JACKIE KELLY MP
MAIDEN SPEECH
9th May 1996
GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH
ADDRESS-IN-REPLY
I speak this afternoon representing the electors of Lindsay, who for the first time since the seat was created in 1983 have elected a Liberal representative. On 2 March 1996, in a landslide swing, I caught up a difference of 16,500 votes and was duly elected to parliament. I stand here today as the living testimonial of the mass defection of the true believers from a party that had become hidebound, unresponsive, unsympathetic, unrepresentative and too busy playing political football to listen to the ordinary battler.
Lindsay is full of ordinary battlers: PAYE taxpayers, paying off a mortgage, who are concerned about interest rates; people who are concerned about providing for their old age; people who want to give their children more than they had themselves; people who are working so hard and still not getting ahead. That was the recurring complaint I heard everywhere on the campaign trail, from families trying to raise three kids on a single income; from families trying to raise kids on two incomes; from people with their own business, trade or shop; from people employing others. They were saying, `I am working so hard and I just don't seem to be able to get ahead.'
And that is odd, because throughout our proud history Australians have always given the next generation a better deal than the last generation, and it would be a pity for this fine tradition to end with my generation, the X generation. And that is why I am here.
The people of Lindsay did not make a mistake on 2 March. They voted to have their representative in government, not in opposition. The area has traditionally reflected the political tide of the times. The most renowned of the previous representatives for this area in federal parliament was Labor's icon, Ben Chifley. The Labor Party that lost on 2 March was not his party and it did not represent his people. Others who have represented this area include Reg Gillard and Tony Luchetti, both true representatives of the people who worked hard for them, and my immediate predecessor, Ross Free.
The people of Lindsay traditionally prefer their representatives in power where they can be effective rather than in opposition where the Labor Party was doomed to be after 2 March. They want a representative who is part of a truly representative government, a government which has input from all walks of life, all ethnic groups, all generations and all denominations.
Looking around the chamber at this 1996 government of John Howard, it is truly the broad church he has been striving to create. John Howard's government has more female members of parliament than any other government in the history of this country. We have the first Greek born member elected to parliament, the first Maltese born member elected to parliament and the youngest parliamentarian ever. We have more Catholics than ever before, and all this from a party which had the first female MP, the first Aboriginal senator, the first senator from a non-English speaking background and is soon to have the first physically disabled senator.
There is no stereotypical Liberal. The people here with me today are from all walks of life--housewives, social workers, businesswomen, people from the military, married, single, childless, people with eight kids, grown up kids, grandkids and kids under five. Whatever the bell curve in society is, it is reflected here in John Howard's government.
I am confident that I am in a star team and not on a team of stars. As a sportswoman who has won national and international titles in rowing and worn the green and gold to represent my country, I know that a star team is what it takes to achieve. This government is a star team. I am excited and honoured by the responsibility the people of Lindsay have given me in making me a part of this exciting new era in Australian politics.
In this context, I would like to congratulate the Speaker on his appointment as Speaker of the House and welcome his attempt to maintain as much independence as the opposition will allow. I recognise that with his military background he will be able to ensure that suitable standards are maintained, and I query why there is no honour role for members of parliament who have served their country in war.
Our experienced parliamentarians are not settling old scores, although the standard of political debate in this House has reached childish levels of personal attack and vilification. They retain no animosity and are focused on bringing about a lift in standards and introducing the change that this new government was mandated to bring about.
Let us not be afraid of these changes because change is inevitable. If you do not allow for it, then it will hit you like a Mack truck down the road a way. Let us not be afraid of the pace of these changes either because the technology and information available today mean that change will only happen with increasing speed in the future, and the people of Lindsay want a young government that knows where the information superhighway is going, because unless you know where you are going then it is pretty hard to plan to be there and you become the victim of progress and not the master of it.
At the beginning of this year, the Labor Party had lost its way, broken by factional infighting and the stagnation of incumbency. It failed to respond to the rapid social changes that are occurring in Lindsay. It is out of touch with the X generation, those in the mortgage belt, those who are finding they have to resort to the Department of Social Security for the first time and those who are concerned about the environment that we must leave to our future generations.
The people of Lindsay want leaders who will set out a definite plan of where we are going after close community consultation and who will then implement that program with minimal adjustment to achieve the goal. The people of Lindsay and I have opted for honest John Howard and his vision of Australia, free of debt with an AAA credit rating.
