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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-19 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption.

(Continued from 18 May 2022.)

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Taylor, I remind members that this is the member's first speech, and the customary courtesies of the house ought be extended in these circumstances. I call the member for Taylor.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Planning) (11:02): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and congratulations on your election as Speaker of the house. I congratulate Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson AC on her address to the house and also acknowledge that the land we meet on today is the land of the Kaurna people and pay respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.

Congratulations to all of the class of '22 on your excellent first speeches. I want to begin my first address to this house with the words that I quoted in concluding my first speech to the federal House of Representatives:

We come here to give service because we early caught the disease of endeavouring to render public services in some sphere and to leave the world better than we found it.

These were the words of Sydney McHugh, a South Australian farmer, veteran and Labor Party member from Quorn who served as the federal member for Wakefield from 1938 to 1940. McHugh's words are old-fashioned but I believe fundamentally the sentiment to be true: what unites us in this place is a desire to do good.

A century later, in the context of a profound cynicism about politics here and around the world, we have a job to prove that. I have found that the best way to combat public distrust is faithful service to your constituents and to your cause. Fundamentally, that means showing up and doing what you say you will do. That is why for the last 15 years I have regularly held publicly advertised stalls in the Munno Para Shopping Centre.

I have doorknocked and called, and I have attended events all over the northern suburbs and the Mid North. I have delivered on election commitments that we made on my election day in 2007, like a GP Super Clinic on Curtis Road. I have faithfully tried to represent people when they have come to me with issues. Because I am a person of strong opinions, I have also argued with my constituents when I think they are wrong.

When I quoted Syd McHugh in my first speech to the federal parliament, I did not realise that I would be following in his footsteps in another way. McHugh served not only as member for Wakefield but also as the member for Light and the member for Burra Burra in the South Australian parliament. It is my great honour to have the people of Taylor place their confidence in me to serve them in this house. But I am conscious, of course, that I would not have had the great privilege to serve in both the federal and state parliaments without the great Australian Labor Party.

Ever since I joined the party in 1992 and went to my first meeting at the Elizabeth sub-branch, I have been committed to this great Australian cause of fairness, justice, liberty and the mutual bond of mateship with our fellow citizens. I would like to thank the Taylor sub-branch for all of their work in the election campaign, particularly our president, Mr Steve Hollingsworth, a former worker at Holden and a delegate for the mighty Vehicle Builders Union.

I would also like to acknowledge Mr Jon Gee, my predecessor in Taylor and a former Holden worker, delegate and official at the VBU. These men were on the frontline to save Holden from closure, and they were on the frontline advocating for workers in the aftermath. I would also like to thank the SDA for their passion in advancing the rights of retail workers. To Josh Peak, Sonia and Tom at the SDA, keep up the good work.

As a former trolley collector, I saw firsthand how contracting can lead to a race to the bottom on wages and conditions, and it radicalised me. To this day, I believe that the fair payment of workers is the foundation stone for a fair society. If you do not have fair wages, you will not have fairness in other areas of public policy because greed will be prioritised as a societal value.

I am so glad that after the long fight, not just by unions but also by the fair work inspectorate, most of the major retailers have now taken action to protect trolley collectors from subcontracting arrangements that undermine pay and conditions. You should all note that the trolley collectors faction in this government is small, but it is significant: just the Premier and I. I think we are open to new members, even those in the opposition. I would also like to acknowledge Mr Ian Smith at the TWU, Mr Peter Lamps at the AWU, and Mr John Adley of the CEPU, for their advocacy on behalf of their members.

So many of the people I acknowledged in my first speech to the House of Representatives are now members of this house or the other place. I cannot possibly acknowledge them all. You know who you are. Thanks for putting up with me. I do want to place on record my admiration of the efforts of the ALP party office: our president, Emily Bourke; our campaign director, Reggie Martin; and our new secretary, Aemon Bourke—a great election result, a great campaign.

A shout-out to the member for Ramsay who knew me in my high school days at Kapunda High, and the member for Elizabeth, who knew me at Salisbury uni. Someone asked me about Salisbury uni the other day and I had to explain that the campus was closed all those years ago. I would also like to give a shout-out to the members for Florey and West Torrens, who were at my first ever Young Labor meeting. I thank them for their long and enduring friendships.

I would also like to thank my two former Wakefield campaign managers: the Treasurer (on cue), and the Premier, both tough taskmasters. I would not have predicted 14 years ago that I should be so fortunate as to serve with both of them in government, and I am so glad to serve as a minister in your government, Mr Premier. The Premier must have taken some notes 14 years ago when he attended my first speech to the national parliament, because I talked at length about urban renewal and the Playford Alive project.

I am keenly aware of the critical significance of the planning portfolio and its decade-long influence on how citizens work, how they live in their homes, their families and their community. It is a vital long-term policy lever, and I look forward to implementing our election commitment to having a review into the planning legislation and the code. I also think my time on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has uniquely positioned me for the trade and investment portfolio at a time of unprecedented international turmoil.

Of course, no MP or minister is any good without a vast network of talented current and former staff. For my current staff, thanks for the last 50-plus days. Thanks to James Agness, Manny Chrisan and all the public servants for their hard work; and thanks to the former staff of the Wakefield and Spence electorate offices. To Mat Werfel—my office manager, who somehow managed to battle a rare form of asbestos-related cancer, a court case that went all the way to the High Court (and victory) and a demanding boss—I cannot thank you enough. Thanks also goes to Caleb Flight, Nimfa Farrell, Rob Klose, Alex Pados, Ruben Bala and Brad Templar.

I am particularly proud to see a former staff member, Olivia Savvas, become the member for Newland. I was always impressed by her tenacity and maturity and, in the last weeks of pre-poll as I stood on the booth, I had not one but two constituents tell me they were voting for me because of Olivia's hard work on NDIS and Centrelink cases. Olivia's hard work was typical of the staff in my office.

My final thanks must go to my closest advisers. Those of you who know me well will understand that I hate taking advice and that I would rather charge into battle, sometimes with those opposite and sometimes with the Liberal Party. If I have matured or softened at all, if I am any easier to deal with, any less pig-headed, if I have achieved any equilibrium at all, it is all down to Fiona. She was well trained in Whitehall, in Treasurer Foley's office and in Canberra to provide sage advice. Most importantly, she is patient and forgiving. She is also something of a portrait artist: she paints Labor prime ministers in colour and the Liberal ones in black and white—a visual representation of our state of affairs and, perhaps, our strengths and weaknesses.

It has been a mad journey since I convinced her to get engaged over a dinner and half a bottle of rum one night, and announced it on Facebook, but we have not looked back—and we still have the other half of a bottle of rum to get through. We have been blessed by our beautiful girl, Louise—my other adviser. She is already a great negotiator and clever advocate. I am glad she is here today so she can see it to be it, if she wants, but she might also just decide to be Spiderman. I want to thank my mum, Tina; my sister, Simone; and Fiona's parents, Lyn and Allen, for all their help and support while I was away in Canberra.

For all those Labor candidates contesting the federal election, I am thinking of you, particularly Matt Burnell in the great electorate of Spence. It is a true honour to serve in this place, to serve one's electors and to attempt to serve future generations in our deliberations. Let us all leave the world better than we found it.

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