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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-02-28 Daily Xml
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Motions

Hanson, Hon. J.E.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:33): By leave of the council, I move:

That this council welcomes the Hon. Justin Hanson, elected by an assembly of members of both houses this day to replace the Hon. G.A. Kandelaars, resigned.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: This motion is to enable our newest member to deliver his inaugural address, but it also provides an opportunity to congratulate the Hon. Justin Hanson on his appointment to this place. Together with his family and friends gathered in the gallery, and all members in this chamber, I share in the pleasure of seeing this new member appointed to the Legislative Council, taking his position on these benches.

The Hon. Justin Hanson has been a member of the South Australian Labor Party for about 15 years, and I reckon I have known him for pretty much all of that time. I have come to know the Hon. Justin Hanson and his family very well over the years. He is a proud son, a dedicated husband and a doting dad. I have shared heaps of debates, strategies, beers, meals and chuckles with him over the years. I know he has a passion and a desire that will help him fulfil his role within the parliament in a way that promotes fairness, justice and equality.

The Hon. Justin Hanson comes with a deep insight into what it means to represent the community. He has worked on many successful election campaigns, and he has used some of those lessons that he has learnt from those campaigns and applied them to his own foray into public service, where he was elected to the Tea Tree Gully council. So, he has a very good understanding of what it means to represent constituents and what will be required of him in this place in representing the people of South Australia.

The newly appointed member's life experiences have prepared him well for his new career. He began his working life as an industrial officer in the Australian Workers' Union and will proudly tell you about the many battles he fought on behalf of working people, his union members. Such jobs are at the front line of the Labor movement, and I know he will continue to work just as hard in this place to advocate for better outcomes for working South Australians and all South Australians. I welcome him to this chamber and look forward to his inaugural address.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:35): I know it has already been said in this place today, but I want to say again that we gather today on the land of the Kaurna people and that this nation always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Before I speak about my own story, I want to say a few words about the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars. Gerry's tireless advocacy for workers, for equality and for fairness in the social, industrial and political realms has elevated us all. He is a unionist of the highest calibre, and a fundamentally decent person. I greatly regret the circumstances that have led to his resignation. I wish him and his wife all the best in their journey to come.

For new members, there is a lot to learn in this place. I thank the Parliament House staff, the office holders and my parliamentary colleagues for all their assistance as I settle in. I also thank the people who have travelled to come along to hear me as I give my first address in this place. I make particular mention of Anna, who has travelled all the way from America at very short notice to be here in person. I thank you all, and thank you, Anna.

Nobody comes to this place on their own. Firstly, I would like to thank my parents. To my father, who may need no introduction to many people in this place, your cast-iron values were never up for discussion and, to me, were a harsh but fair guide for who I am today. Integrity is a word which, unfortunately, is not very often used in politics these days, but it is my view that my father wrote the book on it.

To my mother, your work with young children in early education brings light to so many lives. Like so many others since, you taught me the importance of letters, numbers, and the power of words. I hope today's speech gives more strength to your arm, mum. I will always remember how understanding you were about me wanting to read the same book every single night as a young child. It sums it up to say that, to me, in some way, you and I will always be on that holiday with Father Christmas.

I genuinely thank those people who have joined me today for their support and friendship—my great comrades: Paris, Larissa, Scott, John and Ryan from the council, and in many ways my other wife, Lucas, from the council also, as well as my extended family: Susie, Ben, Karen and Pete.

I want to extend my thanks to the South Australian Labor Party for the opportunities it has given me and its significant influence on my values and my character. The privilege of being part of a successful and dedicated team of parliament is not in any way lost on me. I also thank the South Australian union members who support their union and their fellow workers every day out there in the real world. To hold the position of shop steward or delegate, or just to give your time to another worker, is one of the greatest small tasks that any person can perform.

To the various unions that I have toiled alongside in the often thankless and overworked tasks we perform, you are all a credit to yourselves. In particular, I mention the mighty AWU and those who currently work as organisers: Scott, Gary, Cleofe, Nathan, Mick, Joe, Frank and Trish. Thanks for the memories, comrades.

