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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-17 Daily Xml
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Address in Reply

Address in Reply

Adjourned debate on motion for adoption.

(Continued from 5 May 2022.)

The PRESIDENT: Before I call the Hon. Mr Martin, I remind members that it is the Hon. Mr Martin's maiden speech and of course we will extend every courtesy to him. I call the Hon. Mr Martin.

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (15:40): I would like to acknowledge that we meet on the lands of the Kaurna people, and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. My family's South Australian story began like many others: with a small bit of illegal immigration. My great-grandfather decided to leave his European home by jumping ship and seeking a better life on the other side of the world. Looking back on my previous career, it now seems fortuitous that he came to these shores with the surname Campaign.

My parents, Brian and Carol, were raised in true working-class conditions. Brought up in Port Adelaide in large families, they did it tough. My mum's family story could probably be made into a Netflix series featuring a returned serviceman who suffered from what we would now know as PTSD, who self-medicated with alcohol, losing a leg to alcoholism.

Carol's mother had a secret: when my mum recently looked into the family tree, she discovered a long-lost brother who had been hidden from the other family members. Her long-lost brother has now been reunited with the family after more than 60 years and we could not be happier to have him as part of our family.

My parents, like many in their generation, married in their late teens, with two children quickly on the scene. They lived hand to mouth, struggling to put food on the table, but all the while they were completely dedicated and caring to their children. Growing up, my brother and sister had it a lot tougher than me, but the love they were shown more than compensated for the things they had to go without.

My father had left school at 13 and had more than a handful of jobs before he was 20. It was only when he finally got a job in a unionised workforce that he discovered job security for the first time. As a 20 year old, early into his marriage, Brian saw that there was power in the union and that with the workers standing together, they could ensure fair pay and conditions while at the same time ensuring the company was productive and profitable. Over time, he became more involved with his union, becoming a shop steward, organiser and eventually the secretary of the union.

By the time I came along, 11 and 10 years respectively after my siblings, my family had turned the corner and the fair pay my father received meant there was not much that I had to miss out on. Around the dinner table it was drilled into me that for many people life was hard and that sometimes people need a leg up in life. Whatever we like to think, children are not born in equal circumstances. We need to recognise that education should not be about equality but about equity. Some children need more help to achieve the same outcomes, and it is the role of the government and taxpayers to make sure that children get every opportunity in life to maximise their potential.

In 1972, Gough Whitlam said that:

Increasingly, a citizen's standard of living, the health of himself and his family, his children's opportunities for education and his access to employment opportunities are determined by where he lives.

Sadly, 50 years later, this is still the truth. Recent studies show that a child born in a low socio-economic area is twice as likely to be unemployed and not engaging in education or training at the age of 24 when compared with the average. For an Indigenous young person, that likelihood is tripled.

When I was studying biology in my final year at Taperoo High School, there were 24 kids in the class and 12 microscopes. Of the 12, only one was relatively new and it was standard to meet the requirements of the syllabus. The other 11 were decades old and in such a state that students who used them were at a disadvantage in doing well in the class. It struck me then that this just is not right. Kids should not miss out on opportunities due to a lack of resourcing. This memory has stuck with me all this time.

If the kids who went to my high school had better equipment, more opportunities and access to extra help, would more of them have finished year 12? Would more of them have gone on to further study? Did any of them miss out on following their dreams because of the postcode they were born into? Sadly, I think the answer to these questions is yes.

There are many fantastic public schools in South Australia staffed by dedicated, caring and exceptional educators and staff. My mother-in-law is one of them, having taught in public schools for over 30 years. My sister-in-law has taught in Port Augusta in a school with a large population of Aboriginal children and her stories bring into focus the need for more access to services and resources to those who need them most.

The teachers in some of our most challenging schools need our support. Many are spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars of their own money to provide everything from books and stationery, to food and clothing, for underprivileged kids. An investment in education is not just about the social impact, as it has a greater than two times multiplier effect on the economy.

