we should aim to achieve mainstream school attendance levels within this term of parliament. We should use every lever at our disposal to achieve this, including enforcing attendance laws, linking welfare to school attendance and funding case managers to support parents taking responsibility. Third, there should be a focus on reforming schools in remote areas to ensure mainstream quality. And if the poison of grog impedes progress then there should be a redoubling of our efforts against alcohol availability and use. Finally, in employment we should acknowledge that in many remote communities there will never be sufficient jobs. We must change the incentives so that able-bodied people, in particular school leavers, are strongly encouraged to be mobile and find employment regardless of where those jobs are located. It is ridiculous that we have jobs going begging, yet have thousands of people sitting, and becoming debilitated, on welfare.

I do not pretend that my proposals are easy or comprehensive; nor do they contradict or negate legitimate aspirations for additional rights, cultural maintenance or symbolic reconciliation. But until we banish Indigenous relativism and have mainstream aspirations for Indigenous schooling and employment then I fear our progress will be tragically slow. Long term, Australia will be the loser.

No-one comes to this parliament without the support and foundations provided by others. In my case, I bring a bedrock of values and unflinching support over many years from my parents, Doreen and Graham; their respective partners, Norm and Margaret; my brother and sister, Stephen and Shona; and my in-laws, Margaret and Dennis, and their families. I have been the beneficiary of great mentors including Colin Carter, Brendan Nelson, Jim Carlton, Alexander Downer, Bob Charles, Greg Hunt and Chris Pearce. I have had friendship, advice and support in so many ways from Richard Balderstone, Ross Fitzgerald, Yvonne Thompson, Yen Liow, Henry Jones, Catherine Murphy, Mary, DB, Jack and Darc.

Importantly, I come here as a proud member of the Liberal Party of Australia, whose values of hard work, small government and individual enterprise I share. I particularly acknowledge the Aston chairman and his wife, Graeme and Maureen McEwen, outstanding individuals who over 20 years have now overseen the election of three Liberal members to this chamber. I also acknowledge other tireless contributors including Darren Disney, David Jancik, Michael Gilmore, Glenda and Max Frost, Perrin Brown, Ben Davies, Sandra Rae, Glynis Allen, Martin Bartlett, John Shipp and the hundreds of others who have supported our efforts. I thank you all. I would not be here without you.

To my darling wife, Teri, and our two beautiful girls, Cassie and Kristen: you are the most important people in my life. You have always been there for me, despite my absences, and I promise I will always be there for you.

This is a remarkable country. We inspire others with our sense of the possible through our world-class scientists, researchers, doctors, artists, businesspeople, designers and sportspeople. I want to be part of creating opportunities for all Australians in the generations to come—in my electorate of Aston and right across Australia. Tilly Aston’s life was a vision of our better selves. In a time of limited opportunity, she created opportunity. In a time of closed doors, she opened doors. In a time of rationed generosity, she gave untold generosity. Her values are our values—of openness of opportunity, of the majestic possibility of each life. If in some small way I can embody those values then that will be enough.

5:45 pm

Photo of Ross VastaRoss Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

If there is one thing that is more humbling than coming to this place for the first time and making a first speech, it is returning here again. It has been just over three years since I last spoke in this parliament and, Mr Deputy Speaker, I am incredibly honoured to stand before you to deliver my first speech in this the 43rd Parliament. Most importantly, I am honoured to once again be representing the people of Bonner and I thank them most sincerely for the faith they have shown in me to be their representative, their advocate and their voice on the national scene.

As the members of this parliament are no doubt aware, the electorate of Bonner was named after a great Queenslander who also happened to be a great Liberal, former senator Neville Bonner. In 1971 Senator Bonner was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the federal parliament. During his 12 years in the Senate he was a hardworking and diligent parliamentarian, respected by both sides of politics. In his 16 years after leaving the Senate, he was a much esteemed elder statesman of Australian public life. I know that he would be immensely pleased that the Liberal Party of Australia and the parliament have now also welcomed the first Indigenous Australian to the House of Representatives, the member for Hasluck, Ken Wyatt.

I am very proud to have served as a member of the Howard government in my first term as the member for Bonner from 2004 to 2007. While I accepted the verdict of the electorate in the 2007 election when I was not re-elected, I cannot deny the incredible personal disappointment I felt at the time because of what I still wanted to contribute and deliver for the people of Bonner. I believe that the last three years have served as somewhat of a sabbatical for me from public service. I have used that opportunity to broaden my experience in the private sector and, at the same time, contemplate my future. However, over the last three years I could not help but continue my involvement with members of the community of Bonner and through those connections I maintained an ongoing dialogue with many residents. It was obvious to me during the past three years away from federal politics that my passion lies in representing and serving my community and I sought to regain the trust of the residents of Bonner. I believe that I have continued to learn and grow during my absence from this parliament and all of those experiences will assist me to be a better and more effective representative of my community’s views in Canberra.

In my first speech in 2004, I said that the electorate of Bonner was a snapshot of middle Australia. This is still true in 2010, but not because time has stood still—quite the opposite. Over the past six years, Australia has experienced enormous change, and so has the electorate of Bonner. As I look at both the statistics and the experience of residents on the ground, I continue to be amazed by the ever-changing demographic in Bonner and how this has taken place over such a relatively short period of time, creating great opportunities as well as great challenges. Bonner represents a way of life that is attractive to young professionals, given its proximity to the Brisbane CBD. It is also attractive to a growing number of families given the exceptional standard of education facilities within the electorate that include both public and private primary and secondary schools as well as Griffith University’s Mitchell campus. Bonner is also, not surprisingly, attractive to a higher than average number of retired or semiretired people, given the relaxed and tranquil paradise along the beautiful Bayside.

I am particularly mindful of the aspirations of all Queenslanders in the electorate of Bonner and not least because Queensland and Australia’s economic situation was very different when I last stood in this chamber. I am very conscious of the impact of budget deficits and government debt on taxpayers in Bonner and how this has translated into cost-of-living pressures alongside higher mortgage repayments. I am committed to being part of a coalition that demands fiscal restraint and responsibility, and I will hold this government to account for every dollar of taxpayers’ money it spends and, sadly in so many cases, wastes. This is my firm commitment to the residents of Bonner in order to ensure that their experience, their values and their aspirations are represented in Canberra.

As a changing and growing electorate, Bonner is in need of investment in new infrastructure and services. This was obvious to me during my first term, particularly in relation to health and community support. As part of that effort, I delivered a much needed Medicare office and Australian Hearing Centre in Wynnum, as well as a family relationship centre in Mount Gravatt. I was also successful in securing a commitment from the Howard government to invest $700 million to upgrade the vital Port of Brisbane motorway, but I am disappointed that this commitment was not acted upon by the Rudd government. I want to build on this past track record in successfully delivering new services. I will continue to work throughout this term towards delivering improvements in transport and road safety, health services, communications and community support.

