Address-in-Reply
Address-in-Reply
Motion
Resumed from an earlier stage of the sitting.
Mr Terry Healy (Southern River) (2:55 pm): Thank you, Speaker. I look forward to making a contribution to the Address-in-Reply debate. I will also issue a verbal Whip alert, as opposed to a WhatsApp Whip alert: you are free to leave the chamber for this part of the speech, but please take care of your affairs and be back in here. I promised my very good friend the member for Nedlands that I would make sure that there was plenty of time for his guests to become settled. I will wait for a special wink and a nod from him at about 3:05 pm. But yes, you are free to leave the chamber, friends, if you would like to.
First of all, I would like to acknowledge the 45th anniversary of the Gosnells State Emergency Service on behalf of the members for Jandakot, Cannington, Thornlie and Southern River. We all represent the City of Gosnells. The Gosnells State Emergency Service will celebrate its 45th anniversary this year and I would like to place on the record of the Parliament of Western Australia how much we appreciate the SES.
In the big storm about a month ago, a huge tree blocked my street. We were out of power for a day. There was water flowing down the street. I had a very recent interaction with the SES unit and I just wanted to say how much I greatly appreciate them. It was originally formed in 1980 and the unit is a core part of the south-east corridor. I want to place on the record on behalf of my colleagues my thanks to each of the volunteers, each of the people who work across the SES and all of the people who give up their weekends 24/7 to look after our area.
In its early days, training was conducted in different locations—sometimes outside of our community—and they have always ensured that they were available. The purpose-built facility became a model for future SES units across Western Australia, and they have continued to grow and adapt over the years. We look forward to congratulating them again in this Parliament and wishing them the best for their dinner on 10 May this year. On behalf of the Parliament of Western Australia, to each and every person in the Gosnells SES, thank you for keeping all of us safe.
I rise to thank some incredible student representatives within my electorate. I am very honoured to be the member of Parliament for Southern River, and I also have a number of incredible student representatives. Roger Cook and I cannot do the jobs that we do without the representatives of our community. I would like to place on the record of the Parliament of Western Australia how much we appreciate the service of those student leaders and those young people in faction captain roles, student leadership roles and in the student executive.
I rise to congratulate the student representatives of Campbell Primary School. I place on the Hansard record of this house our congratulations and appreciation for student councillors Jordan Lindley, Ellie Adhikari, Carter Jordan, Kai Loo, Jordan Wernicke, Daksayan Sasiharan, Sophie Bastakoti, Niaz Mahmoudi, Navreet Kaur and Sania Jomon. I would also like to congratulate the faction captains of Campbell Primary School and thank them for their service. In Fraser faction there is Immogen Wilson and Jorrawar; in Longley there is Ruby Manu and Charlie Williams; in Strickland, there is Sahibjot Kaur and Girivarsh Puganeswaran; and in Bradman, there is Charli Cardoz and Brandom Lim. Thank you for your service to our community.
I take great pride in informing the chamber of the student leaders of Bletchley Park Primary School. The head boy is Aiden Tran and our head girl is Emma Tay. Our student leaders are Judeena Piratheepan; Elise Thi; Jiaqi Shen; Ethan Hettiarachchige; Willow Johnson; Caleb Barry; Praise Jacob; Vansh Shroff; and Jacob Cahill. Our faction captains in Strickland are Riyon N.D. Gedara and Natasha Folarin; in Farmer they are Stojan Rudez and Kayleigh Easson; in Bradman they are Luke Anchariam and Sharvarnah Quartermaine; and in Fraser they are Tate Radics and Anida Ibralic. Roger Cook and I look forward to working with you on behalf of our community, and thank you for your service.
It takes me great pleasure to announce how much I appreciate the students and representative of Ashburton Drive Primary School in Gosnells. I would like to place on record our appreciation for the student leaders, and I look forward to working with them as well. They are Makaelin Hiko-Kita, Charlies Famoso, Frankline Kindipan, Chase Pearson, Laura Ngy, Allegra Vicary, Dakota Peos, Chantelle Hume, Bryce Riches and Adrijano Tomic. The Premier and I greatly look forward to working with you in the service of our community, and we appreciate and thank you for your service.
(Member's time extended.)
Mr Terry Healy: It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the students and student leaders of Yarralinka Primary School in Southern River. I would like to express how much I appreciate their service, and I look forward to working with Khaleefah Dauda, Ruvika Ravi, Nate Tyers and Nitika Praveen. I look forward to working with you, your families and the school to make our community better. Thank you for your service.
Members, on behalf of the member for Thornlie and me, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate Wirrabirra Education Support Centre, which is a shared school along our border. I would like to congratulate the Wirrabirra school head boy, Henry Kunzli, and head girl, Esmeralda de Haan; councillors Lollie Southern, Zahra A, Piper Mew, Indiana Spencer, Jordan-Lee Parker, Sienna Ryan, Cooper Johns, Samuel Tranter, Sierra Little and Isaac Moore. Thank you to our faction leaders. In blue faction we have Jake Paton, Tyler Bennell, Mekides Haile and Destiny Styman; in green we have Ben Harman, Junuja Antony Jeyaseelan, Mitchell Brown and Tyler Walker; in gold we have Yaadhav Shasidharan, Avanthika Thiruppathi, Tahlia Pilgrim Nixon and Ganesh Lakshmanasamy; and in red we have Marley Power, Takiah, Merylrich Rodriguez and Baaj Singh. Thank you for your service to our community.