That is, money we invest in young children today results in twice the economic benefit down the line. This return on investment is something that should be a no-brainer and, while there are always competing priorities of a state budget, an investment in education is always the right priority. Labor's election commitment to look at a wholesale review of early education is the right step to take. Now is the time to take stock of where we are at, what we need to do, to make sure that every child has the support they need to reach their potential.

While we are investing in education, we also need to look to the future of our economy and our environment. A Labor commitment that I am excited about is the creation of a hydrogen industry in South Australia. From cheaper gas in our pipelines, to powering our vehicles and a tool to help us on our way to a zero carbon economy, hydrogen will have an enormous impact.

We are blessed in South Australia to have ample sun and wind and a renewables industry that is already taking advantage of these natural resources. To use the excess of renewable energy to turn water into hydrogen that can be used when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing just makes sense. It makes sense as we move to a renewable economy, it makes sense as an economic driver of lower cost for industry and it makes sense for the jobs that will flow from it. While this is not the easiest political policy to sell in a 30-second advert, it is the bold, future focused and nation-leading policy that I think will be this government's legacy.

It is said that it takes a community to raise a child and I have benefitted throughout my life from the continued support, guidance and some hard truths from the community around me. To my parents, thank you for everything. You set a pathway for me from an early age, encouraging a love of learning and a set of values that taught me to look out for others and never forget where you came from. To my brother and sister-in-law, Darren and Karen, thank you for opening my eyes to the broader world and encouraging an appetite for travel and learning more about other cultures.

There is a person missing from the gallery today and that is my sister. Cindy passed away in the final days before the election after a battle with cancer. She was taken too soon but had a big impact on my life and those around her. The most kind and caring person you could meet, her love and devotion to our family set the bar for me. To her husband, Shane, thank you for the love you gave to her and for everything you have done for me.

To my nieces, Laura and Jasmin, and my nephew, Harry, you have all grown up to be fantastic and well-rounded individuals and in your own ways you have demonstrated to me your strength and love of the family. To my wife's family, thank you for welcoming me into the fold. To the matriarch of the family, Marlene, your dedication to your family and your students is a sight to behold and you and Kyle could not have been better parents-in-law. I think of Kyle often and miss him dearly.

To my friends outside of politics, Peter Inge, Wade Dunstan, Adam Caldwell, Michael Gotch, John Disco Dunn and Luke Oswald, thanks for the memories and for always being there. I know I have been a bit of an absent friend at times, but I know you have my back, as I have yours.

I learnt a lot during my time in the Labor Party office and not just from the job but from the people who I met who became friends and mentors. I thank Adrian, Dean, Matt Size and Austin for always being there when times looked complicated and I had every confidence that with your help any challenge could be overcome.

To Peter Hanlon, who has mentored me—I am not sure if it was deliberate or not, but I think it was—I owe a huge debt of gratitude. Peter taught me to break a challenge down, think laterally, outside the box, and to not accept norms. Some of the advice he has given me has shocked me, but he was right every time and I would not have been able to do what I did at party office for so long without his sage advice.

The staff that I worked with at party office are a fantastic outfit. The successes that I had while there would not have been possible without their support. To Jo and to Mandy, whose decades of service to the Labor Party cannot be underestimated, I thank you for keeping me humble—or at least trying to keep me humble. And to the membership of the Labor Party, the importance of your efforts and contributions cannot be overstated.

To Steve May, thank you for your advice and contribution to the party. To Alicia, Paul, Leanne, Amy, Hollie, John Boag and Matt Byrne, thanks for making me look good in the role. Your work behind the scenes makes a big difference and I am grateful for all that you do. To the others I worked with—Jo Chapley, Tom Probst, Alex Overly, Michael Cowling, Barbara Burr and Margaret Doyle—thank you for your hard work and contribution. And to my new staff, Alexandra and Lucas, I am very lucky to have you both on the team here in parliament.

I think the relationship the Hon. Kyam Maher and I have is one which could only happen in the South Australian Labor Party. We should be factional rivals, but instead we share a deep sense of duty to the party and a real trust in each other. Our party is better when problems are resolved through discussions and debate, and I thank Kyam for this approach and for his friendship.