A key issue for local residents is the availability of access to broadband services throughout the electorate. Throughout the election campaign—and since I was elected—so many local residents have told me that they are not particularly interested in accessing superfast download speeds of 100 megabits per second being proposed under this National Broadband Network. They just want access to the current 25 gigabit per second broadband services, but to be able to do it throughout the whole of the electorate, reliably and at a reasonable price.

This issue is particularly relevant for a family that recently moved from Central Queensland to the suburb of Wakerley in my electorate. While the move was associated with employment, this family also hoped that it would provide opportunities for them to have better access to specialists for their youngest daughter, who is autistic. While living in a remote area, this family found that access to the internet not only provided additional support networks for them but also provided their daughter with learning and development opportunities through interactive media and self-paced learning. They had access to ADSL broadband and had assumed that continuing a similar service would not be a special consideration in their move to Wakerley, which is within 20 kilometres of the Brisbane CBD. However, now living in Wakerley, this family can only access a very expensive six-gigabyte per month wireless service. Very frustratingly for many, this inner-city suburb is significantly lacking in infrastructure and is not even up to regional and remote community standards.

While this example serves to highlight the need for better broadband infrastructure, the government’s NBN cannot be the answer when under this proposal local residents in Wakerley have been told that they will be waiting up to eight years to gain access to any broadband, let alone faster broadband. This is rightly unacceptable to the residents of Wakerley and other residents throughout Bonner, in particular those in Carindale, Mackenzie and the Wynnum-Manly area. I am committed to working on reducing this absurd time frame and ensuring that this investment in communications infrastructure is made as soon as possible, but also with a reasonable price tag.

I am encouraged that the Lord Mayor of Brisbane and the Brisbane City Council are working with private enterprise to offer an alternative to the government’s NBN. This project is in its infancy but I am looking forward to working with the Lord Mayor, as well as Councillors Adrian Schrinner and Krista Adams, to ensure that this exciting alternative proposal is given all the support it deserves.

When considering adequate services to my community in Bonner, health also continues to be an area of particular interest to me. During the election campaign, the government promised $15 million for a GP superclinic in the Wynnum-Manly area. Given that this commitment was made during the election campaign to support a marginal seat, neither the community nor I are yet across the detail of the government’s proposal. I believe that a process like this must be done following thorough consultation with the community involved and my constituents expect nothing less, not least those involved in all aspects of health services. It is imperative that the local community is involved and has ownership of the project to ensure that it delivers improved primary health care that utilises the wealth of expertise and knowledge in the existing infrastructure of health services. The Wynnum-Manly area is unique and therefore a unique solution is needed that will ensure no existing GPs or health providers will be adversely impacted but residents will have improved access to primary health care.

My constituents constantly remind me that this is taxpayers’ money, not the government’s money, and therefore the community must be involved in the process of deciding what they need. They are, of course, absolutely correct and the government should listen to and respect that view. To that end I have written to the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Nicola Roxon, seeking information about the government’s proposal and I look forward to working with her and my constituents during this parliament to deliver a unique solution for primary health care in Bonner.

Bonner is a growing electorate with growing needs. I mentioned previously the number of families attracted to the area because of the lifestyle offered by Brisbane’s eastern suburbs. This means that education is truly on the minds of my constituents. Everyone aspires to give their children a better future in life, and there is no better way to do that than through a quality education. This is an exciting time for education in Bonner. While a number of state schools have been consolidated under the Queensland government’s State Schools of Tomorrow program, the opportunity has arisen for those schools and students to move to exciting new premises that better suit their needs. The Catholic and independent school sector continues to grow and go from strength to strength in Bonner, providing local parents with plenty of choice—a principle very much supported by the Coalition.

There has been a significant amount of investment in schools in Bonner but I remain committed to ensuring that all schools receive value for money for the school halls and libraries that have been imposed on them under the Building the Education Revolution program. It pains me to see that this program has resulted in an increased divide between the government and non-government school sectors. While Catholic and independent schools have been able to manage their own projects and thus obtain great value for money, the projects at state schools have been centrally arranged by the state education bureaucracy. Sadly, all the evidence so far, both anecdotal evidence from concerned parents as well as official evidence presented to various federal and state inquires and reviews, suggests that billions of dollars have been wasted by state governments around Australia on increased costs, inflated fees and general mismanagement. The end result is that the children in state schools have by and large not received good value for money—certainly not as good as their non-government school counterparts. This has been one of the largest infrastructure programs in Australia’s history and this government has once again proved that it cannot be trusted to properly manage taxpayers’ money to achieve good outcomes for everyone.

I am proud to serve in an Abbott-led Coalition team and I believe Tony is a true role model of determination and strength of character for all of us. Winning the seat of Bonner was the result of team work. It is always a tremendously difficult task to single out individuals for special thanks, but I would like to acknowledge the dedicated group of supporters without whom I would not be standing in this chamber today.

Firstly, I want to thank my family. In my first speech to this parliament in 2004, I outlined my journey to becoming the first representative for the then newly created seat of Bonner. The incredible encouragement and support of my family has continued steadfast on this journey and I would not be here without them. I particularly want to thank my parents, along with my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and cousins. I would also like to acknowledge my grandmother for her undying love and support.

While I cannot name them all individually, I would like to thank every Liberal-National Party member in the Bonner electorate for their tireless support during what was a lengthy and onerous campaign. Each of you is a stakeholder in this victory and I am indebted to you. I will not let you down.

I would like to pay tribute to my campaign director and now office manager, Nina Schrinner, who with her husband, Councillor Adrian Schrinner, were the people in whom I placed my complete trust and who were my strength and support throughout the campaign. I also thank the core members of my campaign team—Russ, Liam, Steve, Kev, Arthur, Saxon, Cheryl, Col, Ryan and Alana—for all your hard work and special mention must also be made of Frankie, Brett, Nathan, Ally, Mario, Warren and Neil—you guys are tremendous.

I would like to thank my parliamentary colleagues Senator Brett Mason and Senator George Brandis for their long-term support, guidance and advice without which this victory would truly not be possible—I salute you. I thank Senator Eric Abetz, Joe Hockey, Dr Sharman Stone and Peter Dutton, who made key visits and provided invaluable support to Bonner throughout the campaign period. Special mention must be made of Julie Bishop, who took time out of what was an extraordinarily busy schedule to support me in my fight to win Bonner—Julie, you are truly a wonderful person and a great asset to this team.

I thank the Queensland Liberal National State President, Bruce McIver, and the wonderful team at LNP headquarters: Michael O’Dwyer, James McGrath, James McKay, Kepa Andrews and their teams. It is testament to the LNP state organisation that this newly merged party has been successful in winning an additional nine seats in Queensland. This result makes us either the largest or equal largest state represented in the coalition party room.

