First Speech...
29 June 1994
Senator
FORSHAW ( New South Wales) ( 5.00 p.m.)
I regard it as a great honour to rise this afternoon to deliver
my first speech as a senator for New South Wales. Indeed, there
can be few greater privileges than to represent one's party and
the people of this great nation in the federal parliament. I am
particularly pleased that members of my family, my wife's family
and friends have been able to attend this afternoon. My dear mother
has often reminded me that as a child I made so much noise that
people invariably said, `He'll end up a politician.' They were
proved correct, but I hope for the wrong reasons.
At the outset, Mr President, I do wish to place firmly on the
record the debt that I owe to my parents, who instilled in me,
my brothers and sister from an early age a commitment to the Labor
Party and to social justice. As I grew up, I saw them fight the
good fight in the cause of Labor. They never gave up, they never
lost the faith, even in those wilderness years between 1949 and
1972. Like so many parents of that generation immediately following
the war, they worked hard with a fierce determination to provide
their children with the opportunities for an education and for
a secure future.
In the early 1950s, my father was a member of the Cronulla branch
of the ALP. Indeed, at one stage, when he was branch secretary,
there was a budding politician named Gough Whitlam as his assistant
secretary. In 1955, he narrowly missed out on preselection for
the seat of Hughes and, therefore, the opportunity to serve as
a member of the federal parliament. I think that is what initially
inspired me to pursue a political career. I know that any success
that I may have had to date is as much an achievement for him as
it may be for myself.
I am also indebted to my many friends and colleagues in the Labor
Party, the trade union movement and in the federal and New South
Wales parliaments who have given me great support and shown great
confidence in me. In this regard, I particularly wish to record
my thanks to a close friend, John Della Bosca, General Secretary
of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party.
Mr President, I was appointed to fill the vacancy in the Senate
caused by the retirement of Senator Graham Richardson. I think
it is most appropriate to describe my appointment as following
Graham Richardson, because Graham is a person whom nobody could
ever pretend to replace. Much has already been said in this chamber,
particularly on the night of his retirement, about Graham Richardson's
political career. Graham's roles as party secretary, as a political
strategist and as factional leader have already been well covered.
But I want to pay tribute to Graham for his tremendous contribution
to the policies and decisions which have shaped Australia since
the election of the Hawke government and, subsequently, the Keating
government.
During his parliamentary career, Graham served
as minister for portfolios as diverse as the environment, the
arts, sport, tourism, territories, social security, transport,
communications, and health—a
huge range indeed in a short space of time. But Graham had the
intellect and the capacity and, when needed, the political courage
to pursue objectives and to achieve change in areas that will be
of lasting benefit to this nation. Graham was particularly able
to stimulate public interest in important issues like the environment
and Aboriginal health through his exceptional communication skills.
He is well equipped for his new career in journalism and the media.
Mr President, whilst I appreciate that in a first speech one is
expected to show a generosity of spirit, I cannot let the occasion
pass without referring to the recent vicious personal attacks on
and attempted character assassination of Graham Richardson, now
a private citizen. I recently took the opportunity to view the
video and read the Hansard record of Graham's valedictory
speech. It is interesting to recall part of what he said that night.
I quote:
If this chamber continues to descend into a chamber where assassination
of character is the order of the day, it will never ever live up
to the promise that it holds. I hope it does not do that. I hope
it can learn that there are other ways.
. . . . . . . . .
I will not attack a senator's character. I drew the line at that
a long time ago, although I cannot say the same for what some have
said of me.
Those who have sought to attack Graham Richardson's character
under the protection of parliament ultimately will not even amount
to footnotes in the history of this nation when one compares their
contribution with his. I believe it is appropriate now, given this
most recent experience, that we find the means to ensure that private
citizens and their families are protected from suffering such malicious
character assassination. For it is truly a misnomer to call this
a privilege of parliament.
Prior to my appointment to the Senate I was
privileged to work for 18 years for the Australian Workers Union—an
organisation dedicated to the protection of working people. Indeed,
I had the honour to be the General Secretary of the AWU for the
past three years. The AWU is one of Australia's great unions.
Its history is inextricably linked with that of the Australian
Labor Party and, indeed, with the development of the Australian
nation. We count amongst our forebears such great Australians
as Henry Lawson and Mary Gilmore. In the early years of this
century, through the Worker newspaper,
they gave expression to the development of Australia's national
identity. Such calls are once again being taken up as we move inevitably
towards a republic.
