Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am honoured to give my first speech in the Senate and I am honoured to have been elected by the Queensland people to represent them. I will do my best to serve their collective interests with courage, integrity and humility. It is a privilege to follow a great friend of mine, Senator McGrath, and I just want to put on record at the start that there are lots of people here tonight, but most of them are here at his calling. They have come here for him, and I say, 'Good on you, James, for being able to get more people to come along to the Senate to see a speech than go to the average Raiders game here in Canberra!' Apologies, Zed.

In my time here I want to make sure that all Australians can choose their own job, buy their own home, start their own business or have their own family. For each small Australian to be big they must be free from big government, big banks, big unions and big corporations. I believe that the best way we can give Australians that independence is to keep taxes low, make it easy to employ someone, promote property rights, protect the family and continue to develop the 'plains extended' of our vast continent.

I have been lucky to have two wonderful parents, Bryan and Maria, who are here tonight; my brother and sister, John and Emma, who are also here; and my grandma Val Canavan. I will never forget the hours upon hours of playing cricket in our backyard in Logan, just south of Brisbane. My dad built us a full-length concrete cricket pitch. He boxed up the pitch himself and he even started mixing the concrete in a wheelbarrow. Very soon, a few yards into the full 22, he realised that was a bit silly and he ordered in a cement truck. I joke now that, while my dad is very proud that I have been elected a senator for Queensland, there is still a tinge of disappointment that I did not reach my true calling to wear the baggy green for Australia.

I have been lucky to meet my beautiful wife, Andrea, and I feel so blessed to have one person who I can share everything with—the ups and downs, the moves all around the countryside and most of all our three beautiful sons: William, Jack and Henry. We are expecting our fourth child very soon, and, just in case anyone is wondering, the due date is not nine months from election night.

I started talking about my family tonight because that is the reason I got involved in politics. I wanted to do something where my children could see the differences that I was making, so one day when I was sitting in front of a computer at the Productivity Commission I cold-called Tony Abbott's office and asked if he needed an economist. His office did not, but Barnaby did, so I ended up with him.