It seems that the place of discussion has just shifted from the government and where the Leader of the Opposition was to a different subject altogether. I will just identify with the parts of the member for Sydney's address that we would all identify with. It's why I have put forward a couple of positive proposals to the Prime Minister for the executive to consider.
There were a number of other things said today which were rather important. One was: you couldn't be in a better place today than in this nation. You couldn't be in a better place for your health and wellbeing, for your family's health and wellbeing and for your business's health and wellbeing, even though in the next few weeks we are going to face some diabolical times for small business—anybody who thinks that's not going to happen is just fooling themselves.
If you want to know what's important, it's that this government, on the COVID response, was on your side. This government, in response to health issues that have arisen, was on your side—was on the peoples' side. This government, as noted by the health minister today in his response to one family and that particular illness, was on your side. If you want to talk about how we responded to small businesses in trouble right across the nation—every one of them—this government was on your side. If you want to talk about flood response: we have learned the lessons and this government is on your side. If you want to remember the drought response for rural Australia: this government was on your side. Every time, this government was thinking about the people of Australia first, because that's our role. That's our role: putting the people first.
I was disappointed with the Leader of the Opposition. He came in and talked about all the issues that affect us here in the parliamentary bubble. This is not a Canberra bubble. This is a parliamentary bubble. I am pretty sure that the people of Canberra are not really impressed every time a politician gets up in this place and talks about the Canberra bubble. That might mean something in rural and regional Australia and perhaps in other capital cities but this is a parliamentary bubble. It's the disgust of what has happened in this place, which was revealed in the last week—and there will probably be more. Is there more hanging around out there for us, every one of us, all to be belted with? Is every one of us standing in slime in this place, in this green room—no pun intended? There was a tiny bit of hilarity today because Minister Paul Fletcher, the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, talked about some money going into arts and entertainment, and what happened? The whole room grabbed for that moment when we could think about something great for a minute, instead of where we have been sloshing around. There's more money to go to there.
I tell the arts industry: we're on your side. I tell the entertainment industry: this government is on your side. But, more importantly, people like travel agents: we're on your side. People like travel agents have just had some more money, and we will concentrate and we will try for them and, if we can do more, we will. But we're on their side.
What you should be listening to is this: you have never put forward one concrete contribution or idea about how you might do the job on their behalf. Not one! Ask your shadow Treasurer. Not one, because it's a difficult issue. When you're in government and you're on their side, there are difficult issues to decide.
As I finish, it's great to have so many of my colleagues here to support me as I address the House on this last day of this sitting. I would like to thank each and every one of you very much. It's great to have you here, and I look forward to your engagement again when we come back after the break for budget week.
In times such as these we need to remember why. 'The country has great and imperative obligations to the weak, the sick, the unfortunate. We look forward to social and unemployment insurances, to improved health services, to a wiser control of our economy, to avert if possible all booms and slumps, which tend to convert labour into a commodity, to a better distribution of wealth, to a keener sense of social justice and social responsibility.'
'Wherever a woman is willing and able to do some job, then there should be no barrier against the woman doing it. On the contrary, there should be active encouragement and direction.'
'The civil service—that indispensable instrument of government, democratic or otherwise. Do not underrate the civil servant. He is for the most part the anonymous and unadvertised, but he is responsible for by far the greater part of the achievements sometimes loudly claimed by others. He provides, as a witty friend of mine once said, "a level of competence below which no government can fall".'
'If you want paid agents, hired men, bound to do your bidding even when they know or believe that you are wrong, anxious at all costs to keep your favour, their eyes turned always to the next election, then you will get a parliament of the spineless, and democracy will disappear. For political systems have more frequently been overthrown by their own corruption and decay than by external forces.'
RG Menzies 1942. This is just as I see it.
Droughts, bushfires, floods and storms—we are humbled in the face of such displays of nature's power. Helpless, brought to our knees when control of our lives and property is given over to the mercy of our living experience. Can we even say, 'I can save? Have I the resources to defend or do I run and evacuate—better to live than defend'?
'I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges, of drought and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea. Her beauty and her terror—the wide brown land for me!'
In humility we abide. All strength to those who wear the high-vis armour and who are sent to save, for they, the frontline responders, have taken to the field once again in their determination to confront the foe. They will race to the rescue. Not for me, not for us but for others you are called. May you never fail. May you know our confidence is in you and your capacity to succeed.
I am the member for Monash and I represent the Liberal Party in this House. Throughout my career, I have had the benefit of being surrounded by very strong women, from the traditions of Edith Cowan to Dame Margaret Guilfoyle. If I wanted to speak about the strong women within the LNP, I would be using my whole five minutes just sprouting names of those who have enabled me, through times of defeat and disaster politically. They held me up so I could continue to carry on and be here today. I said in my maiden speech that, without the women who surrounded me at that time, I wouldn't be here today. I made the mistake of naming them.
I want to go to a more contemporary place: quite often we get accused of having some toxic problems with women in the Liberal Party. Let me tell you about who has been pre-selected and elected to represent us here in the party. Katie Allen took the safe seat of Higgins. She is a medical professional in her own right. She is highly regarded by her peers and, more than that, has a life's experience of all that has been, in the struggles that she has had, to get to this place. She is here and is a great contributor.
There's Celia Hammond. I call her my partner in crime, because, prior to COVID, we sat down there together. I've been able to get to know a very special person from Western Australia who reached the top of her profession before she came to this place. She has a wide worldly experience that she brings here with great gusto.