To Senator Don Farrell, thank you for taking a chance on me 21 years ago. I hope I have repaid the trust you put in me. I owe you a debt of gratitude for the opportunities you have provided for me, and there are not many things I would like to see more than you getting re-elected this Saturday. And to Nimfa, thank you for your many years of support and advice; it has meant a lot to me.

Of my political friends and colleagues there are too many to mention in the time I have today, but I pay special thanks to Amanda Rishworth and Tim Walker, Michael and Victoria Brown, Senator Marielle Smith and Matt Ellis, who have all helped in a big way.

To the powerhouse couple of the Labor Party, Emily and Aemon Bourke, a special thank you. Emily, you make people want to work harder and be better at what they do, and I admire your passion for developing the next generation. I was told early on, as a Secretary of the Labor Party, by a wise political operative that it is the job of a political leader to find someone better than yourself to take over your job. In Aemon Bourke I am confident that I have done this and that party office is in great hands.

To the new and re-elected members of this house I extend my congratulations, as I do to the new members elected to the other place. As I have worked with every Labor MP in both houses for over 12 years I will not name them all, but I will say that I think we have an amazing team who are hardworking and ready to go.

I must thank the entire team at the SDA—staff and officials—for the support they have given me over two decades. I will single out Josh, Sonia and Tom amongst the current team, but everyone who works there does great work. I do not think I have ever met a better person than Sonia. She is caring, fierce, thoughtful and loyal. The way she conducts herself is an example to everyone in the movement. Tom is intense. You have heard of the velvet sledgehammer; well, Tom is the velvet bulldozer. Always striving to make things better, he pulls people along with him.

To Josh, you are a force for good and you possess one of the most important characteristics a person could have: good judgement. Thank you for your wisdom, good humour and advice. You have already made a big contribution to improving people's lives, and I am sure that will only continue into the future.

To the rest of the union movement, keep doing the work that you do; our society needs it. As we are seeing play out in the federal election, rarely is a rise in pay and conditions ever given without being fought for. A special thanks to Ian Smith and the TWU, Peter Lamps and the AWU, Jason Hall and the FSU, Demi Pnevmatikos and the United Workers' Union and other friends from the movement, like Dave Gray and Senator Karen Grogan.

I first met Peter Malinauskas in 2001, when I started a three-month job working at the SDA, backfilling his position while he took a break to do some travel. At the conclusion of those three months, I was asked to stay on and Peter and I began working together and competing against each other.

It was clear from early on that Peter was the real deal. Passionate and compassionate, intelligent and daring, he is someone who is genuinely interested in other people and their lot in life. We have worked together, lived together and travelled together, and apart from my marriage and the birth of my kids, winning the 2022 state election as campaign director with Peter as our leader is the proudest moment of my life. Peter, it has been a fun ride getting to this point and I am really looking forward to South Australia prospering under your leadership. South Australians have placed their faith in you and I know you will not let them down.

To the members of the campaign committee, a quick thankyou for pushing me during the campaign. Your ever-helpful advice makes a difference, so thank you to Susan, Tom, Stephen, Chris, John and the entire CHQ team. And to David and Stephen, thank you: we could not have done what we did without you.

To my kids, Will and Sophie, when you were born my heart felt like it had exploded. I never knew I could feel such joy and love come crashing into me as the moment you were born. Watching you grow and develop into the special kids that you are has been overwhelming, and I love you both.

To my wife and, quite clearly, my better half, Shannon: to you I owe everything. You have sacrificed and put up with a lot to see me where I am and I am eternally grateful for your love and support. You are the most special person in the world. I love you with every part of my being, and thank you for coming on this trip with me.

As we begin this session of parliament it is an opportune time to look to those who went before us. None of us got here alone and regardless of what party or idea led you to seek higher office, we all came here with a desire to make South Australia a better and fairer place. While we might have different ideas of the pathway to follow, we should never lose sight that it is a shared outcome that we desire. I have spent my time within the Labor Party trying to bring people together to seek outcomes that are mutually beneficial and I commit today to continue to do this with all sides of politics in this parliament so that South Australians will be the beneficiaries.