I may now issue a Whip alert for those who are watching in the chamber that I will be concluding my speech very soon and for those people who need to watch our colleague, the member for Nedlands, give his first speech, please return to the chamber.
I would just like to make one point. I would like to congratulate my fellow Whips. I look forward to serving with them in this term. I congratulate the Premier for his election and thank him for asking me to be our government Whip. I look forward to working with our two opposition Whips, the member for Carine and the member for Central Wheatbelt. I think it would be true to say that I have been fairly hostile to opposition members for the last eight years, and they should know that I will now be a lot more diplomatic. I am looking forward to working with a sense of partnership, such that we do.
I would like to finish by invoking the spirit of those who have come before us. Margaret Quirk, the former member for Landsdale, was a former government Whip. She has issued me the official government Whip stapler. Apparently it has a little sticker that says, "Do not remove from the chamber". She also issued her own Whip booklets. They have a little whip stencilled on them, and I have one each for the member for Carine and the member for Central Wheatbelt. In the spirit of the bipartisan nature in which we will work together, I look forward to handing these over to you.
Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make a contribution in the Address-in-Reply debate. To all my colleagues, thank you very much.
Visitors
The Deputy Speaker: Before I give the call to member for Nedlands, want to acknowledge former Premier Richard Court AC who is in the Speaker's gallery today.
Proceeding resumed
Mr Jonathan Huston (Nedlands) (3:05 pm): I congratulate you, Deputy Speaker, on your appointment.
The Deputy Speaker: Thank you.
Mr Jonathan Huston: I rise today for my inaugural speech as the member for Nedlands. In my remarks, I will make some thanks to my team, most of whom are here; describe Liberal values and the influence in my life; describe the Liberal story of achievement in Australia and Western Australia and the burden of freedom, which comes with that; talk about the Nedlands electorate; and finish with our path to government in 2029.
I rise today with profound gratitude to the people of Nedlands for placing their trust in me. Your prosperity is my life's work now, and this is a noble civic quest. I will work every day to honour the task that you have set me.
To my campaign team, David Dwyer, my chairman; Fiona Plant, my campaign manager and now my electoral officer; Ryan, the treasurer; Kathy Rock, my rock; John McCourt, my media adviser; and the many other people, including Patrick Kenny, Howard Croxon, Allan Austin, Tony Mandin, Hugh Shedden and of course my brother Michael, who everyone still confuses has finally got elected to be member for Nedlands.
Thank you as well to the hundreds of booth workers, event organisers and the donors who made this incredible zero–start social enterprise possible. Your friendship, energy and belief in me and our country enabled this 12-month monumental task to succeed. To my fellow candidates, I acknowledge and thank you for your commitment to our local democracy. The Nedlands campaign was very civil, very kind and very respectful. I made friends with many of the candidates, most especially Mary Monkhouse, who was a delightful person.
I also thank the Western Australian Electoral Commission, who in our case conducted a very worthy electoral process. To Katrina Stratton, who was my predecessor, your standing in the Nedlands community is respected and much admired. I would also like to congratulate you, Premier, on the emphatic win that you scored most recently. I would also like to thank and acknowledge my Liberal colleagues, most especially Basil, my leader, and Libby, but really our wonderful new friends in the Nationals WA whom I am so glad to have met, and I understand we are developing a very strong, positive team. I would also like to pay respect to the giants on whose shoulders I stand. The Nedlands giants: Sir Charles Court, Richard Court—father and son Premiers—and Mr Bill Marmion. You are very welcome to this today—as all of you are welcome to the Nedlands electorate. Thank you for your advice, Bill and Richard, and thank you for your presence on polling day.
I would like to thank my family—that is Kathy and our modern family of five adult children now making their way through life and my sadly deceased parents, both taken by cancer so young, whose patience, faith and sacrifice brought me to this place. Thank you to my seven brothers and sisters and my mates with whom I have shared this journey.
In the late 1820s, word went out that a new venture across the seas was bound for the west coast of Australia. In June 1829, our colony of free settlers arrived, not as a prison colony but as a daring experiment in freedom and open land for free people built on the principles of self-determination, individual initiative and private property. No-one told them what to do. They adapted. Our state was founded by settlers who did not ask for comfort and certainty; they sought only liberty and the chance to forge their own destiny.
They also learned—perhaps too slowly and very imperfectly—from the Noongar people how to preserve the beauty and tranquillity of the dreaming that was already here. From the gold rush to the Wheatbelt, and from C.Y. O'Connor's pipeline to iron ore exports, the story of WA is one of enterprising people acting freely with dignity under law—a lean law that would only guide development. From the 1850s through the postwar decades, Western Australians fought, built, carved and created. The Western Australian Anzacs of Gallipoli, Bullecourt, Tobruk, Brigade Hill, Kapyong and Long Tan demonstrated that liberty is worth sacrifice. Having left Europe because of class rigidity, they went back twice voluntarily to save it. What a price we paid; what a mark they made.
