Inaugural Speeches

[Debate resumed.]

Mr BROWN (Kiama) [12.11 p.m.] (Inaugural speech): It is a great honour for me to present myself to this House as the member for Kiama. For me it is a lifetime achievement to represent the Labor Party and its values in a legislative capacity for an area and its people to whom I have a strong emotional attachment.

The seat of Kiama is diverse in both people and geography. The people of Kiama, particularly those in the northern part of the electorate such as Albion Park, Warilla and Shellharbour, have been, and continue to be, strong supporters of the Labor Party because they have seen that Labor governments have worked in their interests and the interests of working people above all else. The electorate includes the towns of Shoalhaven Heads and Berry to the south, and the towns of Robertson, Kangaloon and Burrawang in the Southern Highlands. The combination of the escarpment meeting the ocean with the picturesque dairy farms in Jamberoo and Gerringong make the electorate, in my opinion and the opinion of many others, the most beautiful in the State.

On 27 March I was convincingly elected to represent the people of Kiama in the Carr Labor Government - which was also convincingly elected - and I have hit the ground running. However, neither the Government nor I would have been able to achieve such a great result without the assistance of a great number of party members, supporters, friends and family. I humbly thank all those who gave something towards that election, many of whom are in the gallery this afternoon.

I seek the indulgence of the House to thank some of those who helped me significantly to be in a position to contest and subsequently campaign in the last election. Firstly, I thank my core campaign team, which consisted of my campaign director, Rick Gainford; my campaign co-ordinator and former boss, Neil Pragnell, who generously gave up two weeks of his annual leave to assist in the campaign and whose efforts contributed significantly to the result; and my most consistent campaign worker, strategist, pre-poller, letterboxer and floor sweeper - Syd Scroggy. You name it and Syd was doing it. Syd is a dedicated fighter for the ordinary person and the values of fairness and decency. I thank also Jeff and Julie Miller. Jeff and Julie are loyal, intelligent, hard-working and generous true believers. Thanks to Gerda Keast, an office assistant to be reckoned with. I extend my thanks also to branch campaign directors Mick Pilton, Matthew Badcock and Chris Scroggy. The time and organisation these men gave are much appreciated.

I wish to thank specifically two of my longest supporters and most objective critics, Debbie Brown and Scott Faddy. It was with the help of these two
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people that we were able to form the South Coast Young Labor Association [YLA], a forum that provided the young people in the southern regional area of New South Wales with an opportunity to come together and give a voice to the youth. It took a number of attempts before the YLA was formed, but it was eventually formed on Mother’s Day 1993. During the process I met people such as Mark Abib, Joe Tripodi, Reba Meagher and others who now hold significant positions within the administrative side of the party as well as seats in this House. I wish to thank Mark for being a mate and for his interest in my political career to date. I look forward to working with him in the future.

I thank my mum, Anne French, and her husband, Paul French, as well as my dad, Tony Brown, who gave up 2½ weeks to put up signs and generally to give me his love and support during the campaign. I thank also his partner, Jan Piesse, who kept the troops fed on the day, and Garry and Brenda Langton. These family members gave their ongoing emotional, financial and baby-sitting support. Many other members of my family assisted greatly, including my Great-Aunty Joy and my sister, Sally Anne, who is teaching English in Japan. Due to the love and solid family support that has been provided to me I have not been afraid to take risks and venture into unfamiliar ground.

My son, the young man who was saying, "Toot, toot", my absolute pride and joy, Isaac James Brown, did not see me very much during the campaign. In fact, he saw more posters of me throughout the electorate and photos in the paper than he did of me. He took much delight in pointing out "Dadda" on fridge magnets and other election material whenever he saw them. I hope that Isaac will not suffer any long-term effects from seeing his father gazing earnestly down at him as he travelled in the car, and that the generous baby-sitters are as happy as I am to see the posters come down so that he can become a little less "Daddacentric".

My grandfather was a boilermaker in the coalmines of the Hunter Valley. From him, and particularly his wife, Heather - Ma - I developed an unquestioned affection for the Labor Party and the Labor movement as a whole. These great working-class Australians have always made me feel proud to be a working Australian, an Australian who wants above all to make life a dignified experience, with values of fairness, justice and compassion the prime motivators rather than hatred, greed and the attitude that, "If I’m all right, then who cares?" I would like to thank my staff, Pat Fowler and Carol Hughes. I thank also Neil and Faye Bell for their generosity and ongoing support. I thank Andrew Burgess for my preselection campaign material and my election drivers, Jae Choi and Alexander Currie.