To many of my fellow elected members at the City of Tea Tree Gully with whom I formed excellent working relationships right across the political spectrum in South Australia, our exceedingly productive chamber and the great things that we accomplished for our city demonstrate that good comradeship can in fact transcend ideology. To the people who have served, at one time or another, throughout my life as valued mentors in personal, professional and political life—and in particular I mention Peter Lamps, Tony Zappia and Michael Ats and, more recently, Con Michalakis—you have all made an indelible mark on my character, and I deeply thank you.

There are many people I have come to know through politics who have become true comrades and friends. In particular, I want to mention my most loyal and cherished among those friends, John and Matt. I cannot thank either of you enough for all you have ever given me over the many years of our friendship. I thank you here. Last but by no means least, I thank my brother, Marcus. He cannot be present here today for reasons outside his control. Mate, I know you will be listening to this. As far as I am concerned, you are here, and I thank you for everything we have shared over the years.

It is expected that in your maiden speech to parliament you define something of who you are and where you have come from. To this end, I can say that my mother worked in a shoe store and in early childhood education, while doing the hard work of raising two boys, and I can tell you that we were not easy. I can also say that my father was a toolmaker and then a union leader by trade. I have found a love of governance and legislation through my study of law at Adelaide University and my involvement in local government, first with the Australian Workers' Union and, of course, more recently with the Tea Tree Gully council.

My work with the council with both elected members and staff has been a great source of joy for me. I know that many here will regard that kind of sentiment as perhaps a little odd or quaint, but I have learned that councillors can help their constituents in ways that seem small to the critics but, in fact, make a huge difference to people's quality of life. I am intensely proud of the ways in which I was able to help my community, and I look back on those years fondly.

I have also been fortunate enough to work in the great success that is the Australian superannuation industry, as a director for the Statewide Superannuation Trust. It is a fund that has its operations based entirely in Adelaide, has investments in this state and looks after almost $7 billion in pensions and investments for over 100,000 South Australians. My time as a director has taught me a great deal, and I have made a lot of great friendships with colleagues that I hope will continue long after my departure. I am ever thankful for that experience.

My family and I now reside in Modbury. My family consists of my understanding and loving wife, Alex, and our energetic and inquisitive young son, who is now three years old. I take this moment to pause and recognise that in my duties in my role at the union, as a director and as an elected member at the council, I have often been away from home and my family for a long time. Alex, like so many other women in today's workforce, has been forced by circumstance to play the demanding role of primary caregiver in addition to maintaining her career.

Whilst I use this opportunity to extend my love and my thanks to Alex for all the help and time she has put into my career and our family, I also use this opportunity to express that it is a role that I wish could be very different, not just for Alex but for all parents who are primary caregivers and who pursue a career in addition to a family.

In 2017, men make up only about 3 per cent of Australians who have the primary caregiver role at home. While we have seen welcome legislative activity in the area of equal pay, these numbers quite simply do not lie. There is a failure in other areas of change towards equality. Among the many things I look forward to doing in this place, foremost is working to find more ways that caregiving can be more equally shared by both parents.

I was raised in the western suburbs of Adelaide back when living near a beach was not as desirable as it seems to be these days. While the exact location of one of my earliest memories as a young child is lost to me, I do recall that it was in fact on a beach. Judging by the memory of my height compared to that of the waves, I think I was possibly about four or five years of age. I was keen to wander into the waves, but I was afraid of how loud they were. The sound of the surf was immense, but my father, who was a battle-hardened surf lifesaver in his day, was keen to get me acquainted with the reality of those waves. He took my hand and that of my brother and he led us in.

Needless to say, in a contest between a two foot nothing kid and the waves and pounding surf, it did not end well. Within a very short period of time, I was, of course, dumped by a wave. This was compounded by the unyielding grip of my father on my hand, and then as I ingested about two pints of seawater and sand, I was suddenly yanked out of the surf by one arm into the air and deposited on the beach.