The people of Lindsay thought very hard about the decision they made on 2 March. They know tough times are ahead; they know you cannot spend more than you earn. They live within their means and they expect governments to do the same because in the end it is their money that governments are spending. They know that the last government was spending more than it earned for the last six consecutive budgets. In fact, in the three years prior to the 2 March election, it was sneakily increasing the revenue raised from sales tax by 40 per cent. This meant that the ordinary battlers, such as the people of Lindsay, in spending their hard-earned cash had to fund the previous government's overspending.
The people of Lindsay voted knowing full well that the new government would not introduce any sneaky revenue-raising schemes but would sensibly live within its means and go on being tough--and the going is going to be tough--bearing in mind that there is a $100 billion Commonwealth debt to service. It is going to be tough, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
I know the pomp and ceremony here in Parliament House is overwhelming. There is the danger of getting too used to the Comcars, the room service, the flash offices, the guttered roads and all the mod cons that insulate you from the failing small businesses, unemployment, bankruptcy, soup kitchens and the despair and depression of our youth. But eventually you must go back to the real world. If you have not looked after your real world in your electorate as you should have, then this prospect may frighten you.
I know I was frightened in 1993 when I returned to western Sydney after three years in the armed forces in Asia. I could not believe the lack of growth in this country compared with that providing the cranes on the horizon in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Bangkok. But what frightened me most was the lack of confidence in our economy, the hesitation in our expenditure, the uncertainty in the faces in the street, the lack of hope in the eyes of our young and the squandered potential of a great nation. And this is a great nation.
Since the 1700s people have been coming here to carve out a new life for themselves and they have succeeded. The early immigrants settling around Parramatta brought with them hope for a new life for their children and for the opportunity of a better living standard.
They gradually moved west across the Cumberland plain to the imposing escarpment of the lower Blue Mountains and by 1813 Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth had found their way across the escarpment with the help of local Aboriginals. Whilst the immigration to this country has developed it to one of the leading nations in this region, we must not forget our responsibility to the indigenous people, something which the previous government gave a lot of rhetoric to but in fact did very little about.
As I drive towards Lindsay, heading along the M4, I am always impatient to see the escarpment of the lower Blue Mountains. That is when I know that in 10 minutes I will be near the Nepean River which is one of the true wonders of this world. For a rower it is obviously one of the world-class sites for training and it is one of the few venues chosen outside of Homebush for the Olympic Games. For a water skier, a jet skier, a kayaker or a fisherman, it is truly one of the most magic spots on this earth. The air always gets better out there as you come out of the Sydney smog. It is a great place to live. It has a great lifestyle and a very rustic, rural atmosphere. It has many historic sites from the early settlers. It also has magnificent shopping and is only an hour to the flash and dash of Sydney and only a short way further to the beaches. On the other hand, within an hour you can get up to Katoomba and the Three Sisters for some of the most magnificent bushwalks in Australia and some of the most magnificent environmental national parks this country has created.
Lifestyle is important. Lifestyle is important to the people of Lindsay and it is important to the next generation. That lifestyle includes the ability to choose your own work hours, your own work ethics and your own environment that you wish to live in.
The people of Lindsay put their trust in me because I love Lindsay, I love the lifestyle it offers and I love the environment. I wish to preserve it for future generations. I will battle the tax burden that has left the struggling family providers of Lindsay scratching their heads, wondering why they cannot get ahead. I will battle the red tape of regulations that has caused the owners of small businesses in Lindsay to work exceptionally long hours for less pay than their employees just so they can keep all of their staff in work. I will battle the inequitable industrial relations laws that have kept so many young people out of a job and I will battle anyone who disregards the environment that we leave to future generations.
It was a brave decision by the people of Lindsay to put their trust in someone as relatively unknown as me. I am a jack-of-all-trades--or is that a jackie-of-all-trades? However, I will give them this commitment. I will not let them down. If they are working hard, I will be working harder. I have a track record of working hard to achieve results. But it takes more than hard work these days, it takes support from federal, state and local governments to provide an opportunity to get ahead, to consolidate your gains and to keep them. Government needs to get out of people's faces and start being more consultative, responsive and progressive.
I was in the military when I joined the Liberal Party in 1994. I come from a swinging family. It was not in my nature to question the leadership of this country; it was not something I was trained to do. It was not a decision I made lightly. My mum has voted Liberal, Labor, Independent and Democrat. Good on you, mum. She supported Bob Hawke but always she went for the person that she felt would best run the country. Mum and dad have always encouraged me, and everyone, to be independent, to do the right thing. Mum, I know that you look with pride on your daughter in the ranks of this Liberal Party. You and dad saw the potential in Australia and migrated here with a young family. We have come a long way and we have done well as Australians.
I have given up my career for the people of Lindsay. There is no going back. I will fight for their interests because in the end I must return to live amongst them and I will do that with my head held high.