Photo of Ian MacfarlaneIan Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | | Hansard source

The largest.

Photo of Ross VastaRoss Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

So the largest, thank you. There are other members of this parliament that have lost their seat and have been fortunate enough to win them back, some as representatives for a different seat. I commend them all. I would like to particularly acknowledge Teresa Gambaro, who proves that hard work and dedication does pay off, and also Jane Prentice, who I know will work just as hard as the federal member for Ryan as she did when she was a councillor for Walter Taylor Ward. Sincere congratulations to Wyatt Roy, who, and I am quite confident, has a great future ahead of him. Finally to Warren Entsch: you just can’t keep a good man down.

I want to thank all Parliament House staff—chamber staff, security guards, committee staff, staff in the cafeteria and at Aussie’s—all those people that make our great parliament function every day. You have made me feel so welcome on my return. I also would like to acknowledge the former member for Bonner, Kerry Rae. Politics is a tough business and I know from personal experience the pain of losing. I want to wish Kerry and her family all the best in her future endeavours.

Finally, to the residents of Bonner I say this: former senator Neville Bonner embodied perseverance and a commitment to all Australians. In the spirit of perseverance and a commitment to my community, I am truly humbled that you saw fit to return me as your elected representative. I thank you for the trust you have placed in me and I will serve you faithfully and tirelessly.

6:03 pm

Photo of Steve GeorganasSteve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I take the opportunity to congratulate the member for Bonner on his first speech on the second time around that he has come into this House. I am very delighted and very proud to be back in the chamber today, having been elected as a member of the Gillard Labor government and returned as the member for Hindmarsh for a third term. It is a great honour that the people of my electorate—more of them this time than ever before—have entrusted their vote to me and have asked me to represent them in this place again. I thank them sincerely for their vote of confidence. It is with even more energy, determination and passion that I return to this place with the sole purpose to fight for what is important to my constituents in the electorate and deliver what is needed for the community.

If I look back over the last three years at some of the achievements over the last term, I see that among them are that all Australians now have an independent umpire, an airport noise ombudsman. We heard about that in the debate on the airports bill yesterday, and I know that you, Mr Deputy Speaker Kelvin Thomson, made a very good contribution to that particular bill. It is very important for the residents who live in and around airports that they do have an independent umpire, something I have fought for unrelentingly for many years. I wished to ensure that there was an independent person to look at these people’s queries and complaints and to investigate them in an impartial way.

Another achievement in the electorate of Hindmarsh is in Glenelg, where there is a new federally funded King Street bridge and federally funded CCTV cameras for the precinct. There is also a water pipeline, the Glenelg to Adelaide pipeline, which will help South Australia save up to 5.5 billion litres of water per year. And there is money for a new headquarters in the electorate, at West Beach, for Surf Life Saving South Australia so that they can continue to do their important training work. These are just some of the things that I have worked very hard with the community to deliver over the last term of government. But I am humbled, as I said earlier, that the good people of Hindmarsh have recognised that and asked me to do the job of representing them for another term.

Before I speak a bit more about all those projects, I would like to quickly take a moment to thank the people who have supported my campaign. As you would know, Mr Deputy Speaker, without the support of one’s family things would be impossible to achieve. It was the sixth federal campaign that my family has been through. The support that they give me—and their patience—is nothing short of miraculous, as those of us in this place with families all know. To all the volunteers who helped put up corflutes, letterboxed flyers, doorknocked, made phone calls and lent a hand for all sorts of odd jobs, thank you for your important and valuable support. Many of the volunteers who helped out have been helping my campaign for a long time, and I thank them very sincerely for their ongoing dedication to the Labor cause in Hindmarsh and Australia.

As I said, for me the last three years have been very rewarding because I have been able to deliver a series of projects which are important to the electorate as well as more broadly. I will take a moment to outline them for the House. Of all the campaigns I have been involved in there is no doubt that getting the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman up and running has been one of the hardest. In opposition I had two private member’s bills in this House that fell on deaf ears, so I am very pleased that the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Hon. Anthony Albanese, has brought these to fruition.

I started campaigning for the rights of residents living under the flight path well before I was a politician or even a political candidate. I live under the flight path and have lived under it all my life. To ensure that there was a voice for the residents, from the early eighties I have been involved with the community groups that appeared in and around the area. It has taken more than a decade including, as I said, two private member’s bills which I put up in opposition. In the end we finally got a federal Labor government back and we got the common sense regarding an ombudsman as well. As I said, I would like to thank Minister Albanese sincerely for his support over many years on this particular issue because he has applied the sort of common sense to the issue sorely lacking by those opposite.

Unless you have lived under the flight path yourself it is hard to understand how over the years aircraft noise can grind you down when it happens day after day, week after week and year after year. You see the sleep-deprived residents sometimes, and it is something I am familiar with after spending, as I said, my entire life living under that flight path. After thousands of letters, phone calls, emails and faxes to my office over the years about aircraft noise we can finally provide the constituents of Hindmarsh with a place to get the sort of help they are looking for. After this great slog, which has been the longest campaign of my life, it was with great satisfaction that I saw the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman come into effect on 1 September 2010.

I heard the debate over the last few days on the Airports Amendment Bill. It was quite sad to hear the opposition procrastinating and talking negatively about the good things that came out of that bill. I suppose it is sad that the coalition always gives transport to a National, because I think a Liberal Party member would have been more understanding of the thousands of people that live around privatised capital city airports. All you have to do is look at the current minister, Minister Albanese, to see what a contrast he is to the former Nationals minister and look at what a difference there is when we see what is being delivered for residents that live around airports.

For my electorate this matter is very important especially for the community groups and for people like Bob Owen and the Netley Residents Association. The Aircraft Noise Ombudsman is a huge improvement on the old system and will help to maintain the good balance we have between the needs of airports, airlines and communities, especially in the western suburbs in Adelaide. I think we are incredibly lucky to have such a fantastic hub, which is only six kilometres from the CBD, but we need that good balance because there are residents in and around those six kays from the CBD.

Another issue in the electorate was law and order and it is a concern of many people living in the electorate, which is one of the demographically oldest in the country. I was very pleased when the Minister for Home Affairs responded to lobbying from the community and the Neighbourhood Watch groups and announced $350,000 worth of CCTV cameras and other safety measures for Glenelg.

Glenelg is the second most visited tourist destination in South Australia. Over two million visitors come to Glenelg annually and the local businesses are constantly striving to attract even more. I am grateful for the work of the tourism forum in Glenelg. The traders association, along with the tourism forum, are strong supporters of tourism, along with the strong support from the local council. Councillor Tim Looker constantly strives to maintain the vibrancy and attractiveness of the area. It is a never-ending effort, and a major event or a high profile visitor lifts both the income and spirits of local businesses, but with this comes the need to ensure that the area is safe and friendly for visitors and locals alike.

