Hansard debates

                      Member for Benalla: inaugural speech

  Dr SYKES (Benalla) - Congratulations to you, Speaker, on your appointment, and
congratulations to all  other members of  Parliament, especially those who, like
me, have been elected for the first time.
I have enjoyed listening to the inaugural speeches of other members and learning
about  their pathways to  Parliament, their visions  and  their electorates.  My
journey to Parliament  has taken  a little longer than many, and I have savoured
and learned from many experiences along the way.
My  journey started  in  Garfield,  a small  community  in West  Gippsland,  and
continued via Melbourne, where I studied to be a veterinarian prior to moving to
Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley and later to Benalla in north-east Victoria.

Along  the  way  I  played  football,  firstly  for  Garfield  and later for the
University Blues, followed by three years playing for Fitzroy and then 

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four years  for Shepparton. Later I coached junior football  and became involved
in sports administration.
Through football I have made many friends from all walks of life and learnt many
lessons.  At  Fitzroy  I  learnt  to  be  adaptable.  I  started  as  a   centre
half-forward,  and  during  my 54 senior games I played in every position except
first ruck and first  rover.  I was too short for first  ruck  and  too slow for
first rover!  I have  found that  being adaptable  has provided me with many and
varied career opportunities.
I also learnt to be humble in defeat - something we experienced often  during my
time  at Fitzroy. On  the  other hand, success  with  other clubs,  particularly
Shepparton, has taught me to be gracious in victory. As a footballer I played in
a number of representative sides, teaming up with previous on-field opponents to
compete against other sides.

This has  helped  me  work with  people  of  different philosophies  to  achieve
mutually desired outcomes.
As  a veterinarian I have managed large-scale animal health and welfare programs
and national  research  programs  in  Australia  and  overseas.  The  Australian
brucellosis  and  tuberculosis  eradication  campaign was the largest program in
which  I  was  involved. It cost  more  than  $1 billion and  took  20  years to
complete. Over  the  past  decade I have devoted considerable time and energy to
Landcare, both on my farm and within  the community.  I have  also been actively
involved in the Benalla Trust Foundation, which we set up to help local families
in crisis.
My particular skill is the  ability to link livestock owners and people in rural
communities with scientists and city-based senior bureaucrats, and vice versa.

I look  forward to being able to use my skills and experience in  my role as the
member for Benalla.
I am the  second of four children  of hardworking, independent-thinking  parents
who chose  the  challenge  of  creating  a lifestyle in country Victoria in true
pioneering spirit in the 1930s  and 1940s.  Both my  parents served in World War
II, my mother in the WRAAF and my father in the RAAF. For a long time  I did not
fully  appreciate  the contribution of  my parents and  their  generation to the
development and  security  of  Australia.  I do  now, and  I wish  to record  my
indebtedness to them all.
I  am eternally thankful to those who endured the wars,  the Depression  and the
postwar  years to help make our country what it  is today. To them I say, 'Thank
you for doing what you  did so that  we may do  what we do'.  The ranks of these
people are thinning, and both of my parents have passed away.

However, today I would like to acknowledge special people  such as Mrs Donaldson
and Ken Terry,  who continue  to inspire  me with their courage, their drive and
their can-do approach to life.
I also appreciate the contributions of the many people who have come to our area
from other  countries  and who, through  their  hard work and  enterprise,  have
created wealth and opportunities for us to  enjoy. In particular I recognise the
contribution of the many people from Italy who have contributed so  much to  the
prosperity of the Ovens, Kiewa and King Valley areas.
My  wife,  Sally, and I have lived, worked in and  enjoyed  north-east  Victoria
since 1975, with a couple of breaks - once in Scotland for  12 months, and later
in Darwin  for  18 months. In both  cases,  as with each  time  I have travelled
overseas with my work, it did  not take long for me to appreciate why north-east
Victoria is such a great place to call home.

Sally is a successful businesswoman and currently owns and operates a stationery
and office supplies business in Benalla. She is also a very capable sportsperson
and  can  whop  me  on the golf course. Sally's involvement in  small  business,
sporting and community activities over many years has  helped to  give us both a
good  insight into the functioning  and strength of country communities. We have
three children.  Elissa, our eldest daughter,  is a veterinary  nurse married to
Dean. They live in Albury  and are  excellent with  horses. Both Elissa and Dean
have represented Australia in polocrosse.
Our  son, Ben, is  a veterinarian currently undertaking  further studies in  the
United States of America. Ben intends to  return to Australia and concentrate on
the intensive care of foals, reflecting his passion for life, something which as
a veterinarian and farmer I also have. Our youngest daughter, Christie, lives in
London and is married to Karl, an Englishman - unfortunately!