The AWU has particularly sought to represent
workers in rural and remote regions of Australia—the shearers,
the miners, those who have produced so much of Australia's export
wealth. I would like to thank all the officials, staff and members
for their comradeship and dedication over many years. I would
particularly like to mention two people, Gary Johnston and Wendy
Pymont, who became close friends during my years in the union.
Gary Johnston, along with Graham Richardson, helped me get started
in the trade union movement in the early 1970s. Wendy Pymont
has given 33 years service to the AWU and has been private secretary
to six AWU general secretaries. That takes a lot of commitment
and a huge amount of patience.
The trade union movement is an essential part of Australia's democratic
society. I will always rise to defend it against the unjustified
attacks that are often levelled at trade unions in this country
by those who merely seek scapegoats for problems that the nation
may face from time to time. In recent years, sections of conservative
politics, particularly the New Right, have mounted a campaign to
destroy the trade union movement, to undermine our system of industrial
awards and the protection of workers' rights. In my years with
the AWU I encountered many, many instances where workers had no-one
to turn to but their union. I can recall on many occasions receiving
phone calls from distraught members and non-members who had just
received the news that they were being sacked. In many cases this
was after a lifetime of service.
We can have endless debates about individualism versus collectivism,
but such arguments count for naught in situations like these because,
despite all the rhetoric, an individual worker, without access
to the resources of a representative organisation, is effectively
left defenceless. The existence of a free, democratic and viable
trade union movement is essential to any democracy. It is essential
to ensuring that people's rights and standards of living are protected.
Whenever dictatorships, either left or right, come to power, the
first groups to be repressed are the trade unions, the churches
and the political parties. This is because they are the vehicles
which give public expression to the beliefs and aspirations of
the people. In recent years we have witnessed trade unionism playing
a leading role in achieving democracy and freedom. The leadership
of Solidarity in Poland in eastern Europe and COSATU in South Africa
are vivid illustrations of the fundamental importance of organised
labour.
The struggle still goes on in a number of other countries where
trade union leaders and members are still being imprisoned, tortured
and even executed because of their activities. Unfortunately, there
is at times a blatant double standard by some in this country who
champion the cause of freedom and democracy overseas but attack
trade unions in Australia as if they were the cause of all the
ills of society.
Mr President, the trade union movement has been at the forefront
of the challenge to restructure the Australian economy to enable
us to compete internationally. It has adopted and promoted change
in many areas, particularly with respect to wage fixation, education,
training, employment opportunities, social welfare and retirement
incomes. Under the successful accord with the Australian government
since 1983 we have seen dramatic change take place and significant
social advances made over these last 11 years.
The substantial increase in school retention
levels, the establishment of Medicare, the family allowance supplement,
the move to enterprise bargaining, the reduction in personal
income tax rates, the reduction in industrial disputation to
its lowest level in 30 years, the introduction of industry-based
award superannuation, the lowest level of inflation since the
early 1960s—all of these and
many other achievements have occurred through the accord. Substantial
sections of Australia's key industries have been restructured to
make them more efficient, productive and internationally competitive.
In many cases these changes are being brought about through joint
efforts with enlightened employers and business groups who have
recognised the value of the cooperative rather than the confrontationist
approach.
I am particularly pleased at the successful introduction of award
superannuation which, for the first time, has given many thousands
of workers an opportunity to build savings for their retirement.
Like many other overdue social improvements such as child care,
parental leave and equal pay, award superannuation was bitterly
opposed at the outset by many employer groups. This was particularly
the case for rural employees who are invariably itinerant workers
on low incomes with very little employment security. I recall that
after much argument we successfully achieved this benefit for rural
workers, notwithstanding the opposition from a leading New Right
barrister in Victoria, who shall remain nameless, but who has since
embarked upon a political career.
All sorts of accusations have been levelled at the union movement
in its campaign to promote superannuation. But look at the results!
Since 1983 accumulated superannuation funds have grown from $23
billion to almost $200 billion. They have been projected to reach
$600 billion by the year 2000. The percentage of people in the
work force covered by a superannuation scheme has increased from
45 per cent in 1982 to over 80 per cent in 1993. The number of
people and the level of contributions will continue to grow in
future years, thereby alleviating demands upon the social security
system. These assets will also provide a substantial opportunity
for increased investment in Australian industry.
