Hansard debates

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (15:07): I again congratulate you on your election, President.

I am first and foremost a representative of the people of my electorate – Western Victoria Region. From the Grampians to the You Yangs, from the central highlands to the coast, I love Western Victoria. It is where I was born, where I was educated and where I have worked my entire adult life.

They say you never stop being a teacher – a profession I am so proud to have practised – so I would like to reflect on a few lessons that I have learned over my time to get to this place today. The first lesson: never forget where you come from. My ancestors came to Australia of their own free will, mostly from the Scottish cities of Wigtown and Perth. Most of the McCracken men for about seven generations were named John. It is safe to say they were not blessed with creativity, but they were consistent and economical. And that is where my middle name comes from. But like many families in Western Victoria, I do not fully know the situation that got us to this point in time, but we are here.

I was born in Ballarat and raised in Beaufort, and I am proud to be a country kid at heart. Growing up we had quite a list of pets, and I could never understand why our family friends thought that they were a little bit odd. Let me give you a little sample. We had Kevin the sheep. He was named after the title character of Home Alone. We had a puppy who was a Great Dane bull-mastiff-ridgeback cross. We had Karen – before it became cool – the cat, who is actually still alive today, aged 18. And we had a whole heap of chooks named after characters from Keeping Up Appearances, as you do. All very normal I assure you. I used to love yabbying in our dam. The only problem was the occasional tiger or brown snake, and they were not on the list of pets, I tell you. I played tennis and squash, I rode my bike, because that is how you got around, and I also worked in my parents’ pub. We had the freedom to play outside and get muddy, dirty and wet, and I do not think it did me any harm.

The second lesson: never forget older people. This relates to a very special person in my life, my grandmother Elaine McCracken. I love my nan; she is 101 years old. Nan served as a councillor for the town of Stawell and the Northern Grampians shire. My grandfather Arthur McCracken served as mayor four times over his many years of service. Pop passed away in 1986, before I was born, so Nan decided to run for his seat, and got elected.

In her earlier life Nan suffered through the Great Depression, World War II and losing two children, and she worked as a seamstress, more out of necessity than choice. She missed out on educational opportunities, but she made the best of what she had. She is dignified, diligent and understated. She taught me her ultrasecret weapon for getting what you want out of people, which is going to help me a lot in these times: food. I do not know how many times she would say to me, ‘Joseph, if you ever want to break into a conversation, go with a plate of food.’ And just as a sidenote, she is about the only person in my life that I let call me Joseph. Nan was not a feminist. She was stoic, a good manager and had a nurturing heart. Nan, thank you for your kindness, care and love. I will always be in debt to you.

My third lesson: family is everywhere. The concept of family for me has changed over the years. It used to mean ‘mum, dad and kids’, but when my parents divorced my view changed completely and I found it very challenging. I often bore the brunt of anger, frustration and fear, and it certainly left its scars on me. But it has also taught me a lot of lessons: resilience, empathy. It has taught me a lot about people, and it has helped me to see different perspectives. I have learned to let go. I have learned to forgive others and to forgive myself. I have come to realise that these experiences have shaped me into who I am today, and as much as I did not enjoy it at the time, I would not change a thing.

Family is really the people around you that you care about and love – so many of whom are here today – even though you are not related by blood. I still believe that family is the cornerstone of our communities, but it is a reflection of society that as families change, so do our communities and so must our attitude and thinking toward supporting families. We cannot force families to be what we think they should be. Families are what they are – big, small, blended or diverse. But the family unit is still vitally important, and it is the fabric that binds our society together.

Lesson four: education can free the individual. After finishing my own education at St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, I graduated from the University of Ballarat with a bachelor of commerce and a bachelor of management. I worked as an accountant, but it all got a little bit too exciting for me, so I decided to swap the calculator for the whiteboard markers and become a teacher. It was honestly one of the best decisions of my life. I loved every single moment of being a teacher. I cared for my students greatly. I felt so honoured and privileged to be shaping futures. I loved having a laugh, sharing a joke. For me, banter was everything, and I gave as good as I got – another good training ground too, mind you.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my teaching was in the role of head of humanities. I was responsible for creating curriculum in civics, history, economics and geography, and I led the creation of programs which were factual, evidence-based and, most importantly, non-biased. Curriculum should focus on giving students life experiences in preparation for a future in the real world, not training activists.