They have a beautiful daughter, Aeisha, whom we see far too little of due to the
tyranny of distance.
I would like now  to turn to the electorate  of Benalla. It is large, at  17 000
square kilometres, and diverse both physically  and climatically. The electorate
extends from the Goulburn River plains around Nagambie, Murchison  and Avenel in
the west, to Eildon  and Woods Point in  the south, to the high  country resorts
and valleys in the east, and to Glenrowan, Thoona and Devenish in the undulating
country to  the north. The people of  the area  are also  diverse, ranging  from
farmers, small business people and locals who have called the area home for many
years to an increasing 

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number  of people who have  come  in the past few  years to enjoy the refreshing
climate and beautiful scenery.
The electorate is well serviced by hospitals and  schools  which  are staffed by
dedicated and caring people. Funding is a perennial issue, as it is elsewhere in
Victoria. The major industries in the area are agriculture, light manufacturing,
retail and general services. Within each of these industry categories is  a wide
range of activities  - for example,  agriculture includes irrigated and  dryland
farming,  dairy  and  beef,  prime  lamb  and  wool  production,  pigs, poultry,
aquaculture,  cereal cropping,  vegetables,  mushrooms, orchards,  grapes, hops,
tobacco, green tea and forestry.

Key manufacturing industries include ADI, which makes munitions - and  I  am not
sure if it is a good or bad  thing to be  close to it  at the moment;  Monsbent,
which manufactures particle board; Hudsons, which makes  building frames; Carter
Holt  Harvey and  several  other industries  based  on making  timber  products;
Schneiders,  which makes electrical transformers; Teson  Trim  at  Euroa,  which
makes upholstery for cars; the  Benalla  Spinners,  which  makes carpets - and I
think some of the carpets in this establishment may  come from Benalla Spinners.
Also at Eildon there is a houseboat building industry, which is suffering at the
moment. There is also electricity production in the form of  Southern  Hydro  at
Mount Beauty. There are also many other smaller businesses  manufacturing a wide
range of  items  from  farm  equipment  to  things like gas converters for motor
vehicles.
A  vibrant  retail sector ensures access to a  wide  range  of  food,  clothing,
household goods, and business and agricultural equipment.

Capital  of  the  service  industries,  tourism  is  the  key.  Victoria's major
snowfields are in the electorate, and the towns of Tawonga South, Mount  Beauty,
Bright,  Mansfield  and  Eildon  also  provide  a   range  of  exciting  tourist
attractions based on the natural beauty of the  area. Other parts of the area of
tourist  interest include the Avenel  and Strathbogie wineries,  the King Valley
wineries,  and  the  haunts  of  Ned  Kelly at  Glenrowan,  Benalla  and  Euroa.
Strathbogie shire has become the horse capital  of Victoria, and Nagambie boasts
a world-class rowing  course. Benalla's regional art gallery is a must to visit,
and Winton Motor Raceway attracts tens of thousands  of people  to the area each
year.
Benalla is the largest community, with around 10 000 people.

Other communities  which  I  have not  specifically  mentioned in  this  address
include  Euroa, Violet  Town, Myrtleford,  Longwood,  Strathbogie, Bonnie  Doon,
Tolmie, Sawmill  Settlement, Moyhu, Whitfield, Jamieson, Thornton and Goorambat,
reflecting  that there are  many  communities in  our  area, all with  different
needs.
The electorate  includes  all  or part  of  seven local  government  areas:  the
Murrindindi,  Mansfield,  Strathbogie  and Alpine shires; the  City  of  Greater
Shepparton; and the rural cities of Benalla and Wangaratta. I would like to take
this opportunity to  congratulate the recently elected  councillors for each  of
those local  government areas,  and I  look forward to working with them in  the
future. I would also like to thank the outgoing councillors for their efforts in
the past.  The electorate also  includes four alpine resort  areas: Falls Creek,
Mount Hotham, Mount Buller and Mount Stirling. Major water storages include Lake
Eildon, Mokoan, Nillahcootie, Buffalo and William Hovell.

