Hansard debates

                                Address-in-reply
Debate resumed from  earlier this day;  motion of Ms PULFORD  (Western Victoria)
for adoption of address-in-reply.

  Mrs PEULICH (South Eastern Metropolitan) -- I can perhaps use this opportunity
to provide a bit of  tuition on  the pronunciation  of my  very difficult Slavic
surname.  It  is actually pronounced 'Powlitch'. I will not share with  you  the
play on words my former students used with my surname.
I will also not use the signature introductory line that re-elected members have
used in  the  past years. I  believe  it goes something like,  'Before  I was so
rudely  interrupted ...'. I will  not use that, and I  certainly will not try to
match  the theatre  and drama of my colleague Bernie Finn. That would simply not
be possible.

But like other members I would like to outline the context and  perspective that
I bring to  bear  on  this  role, that I have  had  the  great  honour of having
bestowed  upon me by  the  Liberal Party as well  as  the electors of the  South
Eastern Metropolitan Region. This particular  inaugural  speech  --  which  some
would call a maiden  speech, which is quite inappropriate since I am a bit of an
old maid, not a maiden -- should be seen as supplementary to the one that I gave
the  other place in 1992. As  with other members, some of  the themes and issues
are not dissimilar but are  couched in different terms and  are perhaps set in a
different  ideology and different  language,  which I would  like to caution  is
probably more  divisive than the actual values which many of us in this  chamber
probably share.
One way of  working collaboratively towards  practical outcomes would be  to cut
through the ideology of language and focus on some real and practical outcomes.

The challenge for  this  Parliament  and  those  in  other democracies is how to
navigate through that ideological difference that each of us  brings with us and
focus on  outcomes to make sure that we deliver better outcomes  for the  people
who have elected us to represent them.
But   before   doing   so   it  would  be  remiss  of  me,  President,  being  a
co-representative of the same region,  not to pass on my congratulations to you,
on behalf of our  region, on your elevation to this very high  office. I am sure
that you will do a  great job. You certainly  have  the faith and confidence  of
members  on  this  side  of  the  house.  We  are  confident that your  previous
experience  as  a  shop  steward  will  in  actual  fact  be a  great  asset  to
representing the  interests  of opposition  members,  and  we  look  forward  to
benefiting from some of those skills that you bring with you.

I would also like to congratulate all  members of this chamber on their election
to the 56th Parliament. It  is an historic occasion. If we achieve nothing else,
our names will certainly go down in history. But of course this occasion is more
than  about names  in a history book: it is about representing real people, real
constituencies and of course having a large job in these very large new regions.
I  am  a  mindful  of  sharing  the  mantle of representing  the  South  Eastern
Metropolitan Region  with four others: you, President; Mr Jennings; Mr Somyurek;
and a party  colleague, Mr Rich-Phillips. Some of the vagaries of this new upper
house  and the outcomes that it  has delivered  are expected.  They have  been a
result of a fairly protracted process,  and despite the commentary about whether
it is fair or democratic, the results have been delivered -- it is a verdict.
We may  not like what the verdict  delivers, but  it certainly  beats any  other
modern system of government that I know about.

The traditions of democracy mean that we accept the  verdicts,  and  unlike more
volatile  regimes  that  struggle  and  that we read about on virtually a  daily
basis, we do not use force or coercion to overturn democratic elections.
The  history of this  Parliament and other Australian  parliaments is that  they
have been formed without blood being spilt, unlike in other democracies. It is a
history of which I believe we must be immensely proud. It is not lost on someone
like me who was  born under a communist regime in the former Yugoslavia.  I take
the democratic  traditions  of our state  and nation very seriously.  Bosnia and
Herzegovina, where  I was born half a century ago, has had a troubled and bloody
path as a fledgling democracy. It is a path which has 

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devastated many lives following the fall of communism and during communism.
Communism throughout  much of Eastern Europe and undoubtedly other authoritarian
regimes historically have inspired many to seek greater freedoms and other forms
of democratic government as an expression of their own and the community's will,
like my  parents did when they immigrated to Australia  in 1967  and arrived  in
Melbourne -- actually at Port Melbourne -- on the Italian ship Galileo. This, as
well  as  my  early  life  in  Australia,  fuelled  my desire  to be  an  active
participant in this democratic process to ensure that what has been  a beacon of
hope  to  many  immigrants  continues to  offer  the  opportunity  and  equality
unmatched by other nations.
This desire  or dream was realised when  I was fortunate enough to be elected in
1992 and have the immense honour of representing the people of  Bentleigh for  a
decade.