I thank the former member for Kiama, Bob Harrison, and his wife, Anne. Both Bob and Anne have served distinguished careers in public life. Bob was elected in a by-election in 1986 and prior to that had served as Mayor of Shellharbour. Bob’s strong representation of his constituents and his dedication, commitment, hard work and integrity were outstanding. I will be most satisfied if I can conduct my political career in a similar light. It is an honour to follow you, Bob. I would also like to thank the partners and my work colleagues at my previous place of employment, Allen Allen and Hemsley. Without help from that firm and their training I might not be here today.

The Australian Labor Party is a party that responds to change. It is not bound by an immovable ideology. It is a party that has democracy as one of its core tenets. It is a party that will listen to the people and make life better for ordinary Australians and give people a helping hand when they need one. It is not a party of blame or retribution. I have every confidence that I will be able to look after the concerns of my constituents within the Labor Party.

Labor governments have always set the tone for change that affects people in a positive way. Labor governments are about achieving real results. There are many proud achievements of previous Labor governments and we should reflect on them and remember them. For example, under the leadership of Sir William McKell, a Labor Government established the Housing Commission of New South Wales, legislated for compulsory third party motor vehicle insurance, greatly increased funding for legal aid, doubled the number of weeks for paid annual leave, and brought electricity to rural New South Wales.

Under the leadership of James McGirr, a Labor Government was the first government in Australia to introduce the 40-hour week and long service leave, and to establish the University of New South Wales. Under the leadership of John Cahill, a Labor Government introduced equal pay for women, began construction of the Sydney Opera House, abolished the death penalty, and made major harbour improvements at Port Kembla. The governments of Neville Wran and Barrie Unsworth passed the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, constructed the Sydney Entertainment Centre and began construction of
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Darling Harbour, to name just a few of their achievements.

A number of issues arose in the campaign, and one was the siting of the sewage treatment plant for the Gerringong-Gerroa sewerage scheme. This scheme has been fought for by the local people - such as Kiama’s most recent citizen of the year, Dave Johnson - for many years. It is with great satisfaction that I can confidently say that, due to this Government, the people of Gerringong and Gerroa will have a state-of-the-art sewerage system, and one which is not located at Rose Valley.

Some roads within the electorate are coming close to being totally choked. I will work with the Minister for Transport, and Minister for Roads to ensure that the Kiama by-pass is constructed as well as the east-west link at Albion Park among other road projects that are required on the south coast. The Hon. Carl Scully took much interest in the Kiama electorate. I thank him for his support in the election as well as for the commitments he gave to projects such as rail line electrification to Kiama, addressing the black spots on the Princes Highway, especially between Gerringong and Berry, and the construction of the bus and rail interchange at Oak Flats. The commitment given by this Minister to help the Cockatoo Run to operate again was well received by many people, particularly those who live and operate small businesses in Robertson - and my son: that is where the "toot, toot" noise came from.

Accessibility to transport by the elderly, the disabled and parents with strollers is another issue that I will bring to the notice of this Chamber. Little things such as ramps at stations instead of steep stairs make all the difference to the lives of these people. I will also address the need for the people of Shoalhaven Heads to have a better functioning and more frequent bus service.

The proposed sand quarry near Dunmore Lakes is also a current issue. I hope to see a commission of inquiry set up to allow an adequate opportunity for the residents who may be affected by this proposed development to voice their concerns. As life is becoming more complicated for people, I believe it is up to governments to bring to the attention of people in clear, simple and unambiguous language some of the problems that they may face. Many of the residents in the Dunmore Lakes estate were not told that a sand quarry could be so close to their homes. Town planning issues have very important effects on the day-to-day lives of people, and much effort should be focused on making sure that we get it right.

In each of the past three weeks there has been the same number of accidents requiring the services of a helicopter in the Kiama electorate. Being an active surf-lifesaver and former beach inspector, I understand the need for a rescue helicopter with medical retrieval capability to be based somewhere in the south coast area. At present a review is under way to consider these issues. I urge the review committee to look at the options and come to a decision sooner rather than later. Lives have to be saved, and a delay could result in tragedy. I commend the surf-lifesaving movement and other emergency service volunteers for their continued dedication, and look forward to giving them my continued support.

There can be no better class equaliser than giving all people of this State an opportunity to attend a local school that has a good syllabus and enthusiastic, motivated and concerned teachers. My family and the local community have always encouraged acknowledgment of the benefits of a good education. I am indebted to Kiama High School, the University of Wollongong - specifically its faculties of maths and law - my friends, family, teachers and community. Without their help I could not have achieved my degrees in law, mathematics and gradings in saxophone, as well as the host of other awards and employment opportunities that were a result of this education. [Extension of time agreed to.]