Eildon particularly is the home  of water sport-based holidays, and Mokoan is an
excellent fishing and yachting lake.
The area abounds with people with get up and go and stickability to endure tough
times,  epitomised  by the  mountain  cattlemen  who  embody  the  character  of
pioneering Australians, a character which is integral to Australian culture. The
strength of character  and  resilience  of  people  in  our area is being sorely
tested now by the drought, which has affected most of  the electorate,  and more
recently  the bushfires,  which  have  impacted  mainly  on  the  Alpine  shire,
involving   the  communities  of   Tawonga  South,   Mount  Beauty,  Porepunkah,
Myrtleford, Bright, Harrietville, Wandiligong and Dinner Plain;  and  the alpine
resorts of Hotham, Falls Creek and Buffalo; but have also impacted indirectly on
tourism in the King Valley, Mansfield, Mount Buller and Mount Stirling areas.
I commend the government for its package of support measures.

The  people  of  the  electorate  look forward to the  return  of  tourism,  the
rehabilitation of the environment  and the fast tracking  of major capital works
programs. I suggest  that projects  such as  a staged sealing of the Bogong High
Plains Road, the upgrading of Bright's water supply and providing natural gas to
the Ovens Valley would be great projects to be fast tracked.
I  must pay tribute to the  many people who helped  combat  the fires. Over 4000
people were involved  in  combat  and  direct  support, and many more in related
activities.   I  thank  the   people  of  Parks  Victoria,   the  Department  of
Sustainability  and  Environment,  the Department  of  Primary  Industries,  the
police,  the Alpine shire, Vicroads, the army and  other government agencies, as
well as the State Emergency Service,  Red Cross and other support agencies. Help
from interstate and overseas was also very much appreciated. In 

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particular I thank the members of the  Country  Fire  Authority  (CFA), who came
from all parts of Victoria to help when  we needed it. The employers of the many
volunteers also deserve our gratitude for releasing  their staff, often on  full
pay.  Mount Beauty's effort in raising $10 000 for their local fire  brigades in
less than one week is indicative of the recognition of that support that we very
much appreciate.
The challenges for the  future  in  the  Benalla  electorate are many. The first
challenge is to  overcome the effects of bushfire and drought.  However, judging
from the way the  main street of Mansfield was  humming on the long weekend, and
by  the vibrancy  of the  Alpine Valleys Wine and Food Festival at Myrtleford on
the same weekend, the recovery is well and truly under way.
There must be a full and independent inquiry into the bushfires.

The  inquiry should cover all aspects, including preparation,  combat,  recovery
and  review, and  local people  need to  be encouraged  to have  their  say. The
government  must also immediately  repair  the fire  control  lines and  damaged
fences on private properties. There is also  a need  to ensure  the provision of
equipment for the CFA and continued support for volunteers.
On a broader  note,  I  will  strive  to  deliver  more  and  better  employment
opportunities;  better  services,  especially health, education and care for our
disabled  and  aged; and  infrastructure,  especially roads and  bridges. I will
strive to  achieve the  equitable use  of water  and to protect and enhance  our
environment and  natural  resources  with  a  focus on issues such as Crown land
management, acidity and waterway health. I will  fight  to  save Lake Mokoan and
ensure it is managed more efficiently. Specific  issues include Kirwans  Bridge,
the  rehabilitation  of petrol  station  sites,  the upgrading  of  sporting and
community facilities and the putting in place of a better library in Benalla.

I will also focus  on our children for they are our future and they must  be our
priority.  I will support  you-can-do-it programs and  team  sports and anything
else that helps  provide  our children  with  role  modelling on  becoming  good
citizens.
I  thank  the  previous  members  for  Benalla, particularly  Denise  Allen, Pat
McNamara who represented the  electorate  for 18 years, Tom Trewin for a similar
period before him, and Albert Cook for an even longer period before them.
I also  thank the many people who have assisted me: my  wife, Sally; my daughter
Elissa; my  niece Fairlie; Senator  Julian McGuaran; the  honourable  member for
Gippsland South, Peter Ryan; and many other people.
I am here as a member  of the National Party because I share  the National Party
values - values shaped by life's experiences and not just political ideologies.

I  am  also  here  because  I  greatly  admire Peter  Ryan for  his strength  of
leadership, his energy and his integrity. We will work together to represent the
interests  of  country  Victorians.  My  wish  is  to  earn  the respect of  the
electorate, the people of Victoria and the Parliament, not only by my ability to
get things done but also by the way I go about it. Thank you.
  Applause from gallery.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order! There should be no acclamations from the gallery.