Robert Menzies created the Liberal Party in 1942. Let us be clear: he was then an outcast. Curtin had the running. In fact, Menzies's party had disintegrated. However, when elected, he built a nation after the war. He gave Australians not collectivism but confidence that prosperity and fairness comes from empowering individuals. Menzies, Brand and Court unleashed the forgotten people by catapulting them from using their own sense of self-belief. Home ownership was the key. We faltered only when we turned away from these liberal values thinking that government knows better.
These ideas are not abstract to me; they are deeply personal. I grew up in a very big family in Applecross, one of eight children—six boys and two girls. I learned early that opportunity without initiative is hollow. Leadership without service is barren. My father was a PMG Engineering Group engineer and my mother stayed at home. We were middle-class Australia. They called themselves "Liberals", as did all families then. "Conservative" was not a word that they or I associate with. At Aquinas College, I was honoured to serve as college captain and then, in that year, as Western Australian Youth of the Year, where, Richard, I met your father at the WAY 79 celebrations. Some members may remember it. What a year of celebration that was—the 150th anniversary celebration that Sir Charles created.
I express my eternal thanks to the Christian Brothers at Aquinas who gave their lives to our service and development. They worked for nothing but our individual success. I truly acknowledge and recognise the issues that the member for Bassendean raised with regard to the Christian Brothers. It just was not my own personal experience, but that is not to deny the wonderful work that the member has done.
However, I sensed that there was a big world out there, so I chose a very different career route. At barely 16 years of age, I signed up to go to the Army for nine years via Duntroon. My following four years at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Canberra, when I was barely 17, were incredibly difficult, but these were different times. I adapted with the help of wonderful classmates who then went on to be fellow officers, some of whom rallied back to my campaign. Thank you, Craig.
We got through. I served as an infantry and intelligence officer. I would like to stop for a minute and refer to the portfolio that Mr Zempilas has given me to serve veterans, as I will do with Mr Papalia, who is a veteran himself. I thank that wonderful cohort of Vietnam veterans who were my drill sergeants and platoon sergeants—hard men who had just come out of the jungle who had not been welcomed home. What a miscarriage that was, but it was addressed by a Labor government in 1987. Thank you to the Australian Labor Party for bringing those men home and taking a situation that was very tragic and making it very wonderful. It probably also saved many lives.
My first task as an intelligence officer was to complete a 100% infrastructure audit of the Kimberley. I was a young lieutenant. What a job I had visiting every station and every microwave tower. In the event of an invasion or military operations, we had to know exactly what was where and when or how much. I served three aides-de-camp—ADCs, if you call them; the guy who walks around with the aiguillette—including General Murray Blake, a great Western Australian, and Mike Jeffery. Staying by the side of someone like that for a year, you learn a great deal.
I was learning from the best in the business, mostly good, but sometimes not so good. As a young captain, I was seconded to work in Nick Greiner’s office in post-Wran–Unsworth New South Wales, as most of the ministerial secretariats had been stacked out with their people. I thank Garry West for taking me into his office. He was the member for Orange. I was learning the juxtaposition between civil and military affairs. As a major, I returned back to serve with the Canadian National Defence Headquarters working on Warsaw Pact exercises for their brigade in Europe, and then as the Australian exchange officer at the Defence Intelligence and Security School in Ashford, Kent. There, I was assisting in operational training around British operations in Northern Ireland, including visits to that theatre that I do not wish to expand upon.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck in the 1990s. In the space of two years, I lost both my parents to cancer at the age of 59. Our family basically imploded. But this was also a message to get on with life. I knew it was time to move on—I never saw myself as a career military officer—and to come home, raise a family and build a house.
Firstly, very quickly, I returned to Aquinas, where I did some very groundbreaking work in its transition from an order-run school to more like a commercial hybrid school for boys. I am so proud of that institution today. Members might look at that today and think it is quite an elite organisation, but, really, back in the 1970s and 80s, a lot of boys went there who did not even pay any fees.
Leaving that behind, then, from nowhere, I was asked to become General Manager of Tint a Car at the age of 35 years—the biggest window tinting business in the world. Three months later, I put in an offer to buy it for $18 million. I hardly had a cent to my name. I conducted one of the first pure management buyouts in Western Australia. Like those settlers who came here, no-one told me what to do. I did not go to the government; I made it up as I went along and I took a chance.
In business, I saw the dignity that comes with free enterprise and the courage of the small-business owner, many of whom were my franchisees. There were over 150 of them in both Croissant Express and Tint a Car. They mortgaged their homes, as did I, to build their dreams. This is going all-in. If I go down, the family is going down. It is a heavy burden and it is a very big price to pay, but thousands upon thousands of Australians do this every year, year on year.