Local groups such as Glenelg Neighbourhood Watch, the Jetty Road Mainstreet Board, the Glenelg Residents Association and the City of Holdfast Bay work together to ensure there is a good balance between the interests of businesses and residents. It was a combination of these groups who as early as 2009 raised the issue with me of the need for more CCTV cameras and safety measures in Glenelg to help combat crime and antisocial behaviour in the area.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who participated in extensive consultations directly with the Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O’Connor, who visited my electorate three times to personally consult with the stakeholders. Some of those stakeholders were Senior Constable First Class Michael McMorrow from Glenelg Police Station, who brought this need to my attention in his role as the Glenelg Neighbourhood Watch liaison officer as early as 2009. Also I mention the City of Holdfast Bay council, who will be receiving the funding in order to implement the measures. We met with Chief Inspector Les Buckley from the Sturt Police Station, who got up very early on a cold and rainy Sunday morning to come to the meeting with the minister to discuss these projects.

The Taxi Council of South Australia was involved as well and the President, Wally Sievers, had also been of great assistance in providing advice to ensure taxi drivers were protected. As an ex taxi driver, who knows the risks of working late at night, I am pleased that one of the cameras is going to be relocated for a better view of the taxi rank. With this new funding the council will put in several new CCTV cameras to help detect and deter crime, which will be invaluable to our local police station and invaluable for the local community. I look forward to continuing to work with all of these groups over the next term to deliver on other local projects which are important to them and which will help to maintain Glenelg as the second-largest tourism destination in South Australia.

The Glenelg to Adelaide pipeline is another project that is significant not just in my electorate but for the whole of Adelaide, because it will recycle up to 5.5 billion litres of water per year for use on our parks and gardens and will help to protect our precious coastline at the same time. Before the pipeline was in place, billions of litres of storm and waste water was discharged into the Gulf St Vincent, killing sea grasses and diminishing our fragile coastal ecosystems. At the same time, the need to find a way to use water in Adelaide’s parks and gardens sustainably is becoming even more acute. After many years which I spent campaigning for the pipeline alongside the City of West Torrens and its mayor, the Hon. John Trainer, it was funded jointly by the state and federal governments. It cost $76 million in total and was completed in January 2010, months ahead of schedule. It really is something that we can be proud of because it means that instead of letting our beautiful parklands in and around Adelaide’s metropolitan areas die over summer we can now maintain those green spaces using recycled water.

I could not be more pleased that we have overcome the obstacles. We have saved the gulf and secured billions of litres of water for community benefit for many years to come. It is interesting that now they are in opposition the Liberal Party are making a lot of noise about water, because I recall that when I was sitting on the other side many years of fruitless lobbying for this pipeline fell on deaf ears. So I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to attend the opening of the Glenelg to Adelaide pipeline earlier this year with Premier Mike Rann, the Hon. Penny Wong, the Hon. Jay Weatherill, the Hon. Karlene Maywald, who was the then minister for water, and the then member for Adelaide, the Hon. Jane Lomax-Smith.

On a visit to Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant with Minister Burke and the South Australian water minister, the Hon. Paul Caica, earlier this year, I was impressed to hear that the quality of the water they are producing is so good that it is only one step away from being of drinking quality. I know that the City of West Torrens Council is particularly interested in and looking forward to making use of the water from the pipeline and I thank Mayor John Trainer for his support for this project as well. Driving around Adelaide you can actually see the light-purple coloured pipes on taps in various places, and it gives me great confidence in the future to know that we have found and implemented a common-sense solution to what is going to be an increasingly common problem in the future. This project complements another project in my electorate funded by federal Labor for just under $5 million, as part of the National Urban Water and Desalination Plan, for a new stormwater capture project at Adelaide Airport, which is naturally filtering water using a wetland environment.

It is particularly timely that I talk about federal Labor’s commitment to fund the new headquarters of Surf Central, because it has already started to warm up in Adelaide and the beaches are coming alive with families, tourists, athletes and surf lifesavers. Those of you who are familiar with my electorate probably know that we have some of the most incredible beaches, from Semaphore in the north down to Henley, Grange, West Beach, Glenelg and Somerton Park. But they also come with the need for well-supported lifesaving organisations which are adequately resourced to patrol our beaches and to keep the swimmers safe and provide important water safety and first-aid training to the general community.

It is an unfortunate fact that, while South Australia is a leader in humanitarian settlement, many refugees do not know how to swim, and there have been several reports of refugees drowning on our beaches over the last few years. As well as running programs for the mainstream community, Surf Life Saving South Australia has been a leader in welcoming refugees and new migrants into its clubs and supporting them to become leaders in their own right in the community when it comes to surf and water safety. Surf Life Saving South Australia also runs respite programs to give children with disabilities the chance to experience the beach while letting their carers have a break. It was for these reasons in particular that I lobbied hard to ensure it received the $1.5 million it needed to build its new headquarters.

The Roads to Recovery program has delivered real benefits for communities right across Australia, as we know, providing much needed infrastructure upgrades and helping to support jobs through the worst financial crisis. I have been pleased that my local area in Hindmarsh has benefited from the program through a funding commitment which will deliver more than $4.5 million over five years for the new King Street bridge in Glenelg. I have often talked about the importance of the Glenelg tourist precinct to South Australia and the state economy, and it was absolutely critical that the ageing bridge be replaced. That is why it was a great feeling when it was announced that Labor would fund the bridge, with the local council providing the matching funds.

Federal Labor has also been doing fantastic work on infrastructure, and Hindmarsh has seen some wonderful initiatives as a result of that work. In particular, I would like to celebrate the successes of the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program, which has delivered money for local sports clubs in my electorate, including funding for lighting and infrastructure upgrades for Richmond Oval and Glenelg Oval to the tune of well over $170,000. We also have several fantastic new bike paths which we did not have before, including the James Melrose pathway and the dual use pathway at West Lakes, as well as additional bike lines along the seafront of my electorate. These projects will help get more people out of cars and onto bikes more often, and I applaud the government for their common-sense approach to helping people make everyday changes to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and increase physical activity.

One of the main reasons I am proud to be a member of this Labor government is its belief in providing opportunities within our education system for children to achieve their very best, including the facilities they need to succeed. That is why it has been so heart warming to receive thanks from parents, school teachers and students for the new libraries, gyms and classrooms which have been built under Building the Education Revolution. I have recently had the pleasure of attending many openings at schools around the electorate, and the sense of excitement about the new facilities is always palpable from the teachers, students and parents.