My  re-election to this place would have my late father,  Drago Dosen -- who had
one  of  those  adorable  Slavic names which actually means 'Beau' in English --
stirring with pride in his resting place or perhaps chuckling with pleasure from
a better place. I regret his premature passing a decade ago, which means  that I
am not able to share today my sense of accomplishment with him. He would be very
proud of his  daughter and any of his  progeny, in particular given  that he was
always  concerned  I  would  somehow  be  seduced by the  left  when  I  entered
university and then went on to become a teacher.
  Mr Finn -- I don't think that's going to happen!

  Mrs PEULICH -- No, I did not fail him, but it was always a concern.
My mother, Nena, is a great survivor.

She survived a  children's concentration camp and the indignity of illiteracy as
a result of her education being interrupted  by the  Second World  War. She  was
subsequently able to overcome this  in her adult life. In their company of great
love,  she and  my father crossed  half the  world to  an unknown  place without
money, language and with two  children -- my brother and I -- in  tow, with four
suitcases, a couple of soup ladles and a load of hopes and aspirations.
I like to think that I have taken my parents' best attributes:  my mother's work
ethic,  loyalty  to family and preparedness to make many sacrifices to achieve a
dream; and my dad's commitment  to integrity, honesty and following through with
the confidence of one's  own  convictions, which he demonstrated in his life. My
parents both sacrificed a lot  to achieve a dream and  provided my brother and I
with what the  Second World War, including communism, religious conflict and the
life of relative poverty, had denied them.

Both of my parents  remain very powerful role  models  to my brother and  me, as
well  to the grandchildren. My 22-year-old son, Paul, and my brother's children,
23-year-old Sarah and 25-year-old Andrew, are all dinky-di Aussies.
My  mother would  not have  missed my  taking the  oath of  office yesterday for
anything in the world. Her  photo appears in the Age  today. She is sitting next
to my great longtime mentor and supporter, Mrs Thelma Mansfield.  The  two  look
very  regal  and  are  symbolically seated above the visual line of the Premier.
They are both  satisfied that their plan  for my re-election  somehow  succeeded
despite the odds.
My parents' ambitions and hopes for their children are  held  by  other families
and  are  commonplace  in many immigrant families who live in the South  Eastern
Metropolitan Region to which I and others have been elected.

The tasks involved in meeting  the needs  of families  that have sole parents --
like Thelma Mansfield, who is a mother of four adult daughters, who continues to
work  night  shift  at  the  age of 74 and  who  helps  with  Meals on Wheels by
delivering food to 'older' members of our  community -- are incredible  examples
of the  sacrifices  made by those sole  parents, many of whom of  course carry a
double burden. Thelma is the bedrock of a  large and  loyal family  comprised of
four independently minded  daughters, lots of  grandchildren  and of course  her
beloved Liberal Party.
The challenge of being a regional  representative  of  an  area  that covers the
electorates  of  11  lower  house  seats  is  significant.  The   South  Eastern
Metropolitan  Region spans  545  square kilometres  and  covers the lower  house
electorates  of Carrum,  Clayton, Cranbourne,  Dandenong,  Frankston, Lyndhurst,
Mordialloc, Mount Waverley, Mulgrave, Narre Warren North and Narre Warren South.

Over the preceding  year it has been a great pleasure to  get to know the people
who live in those electorates. The South  Eastern Metropolitan Region  stretches
from  Berwick,  covers  the  growth  corridor  and  extends  to  the beaches  of
Frankston, Carrum and Mordialloc.  Mordialloc is where you, President, have your
office. There is some very beautiful coastline in the region.  The  region  also
encompasses large concentrations of  business in Braeside, Dandenong and Hallam,
which provide employment to many people, including those 

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who came  to Australia, as my family did, to find greater personal and  economic
security.
As  one of  10 Liberal  women in  the 56th  Parliament, as  a  former child-care
campaigner who campaigned for child-care fee relief as well as tax deductibility
in the 1980s, as a mother, as an educator -- in  fact a graduate of Albert  Park
High School,  which subsequently became  Hobsons Bay Secondary College and which
the government is now progressing to close -- and as a legislator with a passion
for  finding  long-lasting, real and  practical  solutions so that  the needs of
individuals  and their families  and our communities are  advanced, I understand
the challenges of juggling family life and work that so many  families  continue
to face today, and I imagine it will continue to be thus.
My own parents faced similar challenges.

