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Legislative Council - 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 17 May 2022.)

The PRESIDENT: Before I call the Hon. Ms Curran, members, be aware it is the Hon. Ms Curran's maiden speech and we will afford her the courtesy that we always do for a member making their maiden speech.

The Hon. L.A. CURRAN (15:22): Mr President, parliamentary colleagues, friends and family in the galleries, it is a great honour this afternoon to deliver my maiden speech to this parliament. As this is the Address in Reply, I thank Her Excellency the Governor for the speech with which she opened this parliament. Mr President, I congratulate you on your election to the role of President of this chamber, an important job which I am sure you will deliver with great distinction.

Mr President, it is my understanding that there has been a total of 277 members of the Legislative Council in South Australia's history. I stand before you today incredibly humbled to be the 23rd female member of the Legislative Council in South Australia. Growing up, this opportunity is something that I could not dream of. It is true that you cannot be what you cannot see, and so sometimes you must forge your own path, no matter what the adversity.

You see, I spent my adolescent years growing up in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the time, a nation of great societal limitations, particularly for women. As a woman living in that place, I was not allowed to drive a car, let alone put my hand up for public office. In Saudi Arabia, women were first allowed to stand as voters and candidates in 2015, the year after I graduated high school and some 121 years after this parliament legislated the rights of women to stand for public office and to participate equally in representative democracy.

While I have now left that place and am fortunate enough to stand here in this chamber, it is from that experience and so many more that the magnitude of the privilege bestowed upon me to represent South Australians here in the Legislative Council is not lost on me today. I hope that across our great state that young girls and women will look upon our parliament as we continue to see more women elected and feel inspired by the knowledge that they can achieve anything that they desire, so long as they are willing to put in the hard work.

My family is the centrepiece of my life. I am the proud first—and I would like to say favourite, although my sister will likely disagree—daughter of Andrew and Noeleen Curran. My mum was born in Wagga Wagga, country New South Wales, to Barbra Steel. Barbra was born in Mount Lawley, Western Australia. She was the second born of nine children to George and Eileen Leach. Barbra finished school at age 15 to undertake a hairdressing apprenticeship and later went on to join the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps at age 18.

Barbra travelled to New South Wales and was stationed at the 2nd Military Hospital in Ingleburn, which received casualties of wounded soldiers evacuated from Vietnam. Like many women of that era, she had to forgo her military career when she married a soldier and later went on to have three children.

I would like to acknowledge my Uncle David Steel, who is here in the chamber today. Whilst I sadly never had the opportunity to meet my grandmother, as she lost her battle with acute myeloid leukaemia at the young age of 45, it is an honour to have two of her children here today in this chamber who have supported me along the way.

My mum, Noeleen, grew up in a defence family, moving house and changing schools every couple of years, as they were posted to different locations around Australia. She attended the University of New England to study archaeology, where she joined the Army Reserves and met my dad.

After graduating with an honours degree in historical archaeology, she worked for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in New South Wales, various environmental firms and as an archaeological consultant over a period of 10 years. She returned to university to follow her passion for teaching and, after graduating again, taught in schools, for the Department of Defence in various education-related roles. Since returning from Saudi Arabia, mum has completed a master's in education, specialising in educational leadership.

My dad, Andrew, was born in Manangatang, country Victoria, to Bernard and Janet Curran. My grandfather, Bernard, was born in Mildura and spent his childhood in Manangatang and Melbourne. After school, he returned to Manangatang and worked on his father's farms as a stock and station agent and later as a farmer himself.

Nana, Janet, is from Deniliquin. She is here in the chamber today and I would like to reflect on just how special it is that she can be here for this moment. She spent her childhood on family farms in Deniliquin, went to boarding school in Melbourne, and left school at the end of year 10 to become a nurse. Nana worked in the hospital and ran farms with my grandfather throughout Australia at different periods, eventually ending up on a farm near Armidale, New South Wales.

My grandparents have always stressed the importance of education to their five children and 11 grandchildren. They taught us the importance of dignity and hard work. As a result, all of their children worked hard and continue to work hard to achieve tertiary qualifications, of which I am sure my grandparents are very proud.