For me, one of the most exciting parts of Labor’s education commitments has been seeing the opening of trade training centres in schools in Hindmarsh, including at my old high school, Underdale High, which now has an automotive trade training centre. It was great to attend the opening of Henley High School’s engineering and construction trade training centre, which was already buzzing with students working on their projects, and I am very much looking forward to returning to Thebarton Senior College—I was there just last week to see the building progress—when their trade training centre is complete.

Alongside education, there is no doubt that one of the biggest concerns in the electorate, and one which is raised with me most often, is health care, so I am looking forward to contributing to the health and hospital reform set out by the Labor government before the election. Dental care is an issue which I am hugely passionate about and, having seen the Liberal Party block much-needed dental care in the 42nd Parliament, I am hoping that we will be able to find a way forward in this one.

Over the last term, you can see that there has been an awful lot happening in my electorate, but there is plenty more to come. I reaffirm my commitment to the people of Hindmarsh that I will continue to work as hard as I can with the Gillard Labor government towards the things that matter to them—things like a reformed healthcare system, decent dental care, a greater focus on sustainability and the environment, and of course the National Broadband Network, which will help modernise our economy and ensure that we are well placed to meet the challenges of the 21st century and a globalised economy. All of these things are important to the people of Hindmarsh and so they are important to me. I look forward to serving the electorate over the next term and thank them again for the opportunity to be their voice here in Canberra.

Photo of Harry JenkinsHarry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

Order! Before I call the member for Flynn, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech and I ask the House to extend to him the usual courtesies.

6:23 pm

Photo of Ken O'DowdKen O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I am extremely proud to rise for the first time in this chamber. In doing so, I would like to acknowledge the people of Flynn, who have chosen to put their faith in me to represent their interests. So far it has been a sharp learning curve. I am excited by the prospect of being able to contribute to the wellbeing of my electorate and by the thought that my work in this place will be meaningful and will enable the residents of Flynn to enjoy the quality of life that they richly deserve.

I was born in Gladstone Hospital and raised on my parent’s dairy farm at Bracewell, Mount Larcom. We grew small crops of beans, peas, peanuts and grain to support our farm income on three 80-acre blocks, known in those days as ‘soldier settlement blocks’. My parents worked hard to provide for their children, and as kids my brother, Bob, and sisters, Lorraine, Bernice and Maureen, and I worked on the farm before and after school. At an early age, my brother and sisters and I worked on farms outside our own farm to pay for our education.

I attended Bracewell State School, then Mount Larcom high school and then Rocky Grammar, where I was school captain. By the age of 17 I had worked as a contract milker and I had picked beans on our neighbours’ farms, worked on the railways as a fettler and on flying gangs and then worked on construction to build a new railway line from Gladstone to Moura.

On leaving school I worked at QAL Gladstone in administration as a payroll clerk. In 1970 I went to New Guinea to work on construction at the Bougainville Copper mine. I returned to Australia in 1978 to work in the fuel industry at Gladstone at the seaport terminal before entering into my own business at Emerald in 1981 as a fuel distributor for Mobil. I sold that business in 1988 and became a partner in the Shell distributorship that covered an area from Rockhampton to Gladstone, Bundaberg and south to Maryborough. That business was sold back to Shell in 1998. I bought and renovated an old pub in Rockhampton, renaming it O’Dowd’s Irish Pub, which was sold in 2004. My current business is Busteed Building Supplies, which I have operated since 1998. I would like to thank Bernie, Ernie and Julie for keeping the business running while I have been away.

Each of the two above categories of business was sold to make way for the entry in these areas by Coles and Woolworths to the fuel and alcohol and gaming businesses. Now my current business is under threat by the entry of Coles and Woolworths, again, into the hardware business.

In my early years I enjoyed playing cricket at home in Australia and in PNG. I have played rugby league and squash. I still enjoy a game of golf and I have been the President of the Calliope Country Club for over 20 years. My real passion is horse racing, and I have dabbled in most aspects of the game: owner, breeder, bookmaker, and punter, win or lose. Currently I am on the Capricornia Country Racing Association board, and we face a continuing uphill battle to keep the game alive in the bush. If Queensland Racing had its way, there would only be racing in the south-east corner and two or three centres along the Queensland coast. I have led three veteran cricket teams, called the ‘Gladstone Muddies’, to New Zealand, England and South Africa.

The electorate of Flynn is a very large electorate. It covers over 133,000 square kilometres, extending from Taroom in the south-west to Anakie, Rubyvale and the Gemfields, to the agricultural and mining centres of Emerald, Springsure, Rolleston, and Capella and through to the mining towns of Blackwater, Tieri, Moura and Theodore. Biloela, with its connection to agriculture and mining, opens out to Thangool, Monto, and Eidsvold, extending down to the citrus fields of Gayndah and Mundubbera. My electorate takes in the towns of Biggenden and Mount Perry, Gin Gin, Wondai and Proston and includes an area north of Bundaberg—Paul’s territory—with the beachside towns of Moore Park and Agnes Water and the hinterland towns of Rosedale, Avondale and Miriam Vale.

The city of Gladstone, with its wonderful harbour, and the coastal communities of Tannum Sands and Boyne Island are the industrial hub of Queensland, providing much of the nation’s wealth through mining exports and industries including aluminium, cement and soon the new LNG industry. To the north and north-west the electorate takes in the growing communities of Gracemere and Mount Morgan. Gracemere has been in five different electorates in the past 15 years. No wonder little has been done to benefit this deserving community. Let us leave it where it is, and I will do my best to make sure it is never neglected again.

The electorate of Flynn contributes to the growth of the Australian economy through the production of aluminium, cement, coal, light metals, chemicals, a range of quarry products and gemstones. We grow sugar cane, citrus fruit, nuts, grain, grapes, beef, pork and fruit.

The fishing industry is vitally important to our coastal communities, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that this industry is not damaged any further by irresponsible closures. Do you agree, Ron Boswell? The fishing industry already has one arm tied behind its back competing with the low cost of production in South-East Asia. Our fishermen are paying 90c a litre for fuel compared with 22c a litre in Asia. Inferior imports that come from countries that have less than acceptable health standards should never be promoted over our freshly caught, locally produced seafood.

Tourism is important to Central Queensland, and we need to do more to help the various tourism boards across Flynn. The three coal fired power stations in Gladstone, Callide and Stanwell supply Central Queensland and the rest of Queensland with their power. There are those in this place who would like to see the demise of these three coal fired power stations, without offering any real solution. I know of many projects in Central Queensland that are on hold until the uncertainty surrounding the MRRT and the ETS is resolved. Last week I was informed that a $10 million accommodation expansion program in Emerald was on hold pending resolution of the mining tax and ETS issues.

