Hansard debates

  Mrs PEULICH (Bentleigh) -- I am glad your calling on  me to speak, Mr Speaker,
is not a false  alarm  because I have been  on  stand-by on about 9 or  10 other
occasions. I am glad I now have the opportunity to speak for the first time.

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On behalf  of  the  people  of  the  Bentleigh  electorate  I  belatedly  echo a
succession of congratulations to you, Mr Speaker, on your elevation to your high
office. From  my  observations in the  four-week  sitting of the  52nd Victorian
Parliament  it is evident that you are well regarded by members on both sides of
the  House. Your trademarks  are  impartiality, wisdom and  occasional wit, even
under the most testing of circumstances.
The Bentleigh electorate was named after Sir Thomas Bent, MLA  for  Brighton for
32 years and Speaker from  1892  to 1894. He was also the  Premier  from 1904 to
1909. Bentleigh  is often described as  a litmus seat and in  many respects is a
microcosm of Melbourne. Bentleigh is blessed with substantial open spaces; it is
largely residential but also has large retail  and  industrial areas. It is less
than 15 kilometres from the GPO.

Bentleigh, like other electorates, has not only suffered from the financial ills
of the State and unacceptably high levels of unemployment  but has also suffered
in areas where the former government always trumpeted its achievements.
When I was 10 years of age my family came to this land of  opportunity to escape
a  life  that was crippled by socialism. My parents left the  former  Yugoslavia
because they absolutely  abhorred  a system in which the legitimate needs of the
individual were subservient to the  State; a system which denied people the most
basic  of freedoms, including freedom of speech within the family home. It was a
system operated on entrenched  privileges,  where  communist  party  members had
access to all of life's opportunities while those who did not have a ticket were
not only denied those  opportunities but were actively discriminated against. It
was a system divided into the haves and the have-nots.

On my return  from a  year as  an International  Teaching Fellow  in the  former
Yugoslavia and with a perspective broadened by the experiences  of motherhood, I
was alarmed at the trends  I observed on my return to Victoria. Four years ago I
joined the Liberal  Party  because of  its  commitment to a  philosophy  already
enunciated  by the  honourable  member for  Sandringham  --  a  philosophy  that
enshrines the  freedom to  think, to  worship, to  speak,  to choose  and to  be
independent  and its belief  that governments must protect, vigorously at times,
the freedoms of the individual and provide an  opportunity  for  all  people  to
advance to their full potential.
Coming from  an oppressive  system I  do not take those freedoms for granted.  I
share the views of Frances Fukuyama in The End of History  and the Last Man that
liberalism is by far the best  protection from undemocratic forces  and arrogant
government.

To  my  family and friends, and  perhaps  to  the  30 per cent of  those  in  my
electorate  who were  not  born  in  Australia,  my  election to  the  Victorian
Parliament is  a  proud  and perhaps even symbolic occasion which proves what is
possible in this great land of ours.
In 1967, the year the seat of Bentleigh was created, my parents, like many other
migrants, came to Australia with  four suitcases, a couple of small children and
very little else.  Through sheer hard  work, initiative and self-sacrifice  they
were  able to  realise their  dreams. I  thank my parents  for inspiring  in me,
against all odds,  a fierce love of liberalism and democracy as well  as a sense
of initiative and personal responsibility.
My early experiences both  in the former Yugoslavia and here have taught me that
opportunities are often disguised as hard  work  and  that  failure   is not the
falling down but the staying down.

As newcomers  to this  land, my  family worked hard to seize the opportunity  to
create a new and better life. We were fortunate because work was plentiful. Like
the honourable member for Dandenong, I worked  from an  early age.  He began his
working life at the age of  15.  By  the  time  I was 15, I had already put in a
couple of years of work and paid my way through two years of schooling.
Unfortunately, in the last few years many recently arrived  migrants have become
dispirited and  filled with despair. At  the most recent citizenship ceremony in
the City of  Moorabbin many migrants expressed  desperate hope that  a coalition
government  would do what is  recognised  as  a  world-wide  need  --  that  is,
responsibly manage the State's finances, do away with anti-business policies and
protect workers and businesses from union coercion so that they can do what they
are prepared to do, that is, work hard.

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To  the  non-English-speaking  migrants,  especially  those  from  Eastern  Bloc
countries,  the social  engineering  agenda pursued  in  Victoria over the  past
decade has  been not only stultifying to the economy but also frightening in its
effect  on the lives  of  the men and women  of  Victoria. Without a doubt,  the
greatest social justice any government can provide is the opportunity for people
to work and restore some dignity to their lives.
In coming to  this land non-English-speaking migrants  have shown that  they are
prepared to make sacrifices. I was shocked but  not surprised to learn that some
ethnic communities suffer unemployment levels as high as 97 per cent. Sacrifices
of  such magnitude make  a  mockery of the  previous  government's priorities of
equity and justice.
In  Bosnia, where  I was  born, people  have fallen  victim to the strategies of
divide and rule set in motion by those who cling to power.