Needless to say, this could have been a very formative experience of a different kind but after checking that we were okay dad said, 'Just remember, boys, that's how life will treat you if you let it. Find your feet. Don't be afraid of the waves. If you see your brother get sucked under, go out and help him.' I didn't go back into the ocean that day; instead, I sat on the beach with mum and I looked at it and watched the surf pound all day. While I did not end up aspiring to be a surf lifesaver like my dad, I never forgot those words. I have always aspired to find my feet, be it in education, work, public life or in the waves that sometimes knock us all down from time to time, but in doing so it has become clear to me that I have enjoyed significant privilege throughout my life.

The story I bring to this place is not one of great adversity or lost opportunity. I did not come to this place with some sort of poverty hanging around me and I do not have a disability. Unlike many in our society affected by change I did not have a moment in my life where I felt that everything hung on a knife edge. The story I bring here is essentially the payment of a debt, not a financial debt as I am sure I will hear many debates about here, and not a debt you might think of where a child knocks over a box of cornflakes at home, this debt is something more than that.

My father and mother were born into that greatest of Australian rural towns—Broken Hill. As was the usual run of things in Broken Hill, my father and my mother were the son and daughter of miners. Unlike where I grew up in the western suburbs, Broken Hill does not have very many beaches. However, like the mines that led to its creation, it is a town rich in so many other ways. On family visits to Broken Hill my mother would often recite, as we drove past a particular street or house, the history of the family who lived there, including their position in the mine, whether they were a manager or a worker and how they got on with their neighbours and other workers in the street.

Whilst I did not understand it fully at the time, my mother also spent untold hours immersing me and my brother in the libraries, museums, exhibits, monuments and everything educational around town. During my childhood, and even today, my father and my mother would speak passionately about the virtues of a life in a bustling industrial town. They recall the great wealth that supported their education and their participation in a rich community life which involved all the attributes enjoyed by those in capital cities at the time. It was a life that opened doors of opportunity for them that had never been opened for their parents.

However, they will also speak of the great tragedies, especially injuries and deaths. These led to the creation of tight-knit families and neighbourhood bonds amongst the workers, bonds that saw them share their wealth in times of adversity, bonds that prized community standing above financial wealth, bonds that contributed to the formation of some of the strongest unions this country has ever seen.

In the decades surrounding the birth of my parents, mining, like many industries that we see today, was in a period of change. As a teenager, I clearly recall spending time in my grandfather's sheds. I would be looking at the hand drills, machine parts and empty explosive boxes that were the tools of trade only a few decades before my life began. It is a truly humbling glimpse into history to know that my grandfathers were literally on horsedrawn carts using hand tools to extract the wealth that contributed to building the profits that fostered the largest mining company in the world. As fate would have it, my wife's grandfather, halfway across the world in the Appalachian foothills, also began his work using those same hand tools in a town where there was literally no other work to be had.

The advent of diesel-powered mining equipment and the move towards mechanised underground mining resulted in a decline in the amount of human labour required. As the largest mining company in the world severed ties with the town that gave it birth and global markets for commodities shrank or became unstable, mining companies also consolidated their mining leases and the number of operators changed from several dozen to less than a handful.

While the town, the life, the culture and the history remain, many of the town's residents, like my mother and my father, were forced to look elsewhere for opportunity. I do not mention my experience of Broken Hill as some kind of cautionary tale where people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps when change arrives. It is actually quite the opposite. It is an example of the kind of personal sacrifice and love for community that are the ideals upon which opportunity can arise.

Quite simply, I am here today because my grandfathers toiled long hours underground in a mine. I am here today because my father did not have to follow them down that mine. I am here today because my father and my mother both knew the value that opportunity could provide to their children. I am here today because of the hard work and the sacrifice of those who came before me and because of the kind of love which leads to that kind of sacrifice.

Through my work with the Australian Workers' Union, I have met many South Australians who are now facing the more recent effects of industrial transformation and change. I pay no small tribute to my father, Wayne Hanson, for his role in leading the AWU during these times of change. It is in tough times that we all wish most earnestly for greener pastures. I know that while many have found dealing with my father to be one of the toughest times you can have, I assure you that it is only that way because he is giving you the same advice he gave to me all those years ago: find your feet, don't fear the waves, and if you see someone getting sucked under go and help them.