My father grew up on farms. After high school, he joined the Army and attended officer training at Royal Military College, Duntroon. He later joined the New South Wales Police, where he served with distinction in uniform, plain clothes and undercover duties. He left the police to study engineering after 10 years' service. Over the past 20 years, dad has worked in Australia and the Middle East as an engineer. He has won a number of awards for his work, including South Australia's Engineer of the Year in 2021.

I am the very proud older sister to Isabella, who is in the chamber today. She has achieved much in her short life, having already received a bachelor's in medical research and is currently studying a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery. At this stage of her studies, Bella hopes to go on to be a paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon.

For five generations, the Currans were farming families. I have a deep understanding and empathy for the challenges that our rural communities are facing in these difficult and challenging times. These communities are impacted heavily by a range of factors outside of their control, such as drought, flood and pestilence. These communities face real challenges in relation to services, employment, population retention and opportunities for their children. It is my goal to use my time in this place to try to benefit these communities as much as I can. We must not underestimate how important these rural communities are to our state and to our nation.

Mr President, I am a firm believer that it is not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters and that the events of one's life do not necessarily define who you are or what you can achieve. In my short 26 years, I have been faced with what I like to refer to as 'character-building moments'. These moments have helped to shape the person I am and give me the passion to be an advocate in our community. You see, I had to grow up quickly at a young age.

When I was five years old, my father had been working undercover for the New South Wales police, infiltrating bikie gangs, murder suspects and other criminal organisations. After a threat was identified against my family, as a result of this work, we were placed on the witness protection program. One of my earliest memories as a child is of officers evacuating us from our home, being taken by a convoy of police cars in the middle of the night and being shuffled from safe house to safe house to keep us safe.

After some time on witness protection, my family and I started a new life in a new state. Although it was a horrible experience, my family views that time as a price worth paying. As a result, I am an ardent supporter of all those people who serve our Australian community, and I hope that the work we do here in this place can mean that they can do their job with greater safety. My family's experiences have instilled the importance of public service in me and the sacrifices that everyday Australians make when they choose that calling.

Throughout my time in this place, I will champion for all those who serve our community, those who put on a uniform every day to make sure they keep Australians safe, at times to the detriment of their own safety. I will champion to ensure that they are given the best support possible so that they are able to do their job safely and, importantly, are given the support they need after they finish their service. I will champion for the support of their families, who themselves make many sacrifices to support their loved ones through the challenging times that they face.

Like many of our frontline workers, after my dad left the police he suffered from severe PTSD and found it challenging to hold a full-time job for a number of years. These were lean times for my family, who tried desperately to put food on the table and pay for utilities. This taught me three very important life lessons: first, how tough life can be for many Australian families; secondly, that success comes to those who persevere and continue to try, no matter how many obstacles they encounter; and thirdly, the fundamental importance of the family unit.

The resilience and strength shown by my parents in getting out of witness protection and starting a new life is something that has inspired me throughout my life. It is through watching their work ethic and determination in the face of adversity that Liberal values have been instilled in me. Faced with life-changing events and with two small children displaced from their ordinary routine, my parents did what Australians are known to do: they dusted themselves off and they got on with their lives.

Some years later, my dad took a job in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which at the time, and still somewhat to this day, is a country of many societal limitations and governed by Sharia law. Now, before I discuss some of the challenges of that nation, let me just say that my family and I loved our time as guests in Saudi Arabia and that the Saudi people are amongst some of the most inviting and friendly in the world. I was incredibly fortunate to be their guest, but it was not without its challenges.

We lived there throughout the Arab Spring, a particularly challenging time for the Middle East. We moved there only a few years after bombings that resulted in the deaths of many expatriates, severe curtailing of free movement and increased security. We lived in fortified compounds with machine-gun pits, tanks and soldiers. Our car was searched for weapons and bombs each time we came home and when we went to our school compound.

I was required to wear an abaya and, when instructed to by religious police, cover my hair. Religious police were often accompanied by a police escort, who were able to order the detention and the arrest of violators. This is a place where beheadings, lashings and stonings were common. Where at the time, women were not able to drive a car and guardianship laws were still in place. Where there was one line for women and another for men. Where you would go to a restaurant or a food court and there would be one dining area for women and families and a separate dining area for men.