Regional Australia and in particular Central Queensland have suffered through lack of investment in infrastructure. Our roads are a national disgrace. The National Highway between Gin Gin and Rockhampton is in need of a complete makeover. It is too narrow and too rough for the number of vehicles that use it. It is not only the Bruce Highway but the roads west to Emerald and Biloela that are also in urgent need of improvement. Our highways are the workplace of transport workers and yet we give them substandard conditions in which to perform. It is a testament to their skill that we do not have more accidents involving heavy vehicles.

For almost a decade our regional health system has deteriorated at an alarming rate. Contrary to what the government says, GP superclinics are not the answer for regional cities or towns. They will only duplicate what the private practices are already delivering, whilst at the same time competing with those practices for doctors, nurses and patients. Haus sik emi bugga-up tru. That is pidgin English for, ‘Our hospitals are in a mess.’ I have cleaned that up a bit too! Gladstone, the nation’s industrial hub, does not have adequate facilities to handle emergencies involving multiple injuries. People in Gladstone have to travel up to three times per week, over 100 kilometres, to Rockhampton for dialysis because Gladstone does not have the equipment or the manpower to provide this necessary service. Emerald has over 600 births per year. Over 300 of them have to be performed in Rockhampton or other centres because the Emerald birthing centre can only handle low-risk births. This places strain on the fathers and families, who have to fend for themselves while the mother is away for sometimes up to three weeks in another town. This same situation is played out in many towns throughout Flynn. A better solution would be to reinstate these hospitals to fully functioning hospitals with a range of specialist services. For example, Gladstone, Emerald and Biloela hospitals should become ‘hubs’, with Gladstone specialising in emergency response and outpatients. Emerald and Biloela hospitals should be rural training hospitals, providing specialist support services.

The government’s spin doctors are good at telling Central Queenslanders that we are in boom times, that things have never been so good. But our regional towns and cities are in decline; they are dying. They are dying because of Labor’s centralist policies. Money being earned in Central Queensland is being used to build infrastructure in the south-east corner of Queensland. The railway has stopped running to towns like Gayndah, Mundubbera, Eidsvold and Monto. Industries like logging and dairy have been stopped around Monto. Five years ago there were 51 piggeries in Central Queensland; now there are five. Pork imports from America, Denmark and Canada, which are heavily subsidised by their governments, account for about 80 per cent of all packaged pork products sold in Australia.

What is it about Labor and its preoccupation with destroying regional Australia? What does Labor say to these families? These families are fed up with the spin. All we get in Central Queensland are a few crumbs from the rich man’s table. Show us the money and we will show you how our regional towns and cities can become vibrant again. We will show you the energy and resilience of our regional communities. Let us in the regional areas manage our money. Let us employ local contractors and people and let us source the materials from local suppliers and we will show you how the can-do attitude of Central Queenslanders will get better value for our important tax dollars.

I was in Eidsvold two weeks ago and I met with a group of 15 people who were concerned about their town and how they have been forgotten by the Queensland government. Aged care is at the top of their priority list. They desperately need a 30-bed aged-care facility now. Such a facility will not only provide necessary care for ageing residents but allow them the dignity of remaining in care in an environment that is conducive to a quality way of life. No-one wants to spend their retirement years in a hospital bed if all they need is good quality accommodation in the company of their friends. A 30-bed aged-care facility in Eidsvold would also provide a wide range of employment opportunities in health care, food preparation, cleaning and gardening for the young people of the town. Cut out the middleman. Let the people take control of these community projects.

In Eidsvold I met a 15-year-old girl called Lucy who posed the following question to me: ‘Mr O’Dowd, congratulations on your election as the Member for Flynn. Could you ask the Minister for Sport, Mark Arbib, if he is able to provide assistance for rural communities to develop a strategy for youth sports development?’ The kids in our community are proud to live in regional centres. Why should they be deprived of sporting facilities because they do not live in the populated areas?

The electorate of Flynn was named in honour of the late Reverend John Flynn, ‘Flynn of the Outback’. Several names for the new electorate were suggested, but it was the submission from long-time Central Queensland resident and friend of mine, Greg McCann, that won the day. In his submission, Greg pointed out that John Flynn had lived in the outback for most of his life, setting up hostels and bush hospitals for pastoralists, miners, road workers, railwaymen and other settlers. He witnessed the daily struggle of these pioneers, living in remote areas where just two doctors provided the only medical care for an area of almost two million square kilometres. It is appropriate that the electorate of Flynn is named after a visionary pioneer who struggled to establish a credible medical service for regional Australians, just like the people of Flynn are continuing to do today.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, the road to this place is long and arduous. A first-time candidate and now first-time member of parliament, I rely on the support of many people and I would like to acknowledge the support of my family, friends and supporters. My mother is here today and obviously her influence on my life has played a part in my life. She helped out during the campaign by attending functions and of course by offering support to me at all times. My dad, Andrew Desmond O’Dowd, passed away in 1985. He instilled in me the value of hard work.

I have had the love and support of my son, Ben, and daughter, Amber, Ben’s wife, Liz, and Amber’s husband, Jason. I have five beautiful grandkids and I love them all. I say hi to Phillip, Nicholas, Garreth, Rye and Rainey. My sister Bernice and her husband, John; my brother, Bobby, and his wife, Joyce; along with my sister Maureen and her husband, Kevin; sister Lorraine and her husband, George, all supported me beyond the call of duty. My partner, Shirley, who is up in the gallery, has given me enormous support and encouragement, and without her the whole adventure would have been all the more difficult. My good mate Kim—the publican next door in Rockhampton—and his wife, Dianne, are here today and I thank them for their friendship and support. It’s a different story now, mate!

I think I had the most incredible campaign committee. They did what most thought could not be done. Despite an incredible ‘sandbagging’ exercise by the incumbent, my team focused on the real issues, presented them to the electorate, and the people of Flynn did the rest. I would like to personally mention the efforts of Don Holt, Greg McCann, Wendy Hatfield, Leanne Ruge, Graham Hartley, Gus Stedman, Os Blacker, Ken Crooke, Tony Goodwin, Kim Mobbs, Hec Kilah, Bob McCosker, Russell Schroder and Graham McVean. These people worked tirelessly from our campaign headquarters, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Flynn covers 133,000 square kilometres and the people that looked after my campaign in the South Burnett, the Central Highlands and out around Rolleston, Springsure and Taroom include John Engwicht, Mike Burns and Gail Nixon, and Barry Masters at Agnes Water. To the many people who worked on my booths and to the team that helped with scrutineering, I say thank you.