After we sold Tint a Car, I and the bank purchased the Croissant Express chain. Some members might know that. I then purchased Parkside Towbars. I was transitioning from a military life to a deeply commercial life. Each time, my home was mortgaged and pledged as security; each time, the bank was paid ahead of time. Respectfully, ladies and gentlemen, this is not the same as being a director or an adviser. As an owner of a business such as Parkside Towbars, what do you do when your entire welding team walks up to you and asks for a 100 per cent pay rise or they are off to the mines the next week? That is your entire business about to collapse. Do you call a directors meeting? What do you do when an eight-year backup of putrid brown sewage, which had been treated on Saturday, suddenly unblocks at 12 o'clock on Monday to rush down 35 floors and come up onto the floor of your Croissant Express shop in Allendale Square—some of you might remember it—as people are coming in, right on time for lunch. It was three inches deep. What do you do? Do you call the government? Do you call a board meeting? It is up to you.
What do you do when the Australian dollar falls to 48c, which it did, and you buy all your window film from the United States, meaning your margin has just vaporised? Do you call the Governor of the Reserve Bank? Do you call for the directors or your accountant?
What should I have done when I saw workers in Bali in wretched and dangerous conditions working with no personal protective equipment at all? I acted as their union and protested to their employers, who were indifferent. Maybe it is something that you have experienced. I started the Hard Hat Foundation to provide free PPE to workers in Bali and Timor, and over 1,000 sets of hard hats and high-vis were provided free of charge to workers in Bali so they could be safe on worksites. Hopefully, this does not sound like a capitalist but someone who deeply cares about their workers and their environment. What was that about us not knowing the needs of workers that I heard yesterday?
The problems that I describe belong to the lonely heroes. It is the business owner locking up her shop tonight. It is the guy backing in his ute at 9:00 pm who has to reach deep into his reserves of initiative and resilience, smile as he walks in the door and then go to sleep with a bag of cement in his guts as he wonders how he is going to make next week work: What will happen if it rains? Will I be able to get those jobs done? Will my workers leave and go somewhere else? They do this every day of the week. Christmas is often the worst time. You are trying to be the absolute best as the dad or mum unwrapping presents, but your staff are all on holiday, you have no revenue coming until Australia Day, you have a massive spike in expenses, with insurance often due on 1 January and GST due in February, and your home and business mortgages due. It is a lonely world. What do you do when the minimum wage goes up or super creeps up half a per cent? Where will that increment come from? How are you going fund that? It may even happen on a farm as well. Owners actually do want to help their workers; they do want to give them all those things, and in many cases they cannot even avoid it. But then they think, "If I put my prices up to offset that, I could lose customers. It's a risk. I'm in a tight position the way it is." You know what most of them do? They take the financial hit themselves. That is what most do. They do not tell their partners, families or wives, and they brave it out. Would all of us here do that? Would we do that if the parliamentary staff had an increase and we had to fund it, or would we just think that it was someone else's responsibility?
(Member's time extended.)
Mr Jonathan Huston: Madam Deputy Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, this is very real. I say to the people of Nedlands and WA, the shopkeepers, contractors and tradies: You now have someone in your corner. I am walking with you. Thank you, Basil, for assigning me the task of looking after and tracing every legislation through those eyes and I will seek the opinion of those businesses so you can help me help you.
Full marks to the government this week, by the way. During my first week, it deregulated the Architects Board of Western Australia, devolving authority to the architects themselves. Thank you; keep it up. The government is learning very fast. More of that, please. Basil and Libby, I could not believe my luck, in my first week as the deregulation spokesman. Let us get to the nub of this. If I were given the task, or the choice, of doing something that is centrally efficient or doing something that has been devolved to individuals, I will take the latter every time, because it means individuals have skin in the game, and over and over individuals are unbeatable. On the other hand, if it is controlled from the centre, we will breed a complacent, languid and torpid Orwellian approach, and that is where we find ourselves now.
Let us now change tack and talk about the burden of freedom that Liberals carry. I have touched on this already. I am not saying that every single person has the wherewithal and life skills to reach the level of prosperity or risk that I did. Maybe I was lucky with the way I was brought up and it is just not reasonable to think everybody can do that. Whatever scaled-down version of independence is within your capability, I say step forward. You might be a musician or graphic artist. All we care about is that you shape your environment; do not be shaped by it. That is the fundamental aspect of Liberalism. What do we Liberal individualists do with those freedoms and maybe wealth? The answer is that we Liberals understand that freedom is also a burden. What about the even more forgotten people who cannot make that step? Do we just discard them, as we are sometimes accused of doing? Did we ever discard them? This is often the counterattack made on Liberalism by the left. No, we do not discard them; we share, we offer a hand and we reach down and lift. For over a century, Liberals have introduced targeted and needs-based support through limited government. The focus was always on the vulnerable but would never embed a permanent status of being on welfare. We recognise that there are many who need a hand up, or for some other act of God need simple protection.