One of the biggest insights I have gained in my time in schools is that sometimes the best teachers are not necessarily the ones with a teaching certificate. I have watched my friends who are here today, Sandy Leak and Andrena MacFarlane, work effectively to support students. To all non-teaching staff in schools, your job is just as important as the teachers’, and I want to acknowledge and thank you for the often under-appreciated work that you do.

A good classroom to me is one full of laughter, learning and fun, and I wanted my students to be happy. I have enormous respect for young people. One young person in particular really stands out, and she cannot be here today because she is travelling around Australia. She is an incredible young woman who I taught in my global politics class. She migrated to Australia from the Middle East, and as I got to know her, I grew quite close to her as she confided in me her personal story.

Slavery, fear, sleep deprivation, torture, persecution – I cannot even begin to tell you the horror that this young girl experienced, and I could not help but get involved. After some very difficult discussions and a lot of red tape with some government departments, we managed to emancipate this young lady from her circumstances. I remember after her final exam, when she was leaving school for the last time in order to go to crisis housing, she turned to me and she gave me a hug and said, ‘Joe, you have literally changed my life.’ I was lost for words, and I am never lost for words. The truth of the matter is that this young person changed my life as well. We remain friends to this very day. It taught me that a good education with good teachers can free anyone and the world of opportunity is unlocked.

Local government, lesson five: get back to basics. ‘Getting back to basics’ was my slogan when I ran for Colac Otway Shire Council both in 2016, when I was elected third, and in 2020 when I was elected first with two full quotas. I did not manage to replicate that success at the last state election, but I am going to try next time, okay. I was elected mayor at the end of 2017, the youngest by a margin, and then I served as deputy mayor for two years. I had always strived to see public money spent efficiently and fairly and I hated seeing waste. I campaigned hard to focus on core council services: good roads, fair and reasonable rates, footpaths, public gardens and parks, drains that clear the water easily – the essentials that often get overlooked. Local government should not be involved in the business of other levels of government such as climate change, nuclear disarmament or foreign affairs. Sometimes I felt like I was on the set of the ABC’s Utopia. I will not mention two-way radios or the many, many revisions of the governance rules or that boom gate at Skenes Creek or those mayoral chains, which still haunt me, although I do have to mention a wonderful project that I managed to get off the ground in Petjuli Street and Jacaranda Crescent. It was a great park, and I campaigned very hard for it.

I will always remember the wise advice of Helen Paatch OAM, who said to me, ‘People might tell you that they voted for you, but the only ones you can believe are the ones that said they didn’t vote for you.’ The problem is I do not know which way Helen voted. I just hope she voted for me.

I would like to thank my friends from Colac Otway shire for their friendship over the last six years, particularly Kate Hanson for her honesty and friendship, Jason Schram, Chris Potter, Jamie Bell and Stephen Hart. To Tosh-Jake Finnigan, my friend and replacement on Colac Otway, I know you suffered greatly for shining a light on corruption and I hope you find justice. To Anne Howard, a very capable CEO, I wish you and your team all the best.

Lesson six: loyalty matters. I joined the Liberal Party when I was 19 years old, back in the dying days of the Howard government. One of my earliest political memories was in 1996. We were all crowded around the telly in the lounge room as John Howard swept to office, ushering in a golden era of Australian politics. The Liberal Party should not be afraid to stand for its values, as John Howard and Peter Costello did. We must never forget that we are a centre-right political movement. We are the custodians of both the libertarian and conservative philosophies. Both have prospered in our party in the past and they can again.

I will always be a proud member of the Liberal Party. We are the enablers. We encourage people to stand on their own two feet. We facilitate the great Australian entrepreneurial spirit, not by handouts but by government getting out of the way. If you work hard, you should be rewarded, not taxed into oblivion. We want to see progress while preserving the traditions and settings that attract people from all over the world to call our country home. People lie at the core of our values and principles, and we must never forget that. We are a party of and for the people, and I will always be a loyal Liberal.