I would like to acknowledge the skill and professionalism of Bruce McIvor and Brad Henderson and their LNP team. The decision to form the LNP in Queensland certainly proved to be a wise decision. During the campaign I was grateful for the assistance of Senators Barnaby Joyce, Ron Boswell, Ian Macdonald, Connie Fierravanti-Wells, George Brandis, Russell Trood, Brett Mason and Nigel Scullion. The guidance and wisdom of National Party Leader, Warren Truss, was very valuable to me during the campaign, and I thank him for visiting Flynn with me on three separate occasions. Many thanks go to Joe Hockey, Ian Macfarlane and Paul Neville, and Queensland Opposition Leader, John-Paul Langbroek. Finally, I am grateful to our leader, Tony Abbott, for taking the time to meet with the people of Flynn just before the election. It was a mighty effort from everyone and I am honoured to have worked with you all.

Some people refer to me as ‘the bulldog at the gate’. Some people have unkindly said that I look like a bulldog! I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that when I have an issue that needs to be followed though on for my electorate, I will be an absolute ‘bulldog at the gate’ with sharp teeth and a loud bark, making sure that the Prime Minister honours the promises made to Flynn in the days immediately prior to the election.

Here are a few of them: $155 million for the Calliope Crossroads upgrade; $50 million for the Yeppen Bridge and roundabout upgrade at Rockhampton; $20 million for the southern approach to Gin Gin; $70 million for stages 2 and 3 of the Gladstone Ports development road; the Gary Larson football oval in Miriam Vale; a sporting complex in Emerald; and $1 million to outfit the Banana training centre. But wait, there’s more! Labor promised to fix our health system and they promised to build sporting facilities for our regional towns. I want it all started, and started in this term of parliament. Labor has been talking about the Calliope Crossroads for the past three years—same with the Yeppen upgrade and the southern approach to Gin Gin. Stop the talk—start the work.

I promise the people of Flynn that I will be the ‘bulldog at the gate’ and I will work in this place for the restoration of our regional towns and cities. I thank the people of Flynn for their vote of confidence and, Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Photo of Harry JenkinsHarry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

Order! Before I call the member for Longman, I remind honourable members that this is the member’s first speech. I therefore ask that the usual courtesies be extended to him.

6:45 pm

Photo of Wyatt RoyWyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I am deeply humbled to stand here as a new member of the Australian House of Representatives, a house that is gradually becoming more representative of our diverse Australian community. My presence in this place was never perceived to be highly likely. Indeed, the path I took to this place was never the most likely course for an individual to take. However, I am immensely proud of the fact that I am a young person elected to this parliament. I am immensely proud of the fact that it was the Liberal National Party and the Liberal Party federally that has recognised that our parliament works more effectively, and better government is delivered, when we bring a diverse background of people to this place.

I am humbled and proud of the fact that here on the coalition benches I am joined by the member for Hasluck, Ken Wyatt. I am proud to have found my political home in the Liberal National Party, not only the side of politics that is home for the member for Hasluck, the member for Solomon and me in this parliament but also the side of politics that provided the first federal woman MP, Dame Enid Lyons; the first woman to administer a department, Dame Annabelle Rankin; and her successor, representing Queensland in the Senate, the first Indigenous parliamentarian, Neville Bonner.

I am proud to come from the party which appointed the first minister for Aboriginal affairs and the first federal minister for the environment. And, of course, the first female ever elected to the parliament of Queensland also came from this side of politics. She was Irene Longman, and I am privileged to represent the seat named in her honour. These firsts represent real and practical outcomes that we have achieved based on the merit of the individual, not on an unfair quota system. It is the Liberal side of politics that believes that liberalism is the path to greater fairness, that enforced equality never liberates. It is the Liberal side of politics that is the side of opportunity. We are the party based on encouragement, rather than subsidy; of a hand-up, not a handout; the party that has achieved practical outcomes through real action, not cheap political rhetoric. Some people say we are a conservative party, but which party was prepared to endorse a 19-year-old in a winnable seat and then support, mentor and guide that candidate through one of the most fiercely contested political campaigns this country has ever seen?

While I accept that my presence here was never perceived to be likely, I took a simple approach—an approach shared by my party; an approach which says that the political process is not something people should feel disenfranchised from. Our Australian democracy should be owned by all Australians. The easiest thing in life is to sit on the sidelines and complain. It is much harder to stand up for what you believe in. I could never have done that without the support and progressive thinking of the Liberal side of politics. While I am immensely proud to stand in this place as the youngest person ever elected to any parliament in Australia, I am first and foremost the member for Longman. In this vein, I take the view that I am not a young member of parliament; I am a member of parliament who happens to be young.

The electors of Longman have placed in me an enormous amount of trust, and it is my commitment to this great local community that I will work tenaciously in this place and in my community to repay that trust. Longman is an area not defined, in my mind, by its geographical borders but by the character of its people. They are a hardworking people bound by a common aspirational mindset. When Robert Menzies was laying the foundations of the modern Liberal Party, he said that there was an entire section of our society made up of forgotten people. John Howard called them ‘decent battlers’. In Longman, there are many forgotten battlers. They do not define their success by how big their house is, but they do measure their success by the relationships they have with their families, friends and local communities. I found my political home in the Liberal National Party, in large part because we believe in supporting the individual and their enterprise. We believe in fair reward for hard work. We believe that common sense and a pragmatic approach is a far better guide for government than rigid ideology will ever be.

I see my own personal story as a Liberal story, a story of opportunity and enterprise. My father, who is here today, has taught me the importance of service, of compassion, of responsibility and of a quiet but steadfast pride in our country. He has taught me to be tenacious but to also have a sense of humour. My father started out his working life on a shovel. He took hold of the opportunities that presented themselves and worked hard to provide me, in turn, with my own opportunities and choices. Not only did my father teach me that I should take what I do seriously but also he taught me that I should never take myself too seriously.

Longman is one of the most picturesque electorates in Australia, ranging from scenic mountains to the beautiful Pumicestone Passage. But it also faces significant challenges into the future. We have faced, and will continue to face, significant pressure on our infrastructure and services based on unprecedented population growth. This population pressure is the source of all the great challenges that my local community faces into the future. It affects local health services, infrastructure and sustainable development. Rather than taking a bureaucratic approach to these challenges, our approach to government would have offered real solutions. For example, we took to the last election a great policy to establish local hospital boards. This would have given individuals who face health problems on a day-to-day basis a direct say in how health services are provided locally into the future. It would have empowered local communities. In terms of sustainable development, a coalition government would have worked in partnership with local community groups at a grassroots level to establish a standing Green Army. These are just two examples of initiatives which would represent true people power, as opposed to a bureaucratic, top-down approach. Someone once said to me, ‘Governments don’t have any money of their own; they only have the people’s money, held in trust.’ Well, I can think of $8 billion of wasted taxpayers’ money which would have been very well directed to improve local health services.