I often reflect on the words of Ben Chifley, who encapsulated why we in the Labor Party do what we do. Chifley argued that it is our job to strive for a better standard of living for all Australians, to show them the way by offering to be a beacon for good, where we put aside personal gain for the betterment of society as a whole. Our great common objective, that light on the hill, is one that we can achieve when we work together and lend a helping hand, creating a society that encourages hard work and prosperity but recognises that sometimes people need a lift to get onto that ladder of opportunity.

I will end with the great man's words, and I will extend a hand to everyone in this chamber who shares the objective that:

If we can make someone more comfortable, give to some father or mother a greater feeling of security for their children, a feeling that if a depression comes there will be work, and comfort that the government is striving its hardest to do its best, then we will be completely justified.

Thank you.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The PRESIDENT: Before I call the Hon. Ms Game, I remind members that it is the Hon. Ms Game's maiden speech and we as a chamber will extend every courtesy to her and listen in silence. I call the Hon. Ms Game.

The Hon. S.L. GAME (15:59): I rise to speak in reply to Her Excellency's speech in opening this session of the Fifty-Fifth Parliament of South Australia, and I wish to place on record my thanks to Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, and congratulate her on her position and thank her for opening this historic session of the parliament on Kaurna land.

I feel very privileged to be elected to the Legislative Council in the South Australian parliament. It is not a position that I hold lightly, and I feel a huge responsibility to those who elected me and also to the wider South Australian community, for whom I wish to make a difference. I want to thank all the volunteers, and I want to thank Senator Pauline Hanson and the One Nation National Executive Council for endorsing me to this position. I am grateful for this opportunity to share now some of my background and outline some of the life experiences which have shaped the person that I am, and I am grateful to be given this time to share how this history influences my values and primary goals in parliament.

My father is of Lithuanian and German heritage, born shortly after his parents immigrated to Australia. He is the eldest of eight children, growing up in a three-bed Housing Trust home in Adelaide. Life was difficult. His father was a gambler and a violent man. There was never enough money. As a child my father put cardboard inside his worn out shoes to protect his feet on the long walk to school.

My dad always wanted me to appreciate everything I had. For this reason, as a child he shared stories with me of his own upbringing. Many stories stayed with me, including the time my father received a bicycle for his birthday, sold the next day for his father's gambling money. My father tells me that he and his siblings were always playing on the streets—there was just no room in the house to do any homework—and although my dad left school without finishing, he returned later in life and he went on to study dentistry, supporting himself by working full time as a hotel night porter.

My father believed in individual responsibility. He believed that the individual had the capacity to change their circumstances. He told me to work hard for everything that I wanted, and that nobody should expect anything is given to them. He also engendered in me a belief that I could achieve anything with this attitude. As a child I accepted his view of the world, although like many young people I had waxing and waning self-belief as I grew up.

I respect my father for his achievements and his support for my education. His views have shaped my own, although my views have further developed with my own life experience, and unfortunately I do not share my father's views that anything can be achieved with a good work ethic and the right attitude. These attributes are part of the solution, but they are not the complete solution. I hold the belief that there are obstacles that the government needs to remove to allow people an equitable opportunity in life, and I am passionate about removing obstacles that prevent those who are desiring and those who are willing to achieve their full potential.

My paternal grandparents were immigrants. They came to Australia after the Second World War, because their countries of birth had had their democracies destroyed. I want to make clear that I support genuine refugee intake and Australia's responsibility to help communities overseas in need. I support and acknowledge the benefit of sustainable cohesive immigration to Australia. Immigration has enriched our culture and skill base.

Despite immigrating here at 18, my oma retained her thick Bavarian accent her whole life. She brought with her wonderful culinary skills, and she maintained German traditions that enriched my childhood, particularly at Easter and Christmas.

