John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Team New South Wales—that's it, Senator Payne! Team New South Wales—here to fight for the good side of politics.

During the Christmas break I met with a couple of friends. They had a reunion of the Commonwealth Bank staff in Inverell just a week or so ago. Many of them are good friends, and I met with a couple there. The wife was telling me that, when she got married, almost 50 years ago, she worked for the Commonwealth Bank and she had to resign her job because, if you were married and a female, you weren't allowed to work in a Commonwealth Bank. So she had resign. And that was the case, probably, at many other institutions; I'm not just picking out the Commonwealth Bank. She had to reapply for a job. How unfair is that? That wouldn't want to be the situation today in any institution. I always say that life is about fairness and that people should be treated fairly and paid fairly. I have the opinion that, if a woman is doing the same job as a man, she should have the same pay as that man, and that is simply being fair.

Mr Acting Deputy President Bernardi, you would have been familiar with the Thai Amarin restaurant at Green Square. I remember being there with you one night. During the Christmas break, Silvie and John sold the restaurant and retired. Both came here as refugees from Cambodia. Silvie's father was murdered by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, terrible people who were trying to overthrow the government. Silvie and her six siblings and her mother walked in their bare feet from Cambodia to Bangkok. They slept on the side of the road. They made their way to Australia as refugees and became great Australians, great workers. They set up their restaurant, worked hard and became very successful. That is what Australia's about. It's the land of opportunity. If you have a go, work hard, work smart and do the right thing by your customers, if you're in retail business—you provide a good product or a good service—you become successful. That's how it should be.

I'm very proud to say that I spoke about Silvie and John on Australia Day, both in Inverell and Glen Innes. We see how other countries have had to suffer like this, and luckily we haven't. I certainly hope we don't in the future. John, Silvie's husband, was also from Cambodia. They met in Sydney. John's father was also murdered, because he was in business. Pol Pot was a terrible piece of gear. Luckily, Silvie and John met. They married and were very successful in business. They had two lovely children, Janelle and Sean. They took up the opportunity that Australia offered. They were great refugees, great immigrants, proud Australians. Their siblings are still here. They've all done well. Their mother is still alive. It's a great success story from what was a terrible situation in Cambodia. That is what Australia offers—a land of opportunity.

We have good education. It could be better, of course. It could always be better. The funding has been put forward by Senator Birmingham, with a great program for fair funding throughout Australia for all public and private schools. We have good schoolteachers. I wish there was a bit more discipline, in many respects, in some of the schools. The discipline has probably eased off from our days—I can't say 'our days', Mr Acting Deputy President Bernardi; you're a lot younger than me! It has eased off from back in the sixties and seventies, I should say, when there certainly was a lot more discipline.

There is the NDIS, to treat those who are disadvantaged, those who are disabled, to see they have a fair, decent standard of living—