Ladies and gentlemen, Liberals introduced child endowment to ease the financial burden on country. Liberals granted voting rights to Indigenous Australians in 1962, a turning point that has been long denied. Liberals gave parental choice in education, ensuring that Catholic and Independent schools not only survive but flourish in the public system. Liberals created the Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme to break the privilege barrier to tertiary education. Liberals created the Australian National University, CSIRO, the Australian Atomic Energy Commission, the Council for the Arts, the National Gallery of Australia, the Australian Ballet and, in 1967, the Office of Aboriginal Affairs and, in 1981, the Australian Human Rights Commission. Here in the west, did Richard Court and his father take the proceeds of mining and put it in someone's pocket? No. They established the Disability Services Commission and the Mental Health Commission. Many of these things could have been done by their predecessors, but they were not.
Finally, I think the best one, which is on Sir Charles Court's memorial plaque down on St Georges Terrace, is the most basic of human need for legal aid. Often in a David and Goliath situation, the forgotten person does not have access to fair legal representation. It was the Liberal Party in Western Australia that created Legal Aid WA, which is now rolled out throughout the country as a national standard. It started right here. That is rolled-gold Liberal Party social policy.
Lastly, internationally, Liberals advocated for a free and independent Timor, standing by for self-determination and liberty abroad. We exported our form of Liberalism as well. We deployed our Army in a humanitarian cause, mobilised the world and created a nation from nothing. Then we left so that the Timorese people could decide how they wanted to run their affairs.
That is what we mean when we say we refer to the dignity of the individual and the burden of freedom, which I have listed. All of it was targeted, focused on those who could not help themselves. Much of it was created after a Labor government. I do not deny the great achievements of your party, Premier, which are impressive. There is a similar list in education and health, but do not misrepresent the scale of Liberal fidelity to the forgotten people of Australia. These were deliberate acts of freedom. They proved that society comes through individual empowerment with graduated support to never build, or hopefully never build, dependency and entitlement.
I wish to now pay tribute to the electorate of Nedlands in the time I have available. It is the special corner of Perth we are in now and I am so fortunate to represent. After 1832, it was called Captain Edward "Ned" Hall's farm, Nedsland. Thus it became Nedlands. The electorate I now represent was formed in 1930 and includes Crawley, Nedlands, Dalkeith, Claremont, Shenton Park, Subiaco, Daglish, Hollywood, Jolimont and West Perth.
Nedlands is more than a leafy suburb. It is a living testament to the Australian dream, where hard work builds a home and freedom has built a community. To the south we have the Swan River; to the east, Kings Park in its majesty. These are not just landscapes but symbols of our identity. We love that the people from all over the state, the country and the world come to Nedlands. We are the home of the University of Western Australia, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Hollywood Hospital, Bob Hawke College, Perth Modern and many other places, particularly medical specialists. We are home to volunteers, artists, entrepreneurs and scientists. This is a society that gives back. As many of you know, certainly on my side, I doorknocked every single street in Nedlands during the election campaign. I spoke to over 5,000 Nedlands residents. I will fight to uphold property rights, local decision-making and civic pride in every planning decision and government policy.
I would like to address some local issues just for a moment. Private property rights are core to our understanding of Liberal values. Nedlands residents understand the need for more density. They just want it done in sympathy and harmony with their existing property. The density debate, though, is a symptom of a much wider population. Immigrants, like all of us, I think, are going to keep coming. We must now, as we approach our bicentenary, hark back to those original decisions made in the colonial office back in the 1820s. It is time for us now to have our own Newcastle, Wollongong or Geelong. This will take great investment, time and incentives, but we need to think about our new city, or cities, for Western Australia. It is the nature of human development over thousands of years. We should not be any different.
This leads me to the next 200 years and our bicentennial in 2029. We looked at 2029, the bicentennial of the Swan River colony, and I would like to propose an agenda for that, to give these real values. This story I have told you is not a history lesson. I am talking about, as I said, propelling liberalism forward into the next 200 years by empowering individuals and expanding their school choices. I congratulate some of the things that have been done by the government, particularly around housing affordability. I thought the granny flat reforms were fantastic. We need to revitalise free enterprise, competition and productivity. We need to do work on payroll tax reform. I look forward to working with the member for Mandurah and chairman as we co-chair the committee together. Let us keep paying our contractors on time. Let us pay them in 28 days. It is very vital for their cash flow. Let us have a lean and accountable government. I assure you, over the next four years I will work on that. I do not say much in this chamber, you might have noticed, because I am working away, line by line, government by department to audit each and every one.
Ladies and gentlemen, we also need to develop a sustainable and free natural and cultural environment and strengthen our civil society. Ladies and gentlemen, the time for timidity is over. Let us raise up the individual, unleash the entrepreneur, trust the family and reassert the primacy of the citizen over the state. Let us show the corner of the world that freedom still burns brightly here. To the people of Nedlands, I will serve you. To my colleagues, I will fight for our values. To the future, I will not flinch. As we prepare for Western Australia’s bicentenary and 2029 and, hopefully, our victory, I ask: what kind of society do we want to celebrate? What do we want to leave behind? Our paths should be guarded in the future by liberal values that we believe, written by men and women who understand that freedom is not a gift from government, but the birthright of every person. We believe in Australia’s place in the world as a beacon of democracy; of the rules-based international order and a reliable trading partner for our long-term customers. These are Liberal values lived daily. Let us stand together for freedom, for opportunity and for a Western Australia worthy of its history and destiny. I stand before you, the people of Nedlands, your humble servant. Thank you.