In terms of what I hope to achieve, I want to make clear that I make no distinction between Australians born overseas and Australians born here. I want to advocate for all South Australians. I am passionate about equalising opportunity for everyone. My mother went to university and she obtained a science degree when it was a path largely followed by men. She found on her first employment that there was not equal pay for equal work between men and women. She comes from a line of women who believe in the importance of education and the right for women to be independent financially.

I grew up the only child of a single working mother. My mother always worked full time and she felt the full weight of financial responsibility to support our household. Her work responsibilities and hours spent commuting greatly limited our time together growing up. I am very grateful to be a mother now myself to three beautiful children, and I am passionate about my time with them and the right for others to have stability and security in which to raise their children and spend essential time together.

My maternal grandparents imparted to me a Jewish heritage, and I am proud of this heritage. My grandparents valued education. My grandmother was a physiotherapist, and while my grandfather never had the opportunity to finish school, he was a very intelligent man. My grandfather was forced to leave the education system at the age of 12 to help support his mother. His sister and brothers were already part of the war in the Pacific, and my grandfather started his own business and remained self-employed his whole life.

I believe in people's right to maintain their culture and belief practices in Australia in a way that fosters a unified Australia, good relationships and respect between everybody. I am grateful to have been born in Australia, a democratic country of great beauty, and in my life have had the opportunity to obtain an education, a privilege that is not afforded to many around the world. I have always had a roof over my head and I have never had to experience poverty. However, like most people, life has thrown me challenges which have shaped the person that I am, and I count these challenges as very good preparation for my current role in parliament.

Like many young people, at times I found life difficult, and by year 10 I was struggling and bottom or almost bottom in nearly every subject. I was dealing with the consequences of my parents' separation and numerous school moves and, like many people, at times my mental health suffered. My mother worried I would leave school early and without any plan or direction. Encouragement from my year 10 mathematics teacher kept me from dropping out of the education system, and I would like to thank my mathematics teacher, Mr Weathered, for his interest in my future and the numerous times he assisted me, as I visited the staffroom on a daily basis at recess and lunch for years, with mathematics problems.

By year 12, I was the dux of the school. I had developed a love of advanced mathematics and earned a university entrance score of 99.7. I gained entry to veterinary science at the University of Sydney and I graduated with a first-class honours degree. The result of my educational achievement was the realisation that, if I had the ability to turn life around, there were many other underachievers who had that ability, too, with the right encouragement, resources and self-belief. This planted a seed for my later passion and involvement with education.

I want to talk briefly about why I chose to study veterinary medicine, because in the end I had the choice to undertake any university course I wanted. As an only child, I did supplement my need for siblings with a variety of pets, and I have always had a deep love and affection for animals, owning everything from fish, mice, guinea pigs, dogs, cats and horses later in life. Many of the pets came from rescue centres and all were treated as a member of the family.

I always held a desire to live a meaningful life and make a contribution and this, with my childhood experience of animals, influenced my decision to undertake veterinary medicine. I undertook an additional year of research on the black rhinoceros at Dubbo zoo, such was my passion for saving endangered animals.

I turned my life around at the eleventh hour, but I do not believe the same opportunity is afforded to everyone. I do not hold the belief that young people affected by these external factors with the right attitude and work ethic alone obtain a fair chance to reach their potential. In South Australia, there are 132,000 people living in poverty, including 22,000 children. It is unacceptable and it needs to be a priority for the government. These children often do not have the bare resources to engage adequately with school. Many children live in unstable or unsafe environments in which they cannot study or receive assistance with any home learning. Their parents are subjected to stresses of unaffordable housing and insecure employment. These stresses funnel down to children.

Disadvantage is embedded early in this state, with many children starting school aged five already behind their peers and too often with undiagnosed disabilities. While I acknowledge there are examples of achievement by individuals against great odds, this in no way excuses or provides justification for an apathetic attitude about changing the inequality of opportunity given to many aspiring families in our state.

It is in the interest of society to remove barriers and to allow everybody to be on a level playing field. This is essential for our social cohesion, innovation and creativity. It is important for supporting family values and the mental health and wellbeing of our citizens. In order to make these changes, South Australia needs to be an attractive place for investment.