I was listening to the television this morning and I heard a clip of the late, great Robin Williams in which he told his dad, 'I'm going to be an actor.' His dad said, 'Make sure you take up a secondary profession, like welding.' When I told my father I was interested in politics, he said, 'Make sure you take up a secondary profession, like law.' So I did. He has always strongly encouraged me in my academic pursuits.

I also recall my father often telling me something else, though, and that is that you do not need a university degree to understand when you are getting screwed. The value that fighting for workers brings to your life is not a degree and it is not a qualification, but it will teach you something you will not find in a textbook. I will never understand the opposition to trade unions fighting for better working lives for millions of Australians. I will never understand the belief that, in some way, this fight has ended or that workers in industries do not need the leadership that industry unions provide.

The AWU is one of Australia's oldest unions. Throughout the history of this nation and this state it has played a key role in many of the pivotal moments of Australia's political, social and economic life. In a complex, integrated world, global problems become our industry problems. Climate change and technology change now occur faster than established industry can adapt and faster than workforces can be reskilled.

In my time with the union, many changes have impacted on the industries that the AWU represents. To cite such companies as Castalloy, Caroma, Arrium, Penrice, Holden, Electrolux, National Foods, Santos, Adelaide Brighton Cement and Nyrstar is to give but a short list of those companies whose workers the AWU has fought for in my short time with the union. Some of those battles we won and some of them we lost, but I am proud that the union was there to fight for its members, regardless of the outcome.

Be it through industry assistance, job programs, reskilling or promoting development of new industries, I am also proud that the Labor Party has been there too. I am also proud that the Labor Party has supported the wages and the system of conditions that many unions fought for—topical things like penalty rates, superannuation and enterprise agreements.

I am certain that my father never wanted to be a miner, and I am certain that my mother is happy not to have a miner for a husband. Generational change in terms of the workforce is actually a good thing. It is a healthy thing. However, how we regard those people who are affected by such change, what opportunities we provide to them and how much, as a society, we are willing to strengthen the safety net for them is a measure of us all.

It is my experience that workers in exposed industries would not like a handout in preference to their jobs. They like that hard work is its own reward. They like that they can work hard to provide for their families. Workers do not expect to be immune from the realities of transition and change, but increasingly they see this change as a one-way street. The kind of one-way street where their boss earns 20 times what they do; the kind of one-way street where their job gets exchanged for someone who will earn 10 times less.

In many ways, it is an understanding of these matters that has always attracted me to the Labor Party. There is a fundamental belief in the Labor Party that a good job, a secure job, and a job that provides meaning to yourself, your family and your community, is something that should be within the reach of all Australians. The Labor Party has always rejected the idea that a race to the bottom, where you only ever worry about your own job, your own pay and your own career, and where everyone else in the workforce is regarded as a competitor, is not compatible with a growing economy that also promotes social, environmental and cultural wellbeing. It is vital that governments continue, and the private sector continues, to play a role in investing in and supporting Australian industry in our cities and our regions.

It has been most heartening to me in recent times, and for many of those I have spoken to in the regions, to see our state government's most recent $50 million commitment to supporting the workers of Whyalla through the Arrium administration. That kind of support and outstanding commitment built on the state government's previous underwriting of the significant redevelopment of the smelter operations at Port Pirie.

In the Labor Party we know that there is much we can do to protect our jobs and our way of life. We know that there is much we can do to preserve the livelihoods of those now and the future of those yet to come of the South Australian workforce. The opportunity to be among the decision-makers who take those steps, who make those policies, is a most gratifying fulfilment of my lifetime of aspiration to make a difference for working people and their families.

This opportunity is the repayment of that debt. It is what the sacrifices of my grandparents and my parents have enabled me to do. I owe a great debt to them and I will repay it on behalf of all the families, just like mine, who have made the same sacrifices, but have not had the same opportunities that I have. Those families can be found in every city and every town, all across this state. It is a great and humbling privilege to represent them in this place and I will never, not for one minute, take that privilege for granted.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Motion carried.

Sitting suspended from 15:57 to 16:11.

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