A place where there was no freedom of speech, public worship or association. A place where the media and the internet were censored, and where there was a ban on all public demonstrations and marches. I share these experiences because while I lived what was a fortunate life, with amazing opportunities in a foreign place, from a young age I was deprived of the many freedoms we take for granted here in this country. This is why I hold my liberal values dear. I have seen firsthand what it is to not have the basic equality of opportunity—something which the Liberal Party, and ultimately this parliament, should always strive to protect. I am a passionate defender of our nation's values, the rule of law and the institutional societal constructs we at times take for granted living in South Australia. It is because of my experiences that I am a staunch advocate for the protection of our freedoms here in Australia.

I believe that my parents are incredibly brave people. They moved to a foreign and mysterious land to be able to provide opportunities for my sister and I. Through their leap of faith their children were able to obtain a world-class education and see a great deal of the world, things that may not have been possible had they not taken that risk. I cannot help but look back and reflect on the courage it took to make that decision: moving your children to the other side of the world, to a place that you knew would have had many challenges and adversity, in a search for better opportunities. I do not know that I would have been so brave as to make that decision to move to the great unknown to start a new life. Mum and dad, you are my biggest personal inspiration, and I will be forever grateful for all you have done for Bella and I.

Mr President, while there were many challenges outside the walls of our compound, inside was our sanctuary. Here we were blessed with a strong sense of community and belonging. We were often all from different places, yet shared the same home. The children were third culture kids, we were navigating cultures that differed so vastly from our own, yet somehow created our own experience and adapted to that of our host country.

The many cultures I have been fortunate to be exposed to have left an imprint on me. I share this because here, in this country, we have a melting pot of cultural influence, with many who have places that have left an imprint on them. It is our shared values of mateship, freedom and democracy, and the belief in a fair and tolerant society, which helps to bind us together. I hope that as members of this place we never forget the one thing that unites us: we have all chosen to make Australia our home.

At 18 I moved to South Australia for the opportunity to study. I packed a suitcase and I left my family behind to move to Adelaide, a place I had never been to. This idea was terrifying, and I can only imagine the challenges faced by those who leave their home country to make Australia their new home. The reverse culture shock when I returned made me feel very homesick for my family, but this of course all settled as I assimilated back into my way of life in Australia.

It was at university that I met my fiancé, Cameron—coincidentally at the University of South Australia Liberal Club tent. Seven years, four houses, three campaigns and a seven-month-old Labradoodle later, and here we are. I am fortunate to share my life with such a loving, dedicated partner, one who constantly supports and pushes me to do better and be better, someone who says, 'Say yes to every opportunity,' someone who, whenever I have been met with questions about whether we want children (and who would raise those children, heaven forbid I ever be elected), around my age, whether I could hold my own when a man was not around, or any other question that my male counterparts would never receive, has been proud to say that women can do it all, and I am proud that one day when we have children they will be able to see that mum and dad work as a team.

People often ask me, 'Why did you pick Adelaide if you had never been here before?' The answer was the Fringe Festival. Someone told me about this amazing arts festival that took place every year, about the beautiful beaches and wine regions, all within a short drive of the CBD, and, South Australia, you have not disappointed. I am a proud South Australian. While I may not have a long lineage of South Australians in my family, I chose to make South Australia my home. I chose to lay my roots here because I can think of no better place to start a family one day than here.

As the youngest member of the Legislative Council, I am a passionate advocate for young South Australians. There is no denying that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic young South Australians have been disproportionately affected. Every South Australian deserves the dignity of work. Whilst the national unemployment rate may be sitting at 3.9 per cent, and the national underemployment rate at 6.1 per cent, the youth unemployment rate currently sits at a far larger 8.8 per cent.

In March of this year, it was reported that house prices in South Australia are growing at a faster pace than the 'national rate, with a lack of supply pushing the median value of metropolitan homes up by 25 per cent a year'. This is not obtainable for young South Australians—South Australians who are aspirational, working hard to save in the hope that, one day, they will be able to afford a home for their families, but they are struggling to keep up with the price rises as they try to reach their financial targets. These are but a couple of issues and challenges that our young South Australians are facing.

From my perspective, I am a firm believer in a small government, that is, for the government to create an environment and for enterprises to flourish but to then get out of the way and let business get on with the job. It is important to note that, where possible, I think the government of the day should look to create a 'hand up' instead of a 'handout', and that we in this place should seek to create a South Australia where people are self-sufficient so that South Australians are not forever dependent on government decisions.