I applaud the Government’s back-to-basics education policy. During the 1980s it was quite fashionable not to teach students the tools of English such as spelling, grammar and punctuation. This lack of rigorous teaching put me, along with a number of other public school students, behind the standard of education that was being received by students at private schools. When I entered university and subsequently my profession, I had the opportunity to attend courses to make up for the lack of formal teaching, and I was lucky in that regard. It is a shame that many of my former school friends were not so lucky.

To ensure that all students are provided with equal opportunity, young people should always be taught the technical tools needed to compete. We need to attract quality teachers to our education system and pay them a professional salary with full career opportunities. Good classroom teachers should be rewarded and encouraged to stay in the classroom rather than to take on more administrative roles to further their career. The service to the public high school system of my former mathematics teacher, Henry Barracosa, was an inspiration to students. I pay tribute to him on behalf of all the students who were lucky enough to have been taught and inspired
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by him. I thank also my music teacher, Nigel Edwards, for his generosity in helping to make my music education possible.

Unemployment statistics in the Illawarra district are not good for the young and the long-term unemployed. Illawarra’s unemployment rate is approximately 11.9 per cent, which is much higher than the national average of 8 per cent and higher still than the State’s seasonally adjusted figure of 6.7 per cent. The youth unemployment rate is approximately 30 per cent in the Illawarra district compared to the national average of 24 per cent. I am committed, as is this Government, to creating jobs in the Illawarra area, especially for the young. All types of jobs are needed, ranging from manufacturing, labouring and other traditional blue-collar jobs to new industries such as call centres, information technology and tourism.

It was not very long ago when many members of this Chamber who had completed their education would have expected to have found employment immediately: that would have been unexceptional. We all know that today this premise is not true. For my generation, obtaining the opportunity of employment is now a real challenge. The engendering of a fully functioning economy that is able to provide a high level of employment requires all of us to be vigilant. The price of economic freedom is eternal vigilance. Nothing is more important to working Australians than having the esteem of working to provide for his or her family. I will be vigilant in working towards that end.

It is a privilege for me to be the youngest member of this Fifty-second Parliament and that, even though I have just turned 27, the branches preselected me and the electorate voted for me. It is also a tribute to the Labor Party that young members such as Cherie Burton, the member for Kogarah and I, have been given the opportunity to represent our party and our electorates. Having youth on my side provides a chance for me to try to make young people feel a part of the political process and encourage them to work for themselves and for their communities. It concerns me that many young people do not feel that they are part of the democratic process. I believe that the introduction of the civics and citizenship syllabus into schools is a way of empowering our youth and addressing this concern.

It also concerns me that many Australians show little interest in the political process. Some people refuse to cast a vote or they vote for a minor party without directing preferences, and some people write some obscenity on the ballot papers - to the amusement of my scrutineers. At the same time as those small protests are being made in this country, there are many other people in the world who are putting their lives on the line to obtain a democratic system of government. Compulsory voting is a good thing. We do not live in isolation, and it is proper for us to put our minds to deciding on who will govern us.

Although the main parties do not often agree on how they should govern, at least to some extent there is agreement that the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, which has been inherited from the United Kingdom, is one of the best political systems in the world. It is a system that is, and should be, given a great deal of respect.

Those remarks lead me to make some comments on Australia becoming a republic. A particular passion of mine is that an Australian - one of us - should become the head of state for our country and our State. It seems to me that nothing could be more un-Australian than a requirement that the only way to become head of state in New South Wales is by birthright.

A monarchy is a system that is based on class. It perpetuates the belief of the born-to-rule mentality for those who have been lucky enough to have been born into the aristocracy or the rich. On a sadder note, it perpetuates a condition of despair and hopelessness for those who are born into any other type of family. If a person is not English, male - with the minor exception our present Queen - or Protestant, that person can forget right now about being the head of state for this country or this State. I will never accept this proposition.

The Australian people last year elected a number of delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The convention agreed that Australia should become a republic and that the method of choosing the head of state should be by a two-thirds majority vote in the combined Houses of Federal Parliament. This form of selection for the head of state would maintain all our present political, administrative and judicial institutions and processes. That is, in effect, everything would stay and work as it does now but the Governor-General would be called the President of Australia and would not be the Queen’s representative. He or she would be one of us representing only us and not having the conflict of interest that the present monarch does in being the head of state of a number of nations.

Constitutional change is difficult and slow. However, I believe that we, as a nation and a State, are mature enough to have one of our own be our head of state. And yes, there are other more pressing issues that would affect the lives of the people in
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this country than changing our head of state, but it is possible to work towards doing both. It would be great to have enough confidence in ourselves to say to the rest of the world, "We are a proud and independent nation and we have one of us representing us as head of state." To conclude this inaugural speech I shall quote the words that I often think of from a contemporary poet and songwriter, Billy Bragg. He said, "You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you’re waiting for the great leap forward." I have always chosen to be active and I look forward to actively representing the people of Kiama.