Despite the forces of change, those in power have been successful at achieving a
tragic cost in  human life and suffering. My  plea is that we should  not employ
the  same divide-and-rule tactics. Let  us not deny workers,  the unemployed and
our young people a future by  clinging  to the past at the urging of  others who
say there is no need for change.
Moorabbin, the  only municipality in  my electorate, is  the  largest employment
centre  in  the southern region  and  the second  largest  industrial  centre in
metropolitan Melbourne, whether based on payroll or property numbers. It is home
to 5500 businesses. As a councillor of that city I frequently  drove through the
industrial  section  of  Moorabbin, and I was appalled at the  number  of  empty
warehouses and factories where thriving businesses once existed.
The corporate motto of  the City of Moorabbin is  The City of  Opportunity , and
the council has taken the positive role of fostering enterprise and initiative.

For example, the  Moorabbin Arts Council, of which  I am a member, is seeking to
establish closer links  between the arts and  the business community, while  the
council has supported  the establishment of the Moorabbin Business Awards, which
recognise successful products or businesses in the area.
As  mentioned  by my  colleague  the  honourable  member  for  Sandringham,  the
Moorabbin College of TAFE is forging ahead with the  development  of an industry
training  centre,  which  will  provide  courses  and  the  teaching  of  skills
specifically required by the  business community. I am pleased that the Minister
for Tertiary Education and Training is supporting that project and has given his
approval,  long  overdue  under  the  previous  government, for  the  college to
finalise its funding arrangements  so it  can begin  a project  that will  be an
enormous asset to the region.

Despite  all  the  commendable  local  initiatives - and there are many  more  -
diminishing investment  and  competition have  created  massive unemployment  in
Bentleigh,  the  good  old  microcosm  of Melbourne. Unemployment  in  Moorabbin
tripled in the  last term of the Labor government and  is now the highest in the
southern region with more than 5500 registered as being unemployed.
Youth  unemployment  is at staggering  levels.  Having been involved  in a small
family  business, I understand the hardship faced by business in and abutting my
electorate. The current unemployment  figures released today show a worsening of
the level of unemployment, so, tragically, many  more businesses will be  forced
to shed staff in a last bid to survive.
Even  though recent trends  show that Victoria is  outperforming other States in
job growth, labour costs and taxes remain the big ticket items.

Business fears that investment in jobs will not be secure  while militant unions
-- not all unions are militant -- sabotage recovery in their  desperate struggle
to maintain some control over economic policy.
Many people  continue to  say  to  me  that over  the past  decade Victoria  has
suffered  excesses  in  consultation,  excesses  in  collaboration, excesses  in
communication and excesses in participation while our  international competitors
have got on  with the  job. People  recognise that  leaders need  to listen  and
balance that with consultation. Like the captain of a sports  team,  they should
listen to a few, then decide and act -- something that did  not occur during the
past 10 years.
The  people  of my electorate look to the government for leadership and strength
of  conviction during a difficult period. They urge  the government to implement
policies for change for the better so that all Victorians can prosper. 

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Without  a doubt the quantum  of  jobs  is  the  most  important  political  and
community issue for the 1990s.
Very few families in Bentleigh have been unaffected by unemployment. The Federal
government's failure to face up to the hard  issues has proved beyond doubt that
consensus gradualism does  not  work and that, without the growth we need, there
is  a danger of having two societies, much like the one I left -- those who have
jobs and those who do not.
In the next decade each and every one of us must accept the challenge for change
and recognise  the  need to be  internationally competitive. We cannot  have the
desired standards of  health, education, environment  and welfare unless we have
an internationally competitive economic base to support it.

Ivan  Deveson  said at a recent address that the bottomless bucket of  socialism
does  not  exist. There is now  a  realisation in the  community  that we do not
strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
The swing of  nearly  10  per cent to  the  Liberal Party in the  electorate  of
Bentleigh with the Liberal  candidate  winning every booth to return the seat to
the  Liberals  13 years  after  it  had been won  by  Labor  is evidence  of  my
constituents' demand for change.
Even now, after a number of  hard decisions  have been  taken by the government,
there is an expectation  that the government  should  continue to implement  its
policies, and  with each successive  militant union action, community resolve is
further strengthening behind the government.