There is, nevertheless, one area which needs to be addressed,
and that is the difficulty encountered by low income earners whose
superannuation contributions are being whittled away by high fees
and management charges. This is a major concern for itinerant and
casual workers in such areas as the rural sector, and it is a particular
concern for women in the work force. Mr President, I was therefore
very pleased to read the statement of the Treasurer (Mr Willis)
that was made yesterday in which he announced measures to rectify
these problems.
Whilst I was born and raised in the city of Sydney, my years in
the AWU brought home to me the importance of rural and regional
Australia. Too often those of us who live in urban Australia forget
just how important our rural and resource sectors still are to
our economic wellbeing. Exports of all primary products represent
approximately 61 per cent of total export income. Of this figure,
minerals and fuels account for 32 per cent whilst rural exports
account for 29 per cent. Over 400,000 people derive their livelihood
directly from the rural sector. Whilst, historically, rural statistics
show declining trends, it is pleasing to note the positive predictions
for an improvement in the rural sector contained in the recent
ABARE agricultural overview.
As this government has recognised, there are tremendous opportunities
to capitalise on our natural assets, particularly through downstream
processing of our raw materials. One such industry is the food
industry where we can be innovative and can deliver high quality,
safe food products to an expanding Asian market. The food processing
industry is our largest manufacturing industry with a gross product
of $8.5 billion, employing some 170,000 people. Exports of high
value added products are currently worth $2.3 billion per year.
The government's agri-food industry strategy is providing opportunities
for real growth in exports and employment, and consequently improvement
in our balance of payments. It builds upon the excellent results
already achieved in international trade through the Cairns Group
and through the recent GATT negotiations in which the Australian
government played such a leading part.
The greatest challenge facing this nation today is to reduce unemployment.
It is a challenge which all sections of the community must take
up. In tackling unemployment, we have to recognise that we face
a vastly different world from that which existed when we could
boast of long periods of full employment. No longer can we simply
depend upon high commodity prices and guaranteed markets for our
raw materials. Technological change occurs so rapidly that today's
computer is virtually obsolete tomorrow. The days when industries
could slumber along behind protective barriers are over.
The federal government has created the framework for increasing
employment. We have economic growth. We have low inflation. We
have restructured industry and established a climate for increased
investment. These foundations have been built upon in the recent
white paper on employment and growth. I particularly welcome those
aspects of the white paper which focus on increasing opportunities
for the long-term unemployed.
One thing I learned in the union movement is that unemployment
is not merely some economic indicator; rather, we are dealing with
real people and real families who expect nothing more than the
opportunity to work and to obtain a job with dignity. The white
paper deals with the effects of unemployment both in terms of the
individual immediately affected and also the wider social cost
involved. Through the provision of training, skill development
and jobsearch assistance the focus is directed at assisting the
individual, particularly the long-term unemployed. It also removes
restrictions on part-time work within the social security system
and it further recognises the important role of parents caring
for young children through the parenting allowance.
These, and the other measures to promote regional development,
are what distinguish this government's approach from the alternative
proposals of simply reducing wages and working conditions. The
opportunities are there in the white paper for business to take
up the challenge and increase its investment in Australian industry
and in the Australian work force.
In concluding my first speech, Mr President, I wish to record
my special thanks to my wife Jan, and to my children Simon, Martin
and Jeremy. I am fortunate to have their love, their support and,
above all, their patience.
Mr President, on 10 May this year I was appointed to the Senate
by a joint sitting of the New South Wales Parliament. Later that
evening, as I drove to Canberra with my family, I listened on the
car radio to the inaugural address of Nelson Mandela, the first
truly democratically elected president of South Africa. He spoke
of the struggle that his country has endured and of the special
relationship that his people have with the land. He described the
challenges ahead of building peace, prosperity, non-sexism, non-racism
and democracy.
Mr President, we have been privileged in
this country to have enjoyed for so long relative peace, prosperity,
freedom and democracy—things
that Nelson Mandela fought for and dreamed of for so many years.
It is our duty to ensure that these principles are not only maintained
but also extended to those who do not yet enjoy them to the fullest.
Mr President, it is our primary task in the parliament to ensure
that people enjoy a free, peaceful, democratic society; that they
live in a clean, safe environment; that they have access to adequate
health care, education, employment opportunities, security in retirement
and a decent standard of living. I am pleased to be part of a government
and of a party that continues to pursue and deliver these objectives.
I thank you, Mr President, and honourable senators for your indulgence.
Consideration resumed.
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