One of the best gifts you can give someone is an education. Every child deserves one. I was fortunate to have parents who believe in the importance of an education. They fostered and nurtured my sister's and my learning, and I have had the benefit of them leading by example. As a child, I watched both mum and dad go back to university to start a new life. I became my mum's guinea pig for her lesson plans as she studied teaching and I sat up the back of lecture theatres with my dad as he studied engineering. I am fortunate for this because I learnt, through their example, the importance of hard work, perseverance and grit, but most importantly I learnt that nothing in life is handed to you. If you want something, it takes hard work.

I graduated from the American International School—Riyadh with an International Baccalaureate Diploma and later went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of South Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the College of Law. This education has helped to strengthen my understanding of the world around me. In my view, our greatest challenge in this place is acknowledging when we do not need to legislate and to know when it is time to get out of the way.

There are many people who I owe thanks to along my journey to this place. I would like to acknowledge and thank my family for their love, support and patience. Thank you for the late nights putting up corflutes, the long days standing at polling booths, the many hills climbed letterboxing and the many phone calls being my sounding board. My being here would not be possible without your love and support throughout this long journey.

I would like to acknowledge my fiancé, Cameron. Thank you for your love and for believing in me and for pushing me to do better. Thank you for licking postage stamps and stuffing envelopes until midnight and for joining me on my countless long country drives just to keep me company. I would not be where I am today without you, and I am so blessed to be able to share this journey of life with you. I cannot wait to marry you. I would like to acknowledge and thank my soon to be family-in-law, who are in the chamber today, for welcoming me into the family and for your support of both Cameron and I.

I would like to acknowledge the Liberal Party, without whom I would not be here. My success in being elected is something that we, the Liberal Party, all share. It is not mine alone. It is mine because of the incredible support that I have received from state council and the broader Liberal Party. I would like to say just how grateful I am for that support and for the belief that you have placed in me that has enabled me to stand here today.

I thank all of my state parliamentary colleagues who have assisted me on my journey, but in particular the President of this place, the Hon. Terry Stephens; our Liberal Party leader of this place, the Hon. Nicola Centofanti; and the Hon. Heidi Girolamo MLC. I thank my federal parliamentary colleagues, who have also given me guidance along the way, in particular Tony Pasin MP, the member for Barker; Senator Alex Antic; and Nicolle Flint, the member for Boothby.

I would like to thank the Liberal Party leader, David Speirs MP, member for Black, for the faith that he has placed in me in appointing me as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney-General, responsible for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, and to my Liberal colleagues in the Legislative Council for the faith they have placed in me, a fresh-faced junior MP, to be your Opposition Whip.

I would like to acknowledge and thank some key people in the Liberal Party who, throughout my journey, have gone above and beyond in their support and guidance: to State Executive members over the last few years, in particular to Ben Hood, to Lachlan Haynes (and his lovely wife Sarah), to Courtney Nourse and to Ella Winnall. To members of the Mawson branch, where Cameron and I resided for some time, but particularly to Di and John Harvey and SEC President Peter Wadewitz.

I would like to acknowledge Fiona Lee, Zane Basic, Alexander Hyde, Amie Pike, Neil and Krys Howard, Diana Wiseman, Rowan Mumford and Greg O'Brien for the support they have given me. I would like to acknowledge the presidents of my paired SECs throughout the election: the President of Kaurna, Acting Mayor of the City of Onkaparinga, Simon McMahon; President of Reynell, Shane Carter; and President of Hurtle Vale, Emma Godfrey, and her husband, Liam.

I would like to acknowledge loyal party members who have stuck with me since my first campaign in Reynell, who continued to assist me in my campaigns in Kingston, and most recently in the 2022 election, in particular to Ronald Anson and Terence and Rosalind Jones. There are too many of you to name who have offered your support, guidance, friendship and advice, which has helped me along my journey to parliament. You all know who you are. It takes a village to run for parliament, and I thank you for the support and the faith you have entrusted in me.

To those who stand opposite me, and to those who I know from time to time we shall disagree, I think it is important to remember that we stand in this place wanting to create a greater South Australia than when we inherited it. At times, we may have different views on how this will be best achieved, but I strongly believe that the things that unite us as South Australians are infinitely more important than those that divide us.

Despite our political differences, I look forward to working with all in this chamber on this endeavour and in giving my all to the betterment of South Australia. Thank you.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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

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