(Applause.)
The Deputy Speaker: Excuse me, no photos in the gallery, please. Can you please take your seats, thank you very much. Member for Fremantle.
(Interruption from the gallery.)
Ms Simone McGurk (Fremantle—Minister for Creative Industries) (3:36 pm): I know people at the back of the chamber are very excited to hear me speak.
The Deputy Speaker: Excuse me, can you please take your discussions outside of the chamber. Thank you.
Ms Simone McGurk: Thank you, Acting Speaker. I take this opportunity to talk on the Address-in-Reply, and I am grateful for that because I acknowledge that, as a minister, I get my fair share of being on my feet in this chamber. But there are a few things happening in my neck of the woods in Fremantle and I thought it would be good to take the opportunity to place a few things on the record.
Many members would be aware that there is never a dull moment in the electorate of Fremantle, and that was particularly the case in the recent state election. I am lucky enough to represent an informed, passionate and active community. I do not deny that at times that can be exhausting, but my constituents have high expectations of government and, as I have said many times, I take my responsibility as their representative seriously and I apply myself diligently. I cannot tell members how frustrating it was to hear time and again in the lead-up to 8 March that the seat of Fremantle is a so-called safe Labor seat and is evidently therefore taken for granted. It is patently clear that my seat is not a safe seat, most obviously because I won the seat from a Green turned Independent. It was a chaotic time—a dalliance that ended poorly. If that was not proof enough, I took the time to look at an online resource—tallyroom.com.au—to see how many Labor seats were above me prior to the last state election. It surprised even me to learn that prior to the last election, there were 39 Labor seats that were considered safer than mine. There are only 59 seats in this chamber. It is clear that Fremantle is not a safe Labor seat. It was always a ridiculous and lazy claim and remains so today.
I also take the time to list what the McGowan and Cook Labor governments have delivered and are delivering for Fremantle. This includes a $430 million new traffic bridge, which is the biggest infrastructure project for Fremantle in decades; over $100 million for a new police station that is fit for purpose, appropriate for a hospitality precinct and with the capacity to host more police working in Fremantle; and a $63 million investment in Fremantle Hospital’s mental health facility, creating a modern environment for patients and staff, more beds and, importantly, a 24-hour urgent care facility for mental health patients. This will be game-changing. This specialised service will be better for patients and another measure that will free up other hospital emergency departments. The Alma Street Centre upgrades are in addition to the $8.5 million to produce a dedicated neuro-rehabilitation ward at the hospital.
We are delivering $27 million in infrastructure upgrades at John Curtin College of the Arts and around $20 million has been spent to support the World Heritage–listed, but fragile, Fremantle Prison. We have also spent $500,000 on the Roundhouse. This list does not include the High Street – Stirling Highway upgrade to make that intersection safer and more efficient for both passenger and freight vehicles, nor does it include hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements to our local schools.
Of course, we stopped Roe 8 and Roe 9; stopped the disastrous Perth Freight Link; protected the Beeliar wetlands as a nature reserve; and relegated Roe 8 to the dustbin of history, when the Cook Labor government finally removed it from the metropolitan region scheme late last year. In what world does the list I have just run through constitute neglect or characterise a seat as having been taken for granted? Of course, it does not. In fact, I campaigned hard to win the trust of the people of Fremantle and I have continued to work hard ever since.
In this campaign alone, the lead-up to the 2025 election, team Fremantle ran a strong local campaign. Armed with people power and countless volunteers, we knocked on nearly 8,000 doors—around 40% of the electorate—and made thousands of phone calls to constituents. There is no doubt about it, though: our hard-fought gains in Fremantle were at risk in the state election. I won, though. I know that I won narrowly, and I thank not only my formula 1 campaign crew but also the members of my community who have put their faith in me.
I want to speak about something that is at risk in the upcoming elections. We are not just talking about what can be achieved when people cast their votes; we are asking people to seriously consider what is at risk. In fact, that is exactly what we are urging voters to think about as they decide who they want to support in Fremantle this Saturday: what is at risk in this federal election? I hope what would be at risk under a Dutton government would go without saying, but in case it does not, here are a few points. A Dutton-led coalition government will condemn Australia to its expensive nuclear obsession; cut 41,000 crucial frontline service jobs; delay real action on climate change; erode worker protections; and put at risk hard-fought gains when it comes to Medicare. I only wish the Independent candidate for Fremantle, Kate Hulett, understood that as well.
There was a special federal election "Politics in the Pub" in South Fremantle, where Independents and candidates from the minor parties were asked about a range of local matters. A Greens candidate in the state election Felicity Townsend asked the following question of all candidates, according to my notes:
I'd love a clear yes/no answer from each of the candidates—will you publicly commit to not supporting Dutton and the Liberal Party to form Government?
Kate Hullet refused to answer, instead saying:
My position is to represent the community and that's what I do.
In fact, Katina Curtis reported on this interaction in an article in today's The West Australian, which states:
In a fiery exchange after she was asked for a yes or no answer on ruling out backing Mr Dutton. Ms Hulett again said she would consult the community.
