Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this month I was pleased to welcome the Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, and other members of the federal ministry, including the member for Isaacs, to the Moreton electorate for a community cabinet at Yeronga State High School. It was a strong display of democracy in action. More than 500 people attended the community forum at Yeronga State High School and many had to be turned away because there were not enough seats. We enjoyed great hospitality from the Yeronga State High School catering and music students. I want to particularly thank the principal, Terry Heath, and all the teachers and staff at Yeronga who made us feel so much at home.

We had a healthy discussion and covered a range of issues important to people in my electorate and also those visitors from other electorates around Moreton. The issues covered included: coal seam gas exploration, the recognition of our Indigenous peoples in the Constitution, support for Third World countries to reduce their carbon emissions, peace in the Middle East, the elimination of cluster bombs, and promoting personal responsibility for reducing carbon emissions. Even my neighbour, John Shearer, came along to ask the Prime Minister about the government's options regarding asylum seekers. Obviously, if I had my time over again, perhaps I would not have invited my neighbour, John Shearer, but I did not have control of the invitation list! But thank you, John, for coming along and asking that question. I have always been proud to represent the community on Brisbane's southside, but I was especially proud at the community cabinet because the southsiders of Brisbane showed how to engage in a battle of ideas respectfully. The big crowd showed tremendous courtesy to our leaders, elected representatives and ministers. This was on the day when Minister Albanese was heckled and even assaulted out the front of his electorate office in Marrickville. As an aside, I say to those people who turned up to cause some grief to Minister Albanese, 'You really need to toughen up a bit.' He had just had one throwaway line and then all these people turned up to say that this was an assault on our freedoms or whatever. All he had actually said was one throwaway line. They really need to toughen up a bit.

Either way, it was refreshing to have a political discussion without the insults and intimidations we have seen elsewhere. That is not to say that every person agreed with everything the Gillard Labor government stands for, but they did have the good manners to engage in an educated and respectful debate and exchange of ideas. Often that requires listening with your ears rather than having your mouth flapping while people are talking.

Good politics, as we all know, is about leadership and a battle of ideas. Politicians have a responsibility to ensure that our passions for these ideas do not cross the line by inciting fear and hate in the community. Also we must ensure that debates are civil and appropriate, as anyone who respects good manners would agree. That is why I find the opposition leader's call for a peoples revolt so offensive. He and people like Alan Jones seem to want to rewrite our Constitution and/or the laws of mathematics about what is a majority.

As I said at the start, the southside community had many questions for the Gillard cabinet, but they also offered strong support for the Gillard Labor government's achievements. There are great achievements like the structural separation of Telstra to enable the building of the National Broadband Network. This initiative will deliver more productivity than anything else that the government has done in the last five to 10 years. We have secured the health reform agreement with the states, dealt with the summer of natural disasters and rebuilt communities like mine that were hammered by the floods, kick-started policy debate on aged-care reforms and disabilities, signed a deal on Tasmanian forests and secured a deal to price carbon. Today is a great day in history. We have taken a practical step towards pricing pollution. I know it is a step that those opposite took to the 2007 election and the 2010 election, but today we can proudly say we have taken positive steps towards achieving that goal. I know I will be able to look my grandchildren in the eye and say: 'On 13 September 2011 I did something positive. I took a step towards voting yes for pricing pollution.' I will be able to look my grandchildren in the eye and say, 'This was a good thing.' (Time expired)