A sense of adventure and a desire to travel has existed in my family for a long time. As a child, our house was full of books, including many travel guides that I enjoyed reading. My father had spent many years as a dentist in the Navy and my mother had travelled extensively. Before I was born my mother had enjoyed flying light aircraft.

I always held a desire to travel and experience different cultures and, as soon as I could after university, I wanted to see the world. At the age of 24 I left Australia, wanting an adventure. I have since been to Asia, the United States, Eastern and Western Europe and the Middle East. I have made friends in different countries and different cultures to my own. I became, as an adult, fluent in a second language. I settled in England for a decade, enjoying trips to surrounding countries.

Although I have enjoyed many aspects of veterinary practice, it is not a profession without its difficulties. Veterinarians have four times the suicide rate of the Australian population. Vets are leaving the profession in droves, despite being passionate and committed people. They are resilient professionals working under great stress for little pay. They work long hours and sacrifice time with their families.

Despite the stresses, while working as a vet I found it a great privilege to care for animals, and I enjoyed building client relationships. However, while in England my passion for young people and education was growing, and I applied to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at King's College, London. My cohort comprised people with established careers in a science-based field. On completing the qualification I received the Blackwell Prize, which was awarded to the student who had shown the most promise in teaching.

My first education posting was to a school marked for closure. These children lived in poverty in dysfunctional and unsafe homes, and these situations deeply affected their ability to learn. Years of government intervention had failed to stem the decline in teacher morale and student outcomes and although it was my desire to work in this kind of environment, it was still distressing.

I want to state that my experience with the children and the relationships I built with them at this school are a life highlight for me. I thoroughly enjoyed their interaction and company, although it hurts me to know that they never received a fair chance to fulfil their potential. Despite my hopes, intentions and best efforts to make a lasting difference with these young people, I failed. There were too many external factors for the students to overcome.

After the school closed, I subsequently taught at a large beacon college in the south of England, which had a couple of thousand students. It was called a 'beacon' college because it was considered, at the time, to be an exemplar of education. This college involved students in the last two years of high school and was successfully providing an excellent and free education to young people with a wide variety of economic and social circumstances. I taught students living in share accommodation because for various reasons they were unable to live at home.

The achievement of my students was recognised by the principal when he wrote to me thanking me for my hard work. In the letter the principal acknowledged that these results were unlikely to have been achieved had they been taught by anybody else. Over the years, in each of my classes unusually high results were obtained and noticed and I was asked, as a new teacher, to reflect and share on the reason behind this achievement.

I set high expectations for my students, which translated into high personal student goals, and this fuelled their own hard work. I made myself—as my mathematics teacher had done for me—available to scaffold them at every opportunity, and it was here that we had the winning factors of a properly resourced college, a passionate and qualified teacher, and student motivation.

As previously mentioned, I am now the mother of three beautiful, healthy children; however, when my second child was born blind I was traumatised and my mental health suffered. Although I was lucky that she recovered due to the blindness resulting from the visual cortex, which ultimately repaired itself, I lived initially with great uncertainty about her future. Shortly after the birth of my third child I found myself a single parent, and life had taken an unexpected turn. Unfortunately, the experience of trauma is widespread and too many people struggle without appropriate mental health support, particularly in our rural communities. We need a rethink about how mental health services are delivered in this state.

I have many goals and ambitions for my eight-year term. However, given my speech, it will come as no surprise that as a top priority I want to know that no matter which government school a child attends they receive the same educational opportunities and subsequently the same employment opportunities as if they went to school anywhere else in the state. There are many factors involved here, including a cohesive society, a thriving economic environment, the right to safety and protection, well-resourced schools and good quality teachers.

I am passionate about mental health and increasing the accessibility of face-to-face mental health services in particular. Ironically, although I never aspired to be a politician, everything I have done in my life and everything that has happened to me in my life has prepared me for the task ahead. I do not do trivial and I say what I mean. I am accountable to the South Australian people and I am determined to be an effective voice for them. Thank you.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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