"I'd say the first rule of negotiations…" she started before being shouted down by audience members demanding a clear answer.
"Well you're not going to get one from me," she responded.
"My position is to represent the community and that's what I do."
That is incredible. What we are hearing from an Independent candidate for the federal seat of Fremantle is that she is not ruling out supporting a Dutton Liberal government if it were in a position to form a minority government. In an Instagram post from 16 April about the Wally Hagan Basketball Stadium, Ms Hulett said that she would work with whoever wanted to form government. The same Independent lists government transparency as one of her key priorities, yet she consistently refuses to rule out supporting a minority Dutton government. I urge the voters of Fremantle: buyer beware when it comes to Ms Hulett, or any other candidate looking for your support. Look carefully at what is being promised and how they are saying they will actually deliver what they are saying they can deliver. There are many other aspects of Independent Kate Hulett's campaign that I could talk about. One is her policy to ban how-to-vote cards. I think that policy is partly born of her own frustration with the preferential voting system, or perhaps a misunderstanding of it, but that policy she is indicating she would pursue could lead to many voters voting informally and therefore disenfranchising them. This is not in the interests of democracy, let alone progressive politics.
I could go on about Ms Hulett's policies, but I do not want to appear churlish or tin-eared about the Fremantle state election result. Clearly, there are lessons to be learnt. There were messages sent and lessons to be learnt, and there is work to be done, and I am here, doing that work, and I will not stop. One of my priorities—in fact, a priority for all of us on the government benches—will be to deliver on my local election commitments, and I want to take a moment to talk about those.
I had an opportunity in the lead-up to the state election to not only talk about what we have achieved in government but also engage with the local community and talk about what they wanted out of a future Cook Labor government. I was very pleased to be able to deliver a range of different initiatives for our local schools. It has been a privilege. All the members, from both sides, who I have heard talk so far in this chamber and since I have been in state Parliament have really enjoyed engaging with their local schools. They have no doubt at times patiently heard their demands of their local government; they quite rightly have high expectations, as I have talked about before. That was no less the case in the lead-up to this state election.
I was really pleased to be able to make a number of small and larger local commitments to my local schools. Beaconsfield Primary School will get $50,000 for solar upgrades. Christ the King Primary School will get the same amount for playground upgrades. Winterfold Primary School will get the same amount for a library refurbishment. East Fremantle Primary School will get $50,000 for an undercover area refurbishment. Fremantle Primary School will get $50,000 for a digital hub. Fremantle College will get $250,000. In fact, in partnership with Sook Yi Lai, the member for Bibra Lake, there will be $300,000 for solar pool heating at Fremantle College. John Curtin College of the Arts will get $200,000 to refurbish its new drama centre that we are in the process of constructing. St Patricks Primary School will get $50,000 for playground upgrades. Lance Holt Community School will get $35,000 for solar panels. Kerry Street School will get $30,000 for solar panels. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Primary School, $40,000 for performing arts upgrades. White Gum Valley Primary School, $50,000 for iPads. I was also pleased that a number of schools will benefit from the Cooling Our Schools program. A significant issue in the lead-up to the state election and prior to that was safe road options for Hampton Road, particularly for Beaconsfield Primary School. Notwithstanding that that school is the responsibility of the Fremantle local government council, we were able to secure $700,000 for a pedestrian crossing near the IGA for Beaconsfield Primary School, and we will deliver that in partnership with the City of Fremantle.
I spoke earlier about the Wally Hagan Basketball Stadium. A number of us worked hard on that. Again, we had very fierce advocacy from the Cougars basketball community for upgrades to that very, very popular facility. At the moment there are four basketball courts; it is bursting at the seams. They have waiting lists of people across all ages who want to come in and participate in their very popular basketball program. The state government, in partnership with a number of local members, has contributed $20 million towards the upgrade of that facility. The City of Cockburn will lead that project.
I was also really pleased that the Treasurer announced $30 million for B Shed upgrades, which will include the capacity for performing arts to utilise the facility. That will include the WA Circus, which is very popular and has been looking for a home for some time.
The B shed will not be a home for the circus, but it will be a place where they will be able to perform and other live performance organisations will be able to utilise that facility once it is completed. It will have berthing for the Leeuwin II once it is repaired. They were really pleased to hear that there will still be a berthing capacity for the Leeuwin there. There will then be upgraded facilities for Rottnest Island ticketing and the like to create a good tourism experience. There has been $30,000 allocated for that. Those are all significant contributions in the lead-up to this election.
I want to say that from my experience of the many debates and discussions in the lead-up to the state election, sometimes it was about physical infrastructure and sometimes it was about the dollars that we could commit or what we had done in the past—our track record. I went through earlier in my address the significant infrastructure that is being committed to in my electorate of which I am very proud, but of course there is more to do. There is more to do for all of us in our electorates, whether it is about physical infrastructure, working with community organisations to increase their capacity, working with local organisations that support sporting facilities, pursuits or teams or working with social organisations like St Patrick's Community Support Centre in my electorate, which works with homeless and at-risk people in the community. Of course, there is always more to do.