As a young person, I hope that I can bring to this place a long-term perspective, an intergenerational perspective, to the significant policy challenges facing this nation into the future. I am acutely aware of the demographic challenges that face Australia. The Future Fund, which the previous Treasurer, the Hon. Peter Costello, had the vision to set up, is an important and practical response to this challenge. I know that my generation must take personal responsibility for our financial future, in particular for superannuation. Another significant challenge that this nation will face in the future is not only climate change but inevitably the inseparable issues of energy security and energy interdependence. These will all play an important role in how the Australian economy is restructured post the current mining boom.

We should take advantage of the opportunities we have now, as the previous coalition government did, for significant policy reform, such as the Higher Education Endowment Fund. This fund was established as a perpetual fund to guarantee funding for capital works and research facilities by the last coalition government and was abolished by its successor. And we introduced voluntary student unionism, following our consistent policy approach that freedom of association should also apply to those enrolled at university. It should not be a condition of pursuing academic study that people are made to join an organisation which is essentially political in nature. And it is ironic that, where all political parties in this place accept that there should be no closed shops in the workplace, there are still some people in this place who are happy to apply that compulsion to universities, even if they do that by stealth. These significant reforms were designed to utilise the opportunities we have now to plan for the future—showing vision rather than just catering for the short-term election cycle.

My upbringing influenced the political path I have taken. Those of us who come to this place have weighed up what each party stands for and what they offer. For me, it was an easy choice. I wanted to join the party of opportunity, the party based on encouragement rather than subsidy—as I said, of a hand up, not a handout.

Coming from a strawberry farm, one of the things that has always had a significant impact on me is the diversity of a seasonal workforce. We had a united nations of men and women on working holidays, earning money to make their way around Australia. I realise now that one of the particular benefits to me was to be reminded on a daily basis how lucky we are to live in this nation. We accept almost without question that our elections are free and fair. We accept that our judges make decisions based on law, and that they should not be subject to political influence. We accept that our Public Service is appointed on merit and serves the government of the day, regardless of its political colour. We accept that the courageous Australian Defence Force will carry out the policy of the government in a diligent and professional way. But above all we accept that there are many opportunities available to everyone, not defined by the economic or social circumstances of our background. That is not the case in many other countries. This openness, sense of equality and birthright to participate in the political processes of this nation is a constant reminder to me, at a personal level, of the privileges of being an Australian. It was a significant motivation for me to seek preselection for the seat of Longman.

I am the first elected representative younger than this building, home of our political traditions, and I am acutely aware of the trust placed in us by the people who elect us. One of the refreshing things that I am grateful for is the enthusiastic response and support I have received from young Australians across the country. I take this opportunity to thank them, and I take this opportunity to encourage all Australians to actively participate in the political processes of this country, whatever their political beliefs.

A little over 14 million people voted on 21 August and I remind the House that 2.6 million of them were young Australians aged 18 to 30. Many of these people are not so much disengaged from politics; they feel disenfranchised and excluded. The political parties of Australia—all political parties—have to offer more. They have to re-engage. Every decision we take, every vote that occurs here, affects someone. Politics should not be something that people avoid; it should be something that people own.

I am the third Member for Longman, and I acknowledge my immediate predecessor and his service to this House. But in particular I acknowledge my political predecessor, the Hon. Mal Brough. I am sure members across the political divide will agree that Mal was a very substantial contributor to this House and will acknowledge the deep commitment and compassion that Mal took to his role as minister responsible for Indigenous affairs. In an area of public policy that has always been challenging, Mal Brough shook established orthodoxies and made us realise how much successive governments had failed in their duty. Politics is often about doing not what is popular but what is right. I believe that Mal Brough deserves lasting recognition for understanding that and taking a principled decision.

When we make the decision to stand for parliament, we all have some idea of the sort of Australia we want to see. For me, it is a country of high productivity, a modern, enterprise economy where barriers to opportunity are minimised; where small business is valued as much as big business; where taxpayers’ money is valued; where, as I said before, we have a system of government that recognises that governments do not have any money—they only have our money; and where there is a clear focus on productivity, job growth and sustainable development.

During the campaign, I developed close relationships with the local Indigenous community. I am deeply impressed by their concerns for the predicaments young Aboriginal men and women find themselves in. These Indigenous leaders are wonderful people who support not only their own communities, but the community at large. I look forward to working in partnership at a local grassroots level to find practical solutions to very real problems, solutions that bypass an often intrusive and often disruptive bureaucracy, perhaps guided by good intentions but unable to deliver effective policy outcomes.

I have enjoyed meeting many local healthcare professionals, youth workers, community organisations and other individuals who have dedicated themselves to serving their local community and finding practical solutions to problems we might otherwise easily overlook. These are the people who define the character of Longman.

I am enormously proud to be here as a member of the Liberal-National Party. It was this side of politics, the Menzies government, which ended the marriage bar in the public service. It was this side of politics, the Holt government, which brought forward the 1967 referendum to remove from our Constitution the awful discrimination against Indigenous Australians. It was this side of politics, the Gorton government, which moved to give federal protection to Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. It was this side of politics, the Fraser government, which introduced the family allowance, and established the Institute of Multicultural Affairs and SBS. It was this side of politics, the Howard government, which brought in vital reforms to our taxation system, both for individual citizens and business, and, in the words of a former senior adviser to the leader of the Australian Democrats, did more for the environment than any other government since federation. And it was this side of politics, the previous coalition government, which established within our welfare system the concept of mutual obligation. Mutual obligation was introduced, eventually received bipartisan political support and has lifted hundreds of thousands of Australians from welfare dependence. As I said before: a hand up, not a hand out. These are all lasting achievements by coalition governments that have improved Australian society. These are some of the reasons I see myself as a Liberal.

I want to particularly thank those that have supported me in my role as a candidate and now as a member of parliament. Like all of us, I would not be standing in this House without the support of a great team. I sincerely thank my parliamentary colleagues for their help during the campaign. I also record my appreciation for the professional support I received from the executive and secretariat of the LNP.

My parents, family and friends know how much their support has meant to me. I also had my unofficial family: the Longman campaign team. They did an amazing job, often in the face of adversity. It is impossible for me to name everyone who lent their time, money, blood, sweat and tears to the team effort. However, there are two particular people who I must mention: my campaign chairperson, Mrs Beth Harris, who I am eternally grateful to, for her unwavering support and faith, not only in me but in our shared belief in the very principles we were fighting for. She is a Liberal through and through. To my political mentor, Mrs Carol Humphries, I say, ‘Thank you for being there to make me believe I could do it.’ I owe Beth and Carol, and the great volunteer campaign team, more than I can say.

In his first speech, on 28 February 1956, another young Queenslander, the new member for Moreton, Jim Killen, spoke words that particularly resonate with me today. He said:

In the deliberations of this assembly I cannot as yet be guided by experience. I can only be guided by plain good intentions.

This is not a bad first principle for any new member of parliament to follow. I thank the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Clare) adjourned.