Many lifelong Labor voters  - and there must be many of  them to achieve a swing
of 10 per cent -- have told  me that they do not want unions to dictate economic
policy and that they expect all levels of government to live within their means.
They believe a more  flexible  labour  force and an efficient government are the
only way business confidence can be restored.
Above all the people of Bentleigh urge the government to implement policies that
reward effort and initiative in industry and education.
Having taught  in  the State education system  for the past 13  years  I know at
first hand the failings of that system. It frequently fails to challenge, extend
or take our  students out  of the  realms of  a populist culture that reinforces
mediocrity or even a sense of hopelessness.

The  former government's political  agenda in education displaced the pursuit of
academic  achievement as the  primary  goal. Its aversion  to reward for  effort
stems from the view that it promotes elitism. Parents and students,  as well  as
the  vast  majority  of teachers, know that the real world depends on diversity,
thrives on competition and rewards excellence.
We must continue to  restore  confidence  in the State education system. We must
improve the quality of learning and teaching in our schools  and ensure that the
education system better caters for the range of needs that exist in our schools.
This will be more difficult to achieve while militant teacher unions continue to
take irresponsible action as we have seen in recent walkouts at some schools. It
is an absolute abrogation of teachers' moral, legal and professional duties.

I urge the Minister for Education to consider reforming the Education Act, which
says nothing about teaching, learning or  the educational obligations of schools
to students,  except  for a  requirement  that schools and  teachers  exercise a
reasonable  duty of  care. Only  by  the  reform  of the  Education Act  and the
implementation of the Schools of the Future program, which is being  embraced by
numerous education institutions, can our  children have defensible  expectations
of a quality public education.
As  one of  nine women  elected to  the government  benches, I  look  forward to
pursuing those issues that affect the daily lives of women and families. Whether
women undertake conventional roles, unconventional roles or, like me, juggle the
two, it is imperative that our  society gives women, who make up 52  per cent of
voters in  Victoria,  the  opportunity  to  choose.  Words must  translate  into
actions.

As a former child-care campaigner and past President of the Victorian Parents of
Children  in Day Care, I am  dismayed by the chest  beating  of the former Labor
government  about  what it did for women. The Labor government's record  in  the
area of long day care has directly worked against  women and  children. Only  22
per cent of all children in day  care are in regulated care.  Members with young
children will know  that the cost of regulated day care has nearly doubled since
1988,  and many women have not  only been squeezed out  of  the labour force but
their  children  have  been  squeezed  out  of  regulated  care  because  it  is
unaffordable and inaccessible.

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To  genuinely improve  the  choice and  opportunities  available  to  women  and
families,  especially as Victoria comes  out of the  recession,  we must address
accessibility and affordability  of child-care at both State and Federal  level;
the provision of flexible working hours and work practices; access  to part-time
work and  job sharing; and protection from violence both within the home and  in
the community.
We need to move  away from the notion  that  women are only a  special  interest
group  to be cynically wooed at election time. If this  is what  women lobbyists
expect, they are doing women a gross disservice.
Women, like migrants, children  and  men, make up the currents of the mainstream
and  we,  as  members of Parliament, have a duty  to  put in place a system that
protects and meets  the needs  of all  members of the community, without fear or
favour.

The  coalition  is  committed  to  more  efficient and  effective  provision  of
services.  I  am not ashamed to say that those policies nurture  initiative  and
independence  but  are  tempered  by  compassion  for  those who  are  genuinely
disadvantaged.
After 13 years of Labor  in my electorate I am  honoured to represent the people
of Bentleigh as part of a government with a vision for the future. In  accepting
this most important  task,  I  take the opportunity of thanking those people who
have helped me, especially my family.  I thank my husband, who frequently stayed
up until  1 a.m.  driving around  the electorate  of Bentleigh to ensure that my
billboards were not damaged or pulled down;  I thank my nine-year-old son, Paul,
who is now a seasoned campaigner and loves letterboxing; I thank  my mother  and
father  --  this would not have been possible without their support because they
inspired  me  to  work hard and to  aim  high;  and  I thank my brother and  his
children.

I thank my  friends  and supporters, my  electorate  committee, members  of  the
Parliamentary  Liberal  Party, the members for Higinbotham Province  in  another
place, the Bentleigh  Young Liberals, branch  members and the scores  of helpers
who are not members of the Liberal Party. I extend my thanks for the opportunity
that has been given to me.
I take pride in being part  of  the democratic process of this State. I  give  a
firm undertaking to work hard  to build  a better Bentleigh in a more prosperous
Victoria and  to represent my constituents,  including those who  were forgotten
for so long by the former government.
I thank honourable  members for their assistance during this learning  stage and
for listening in relative  silence. I  conclude by saying that I am here because
Victorians and the people of Bentleigh believe in the old Australian notion of a
fair go. It is part of the Australian culture that I have readily embraced.