I was proud to be able to draw on my record as a local member but also as a previous minister in this government on a number of things that I have participated in that I believe have enriched my community and, in fact, the state. I have particularly talked about my time as the Minister for Child Protection and the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence and I am very pleased at the work that continues on that long road to try to address the scourge that is domestic violence and violence against women in our community. I am very proud of the work I have done as the Minister for Training and Workforce Development. It is a fantastic portfolio. I am sad to let any portfolio go, but it is hard to let that one go. I am very proud of what we are doing with free TAFE, physical upgrades to our TAFEs and supported vocational training and skill development generally in our state. Of course, there is also the Water portfolio. I could talk underwater about what we have achieved in that portfolio, but I have to hand that on! I have new responsibilities now.
Of course, as the Minister for Creative Industries, I know that my local community in Fremantle will not let me forget that they are there and that they have an active, capable and—as I have said a few times—demanding community that expects support and I am happy to lean in and give that support and to have honest conversations about what our capacity is at a state level to meet those expectations.
There are so many things I could talk about that we have done as a state government. Particularly as a minister, as I have said, I am very proud of some of the things we have achieved over the past eight years on any number of fronts—particularly in my portfolios or as a local member.
I want to recall briefly a conversation I had in the few days after the state election was finalised in Fremantle. People will remember that it took a few days for that count to be finalised, partly because it was so close and also because there were there were demands on our friends in the Western Australian Electoral Commission.
(Member's time extended.)
Ms Simone McGurk: As the vote was finalised, I was getting lots of acknowledgements and thankyous around the community, which is really, really appreciated. I particularly appreciated a dozen Portuguese tarts from a Portuguese family who wanted to thank me for my work. Nothing says thank you better than tarts or sweets. Thank you. You are always welcome in my office.
My electorate office is next door to Uniting WA. I have a bit to do with one of the workers there because we share an office and I have seen her over the years. Amongst other things, she is a financial counsellor. She pulled me up and said, "Look, great. I'm so glad." She gave me a hug and said, "You know, there's so many things that have happened that have changed that people just often don't see that I know make a real difference." She talked about the rent relief grants that the Minister for Commerce talked about in question time today. She said, "As a financial counsellor and someone working in Uniting WA, I know what a difference those grants have made. I have seen that we have been able to talk to people, let them know that those grants are available, keep them in their rentals, negotiate through their financial difficulties and help maintain them in a stable environment." She said that people often do not see that—they just see the name of a program and move on—but those things make a difference and she wanted to thank me.
I will just reiterate what the Minister for Commerce outlined in question time today: that $11 million in rent relief grants have helped support nearly 2,500 households, including more than 1,000 children. Of the recipients, 65% have been women, with half of them being single mothers. A quarter of recipients have been in regional WA. The Centre for Social Impact has done an evaluation of that program, which I think is a great idea. It found that 85% of tenants remained in their home six months after receiving the support. Those who moved were able to find new, more affordable tenancies.
Of course, there is work to do, particularly when it comes to housing availability and affordability. It has been a major issue in both elections—and rightly so. There is a lot of work to do. We have an energetic minister and we are all leaning in whether it comes to planning policy and housing policy, or my previous portfolio or Training and Workforce Development to make sure we have skilled workers where we need to and to bring those workers in from overseas or interstate at the right level to assist with completing the building effort. As I said, I could talk about many things that I am proud of in my portfolios, but I thought that was one very good example.
There is a lot of work to do in the next four years. I am really looking forward to my portfolio responsibilities. There are a lot. There is a long list. In fact, sometimes it takes me a while to remember them. I have Creative Industries; Heritage; Aged Care and Seniors; Women; and Industrial Relations—all the public sector bargaining and health and safety. It is a big and varied load and it will no doubt serve to keep me on my feet.
There is a lot to do in Fremantle—to listen to the community, to heed some of the messages I was sent during the election and to continue to engage and talk with people and to start to realise some of the potential of Victoria Quay with the eventual moving of the container port to make sure that people are engaged and we get that movement, development and change right. There are demands for infrastructure, particularly around the South Fremantle football oval. It is a big, expensive project, and I will be advocating for it. I will have to see how I go. There are big asks and smaller asks that I will continue to have for my electorate.
I want to finish again on the note that I that I started my address with. In the lead-up to the federal election, there are important decisions to be made. I think people are probably feeling a little exhausted. I know those of us in the political game are because it has been a lot of work in the lead-up to the state election, and now a federal election. But I think it is important, particularly when we have such a closely contested election, that we ask people to take the time to think, consider and look behind some of the headline messages, promises and commitments to understand what is actually being proposed, how those promises or undertakings are planned to be delivered and to look at the people themselves. I have had the great pleasure of working with Josh Wilson, the federal Fremantle representative. I have supported him from before he was in Parliament to gain preselection. Since then, I cannot think of a more principled, capable and passionate person to represent Fremantle. I urge the people of Fremantle to support Josh Wilson and also to support a re-elected Albanese government.
Debate adjourned, on motion by Mr David Michael (Leader of the House).