Lesson seven: know one’s self. This is perhaps the hardest lesson for me to speak about because it is something deeply personal to me. Most people would not know this about me, and it may come as a shock to some. I actually do have a partner in my life, but my partner is a he, not a she. Jack, I want to thank you for all your support and care over the last period of time. It has been so appreciated. I do not know what I would have done without you. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with this. I have experienced doubt, shame, anxiety and many other things. I have never really talked about it much or made an issue of it, because I never wanted to be defined by it. I hate identity politics, and I will fight against it whenever I can. I have always struggled with the concept of defining a person by one aspect of who they are. A person is made up of a large set of diverse characteristics – age, gender, sexuality, race, religion, occupation. Why do we need to take one of those characteristics, amplify it and define a person in that way? The simple answer is: we do not, we should not. I think LGBT activists in Victoria need to carefully consider their public perception. Many, including me, have difficulty being associated with the movement. Most people in the LGBT community just want to get on with living their lives. Gay people do not need to be treated any differently to anyone else – no separate doctors, no separate radio stations, no festivals and no separate flags. And I question the need for a separate flag to identify the LGBT community, the rainbow flag. Flags represent nations and countries, and the only flags I will be saluting are the Australian flag and the Victorian flag. They are the only flags that do not discriminate on the people they represent.

But I do see this as actually a positive conversation to have. It is an opportunity to consider how we achieve real equality. It is going to require some serious thought, some open minds and, for some, educating themselves – but it can happen. It is not homophobic, bigoted or ignorant to question ill-informed notions of equality. Equality is something I care about, but I mean real equality, not the virtue signalling of the last 20 years that has failed.

My last lesson: be humble and thankful. It might be a problem in this place. To my parents – Terry, my father, and Heather, my stepmum – thank you for all your love, support and care. To Bev McArthur: Bev, I am so thankful that I have had you as a mentor, like you have mentored many other young people in the Liberal Party. You are a wealth of knowledge and experience and you are incredibly smart, and it is a complete honour to serve with you. Some may not know this about Bev, but Bev actually runs the McArthur school of politics, also known as ‘camp McArthur’. Courses are available in philosophy, policy, speechwriting, media, elocution and the course I most recently graduated from, fashion.

A member: You haven’t passed it.

Joe McCRACKEN: I haven’t passed it yet. I can attest the instruction is very direct, but it is of the highest calibre. Bev, thank you for your amazing friendship. You are a great person.

To Richard Riordan and his lovely wife Catherine and family, thank you for your friendship and welcoming me into your home and your lives. I am truly thankful for you taking me under your wing in Colac. To my friends and colleagues at Trinity College Colac: firstly, Melinda Roberts and Sharon McCrae – my two meter maids – you girls have still got it, I think. Thank you for your incredible friendship as well. To my gang, Andrena MacFarlane, Lynne Wheal, Leesa Sharkey, Caroline Grist, Dianne Towers – cuz – Anne Hughes, Sandy Leak: you have made my teaching career so much fun, and it has been so worthwhile.

To my friends in the Liberal Party who helped me get here today – Matthew Verschuur, my trusted friend: thank you for everything. Thank you for your good humour, your impersonations and your support over many years. To my friends in Polwarth and the south-west, Bronwyn and Leigh McKenzie, Ian Pugh, Ian ‘Snag’ Smith – aka ‘the dancing king’ – Kathryn Cecil, Lyn Conlon, Veronica Levay, Peter and Mary Hay, Deb Lorraine, Ellie Read and Matt Baker, thank you so very much.

To my Ballarat friends: Helen and Robert Bath, Vivienne Edlund, Geoff and Di Notman, Leonie Smith, Roger and Caroline Pescott, John and Michelle Dooley, Shandra Cohen, Samantha McIntosh and her husband Greg, and Paul Tatchell and his lovely wife Helen. I have got to say if anyone ever needs any life lessons, go and talk to Paul Tatchell; he is like Gandhi or the oracle. He is an amazing man, and I respect him so much.

To my friends and supporters in Geelong: Wilma Bolitho, Donnie and Andrew Grigau, James Bennet-Hullin, the Honourable Ian Smith, Alison McLeod, the Honourable Senator Sarah Henderson, David Orford and Jo Bryant and our two new superstars Charlie Johnson and Edwina Royce and your families: thank you.

I also need to mention Norma Wells, Margaret and Daryl Barling, Michael Kroger, my good friend and cousin Ross Kroger, Julian McGauran, Ralph Krein and Graham Watt – each in your own way have contributed enormously. To state president Greg Mirabella and his capable preference negotiator Mike Horner, whose work supported my election, thank you as well.

Now, I tricked you, because this is actually my last lesson now. My very last lesson: the present is a gift. You cannot change yesterday, and tomorrow is not written. You only have the present, and it is a gift given each day; that is why it is called the present. And I hope I can make the most of it in this place.

All the experiences of my life, good and bad, have resulted in me being here today at this point in time, and I am so proud to be here. As I look to the future and I think of all the work that needs to be done I think: today is just the beginning.

Members applauded.