Angie Bell is the member for Moncrieff—another safe seat. Angie Bell had a life in the professions but also one of the hardest professions that anyone can face that I know, and that's as a professional musician. You're working when everybody else is playing, and you're on deck the whole time. Angie Bell brings a special talent to this place that no-one else can bring.
Anne Webster is from the Mallee. It's a safe seat—our coalition partner. She is a professional in her own right, widely experienced and extremely tied into her local community. She knows the Mallee. Everything she says in this place is about regional people and how they're affected and how her constituents are affected. She's able to do that because of her wide experience before she came to the House.
Each one of those four had a huge pre-selection battle to get here. They didn't just walk in and say: 'I'm here. Aren't you lucky to have me?' They had to fight to get into this place. Some terrible things were said about a number of those people by their enemies, but they're here. And then we've got, in our less safe seats, but I hope they'll make them safe: Bridget Archer in Bass, a cracker; Fiona Martin in Reid, a professional; and Gladys Liu in Chisholm. Gladys has had a world of experience behind her before she came to this place, before she had the opportunity to stand and risk her reputation and time and energy to win the seat of Chisholm when the world thought she couldn't win. But she won. There's Melissa McIntosh in Lindsay, another cracker member of parliament here. Any one of these women that represent the Liberal Party could take a senior role in any area of our leadership today. Every one of them has the capability to step into a higher role. And I know that in the future each one of these will be household names that you will know about because of the contribution they make at a higher level in this place.
It is not often that someone comes into this place and goes straight onto the front bench in government in their first term. But you can guarantee that Katie Allen, Celia Hammond, Angie Bell, Anne Webster, Bridget, Fiona, Gladys and Melissa will have long careers in here if they're supported by their communities. So, please, just remember that the Liberal Party has a long history of powerful, strong and talented women who will contribute to this nation's wellbeing.
This week marked a moment in our history when many thousands of Australians took to the streets to demand respect, justice, and safety for women. As both an elected representative, and a man, I hear the anger, the hurt, and acknowledge the disregard for women that has led to this fork in our road. I am horrified at the levels of abuse, intimidation, harassment, discrimination and violence against women in this our great south land.
Women will drive this change. I hope more men will join them. Politicians, need to be quiet, listen and learn. Actions, not words, count. And I will play my part.
I have written to the Prime Minister requesting two actions be taken immediately. The first, is to convene a national gathering of women that represent women’s peak organisations and every local government area to recommend to parliament the pathway to real and lasting change in our homes, our workplaces, and on the streets.
Next, I have asked the Prime Minister to introduce a gender impact statement for all cabinet submissions, new policies and legislation. It is a privilege to be in a position where we can affect change and commit to justice, safety and respect for Australian women of all ages and so enrich the nation.
We are all responsible and accountable. It is no accident that we are here for such a time as this. For the women of Australia this is not negotiable. The tide has turned.
That’s just as I see it.
The government will have both interim responses and fuller responses in coming months to the reporting of the Royal Commission into Aged Care. Let me say at the outset that I could not be more proud and supportive of my local Aged Care providers in the Monash electorate. They do an exemplary job. They are local people employed to support local older Australians. Clearly there have been failings within the Aged Care sector, and reforms are much needed.
However, in my opinion this is not just a matter of blindly accepting the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission without consideration and consultation with those at the coal face. They will be instructive in helping the government avoid unintentional consequences arising from any recommendation from the Commission that we implement.
This nation will be judged on how we support our most vulnerable, be they very young or very old or anywhere in between. We should take pride in our offering of aged care experience. It should not be a matter of out of sight, out of mind. Aged care should be another stage in life lived to the full, with the help and support of government, services and family.
It is essential that everyone, including government, should view aged care as a compassionate partnership. If this is our goal, and I’m sure for all involved it will be, then the experiences etched into the volumes of the Royal Commission and its subsequent recommendations, through painful, will be of benefit to every older Australian needing care now and into the future. It’s up to us to take the Royal Commission recommendations as an opportunity…and perhaps out greatest opportunity…,- to give elderly Australians the respect and care they deserve.
That’s just as I see it.
Monday is international women’s day. It’s meant to be a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. But over the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on just how far we haven’t come. The women of this country deserve better. I stand with every person in this country who’s suffered abuse …. And with those whose pain and trauma is being relived by these allegations. I urge anyone suffering distress to reach out to family and friends, or ring 1800respect (1800 737 732).
It is women who overwhelmingly suffer at the hands of male abusers. In the home, the number of assaults …. And murder …. Of women and children in this privileged country is amongst the worst in the western world. One woman a week in Australia loses her life to a violent male attacker, overwhelmingly her intimate partner. The accusations swirling around our politicians and political class mirror the dark side of our broader society.
This must finally be the moment for change. For truth telling. Our country cannot, for a minute longer, accept the way violence against women in our homes and workplaces has been almost normalised. This is not just an illness in parliament, where up to 5,000 people work when it is in session. It is about the cultural nature of this privileged country. Author George Megalogenis made the important point in an article last weekend that misogyny began when the first fleet landed.
Why is it still with us today? It is past time for men of this nation to accept this as normal. We need to seriously question why we literally punch above our weight in terrible household violence and violence against women. It is totally and completely unacceptable. Politicians have a greater accountability because we are supposed to be leaders …..leaders across the nation in every aspect. We men in this great country must commit to do better. In particular our young men must take up the challenge to write the new volume in our history.
We must stand alongside women and show …. Through our actions…. Respect for women and commit to achieving equality between the sexes.
Only then will this appalling behaviour become our past history.
That’s just as I see it.