As a child I spent my early years being raised by my grandparents on their farm,
an idyllic setting for  a child,  a place  with horses, farm animals, brooks and
wells, the  adventure of bush  walks and  tree climbing.  Yes, we  ate red  meat
occasionally and  definitely no alfalfa. This arrangement was driven by economic
necessity  as  my  parents found employment in the big smoke, literally  a  town
built around  heavy mining industry and  permanently covered with the blanket of
soot and grime.
Initially my parents lived in a  bed-sitter,  storing  their coal for the winter
under  their bed.  Later, with  greater success  -- and my  father was  a double
degree  graduate -- he and mum  were able to secure a  small apartment, which my
brother and I eventually shared with them. Though my parents had to do what they
had to  do, there was never any doubt about their love of or devotion to us, and
this continued all their lives.

When my parents emigrated to  Australia my mother worked two jobs and dad took a
labouring job in a tyre manufacturing plant in Port Melbourne, where  eventually
his health did suffer. My brother and I took up part-time jobs. Mine was selling
ice-cream  at the Kerferd Road pier in Albert Park. I was paid $1 an hour. I was
the luckiest person alive because at the end of the working day I could actually
buy myself a dress that previously I could not have afforded, or help my parents
pay for a dental bill, books or some sort of educational expenses.
My brother of course took up a newspaper round -- the good old Aussie tradition.
This sort of economic prosperity, previously unknown to us, was exciting, and we
calculated  very  quickly that we, as a family, could purchase  our  first  home
within  three  years -- and we  did,  in Hawthorn. Of course  not too many years
later we bought a family  business, and we all worked  even harder to realise  a
dream of a better life.

To my  family,  as  it does  to  my  husband,  Savo, who  still  runs  our small
engineering business, this work was a choice  we were  prepared to  make and  we
welcome  that.  It  is  not  unusual  for us,  or for  others involved  in small
business, to work seven days a week. Often immigrant families  make  that choice
to work hard and to take advantage  of opportunities  to build and rebuild their
lives, to buy homes and to educate their children.
Low taxation,  flexible  work  practices,  a  flexible  labour force, affordable
child-care or  family  support and  reward  for  the effort  and  initiative are
absolutely  vital  to  a prosperous  society.  Language about  class  warfare in
industrial relations will do nothing to  provide for a sustainable  future, will
do  nothing  to ensure that  jobs  do not go offshore,  and  will do nothing  to
diminish the prospects  of our unskilled workers becoming a permanent underclass
of unemployed in our community.

There  is nothing more  alienating, nothing more impoverishing  and nothing more
debilitating to individuals and their families than unemployment.
Housing affordability,  education and  training, necessary infrastructure,  good
services and the ability to support the genuinely sick and disadvantaged are the
no-frills responsibilities of  any good government.  I  look forward to  working
with all members to advance the  interests of  the people  of the  South Eastern
Metropolitan Region as well as all Victorians.
The issue of  work and industrial relations will  no doubt be on our agenda many
times, as  signalled by the Governor's address as well as the inaugural speeches
of a number  of  government  members  and  because,  we assume, the Bracks Labor
government intends to use the opportunities of this chamber  in  the  lead-up to
the federal election.  This  is a debate that  I believe this side of  the house
should not be afraid of.

For our state and our nation this is a debate that we must have not only in this
chamber but also in suburban homes, in workplaces and in the community.
History shows  that many big debates  and decisions in  the Victorian Parliament
are not individual  ones but  a product of collective decision making. But we as
members of Parliament after serving in this place for some time can always point
to some individual projects, initiatives or ideas or policies where we have left
our mark on steering  the debate, the  legislation  and regulation to  hopefully
make a positive contribution to people's lives. After 10 years of service in the
other  place -- and I am  reflecting on what I have achieved over that time -- I
point to several examples, some 

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smaller than others, but all with the capacity to make a difference. For my part
my role in  the debate, which stopped the liberalisation of drug laws, including
legalisation of marijuana for  supposedly  personal  recreational  use,  was,  I
think, one of the most important  positions I have taken and which I now believe
is  increasingly vindicated by  evidence pointing to  the destructive effects of
marijuana use on the  developing brains of the  young.  I am also proud  of  the
campaign against the  proposals to establish heroin  injecting rooms. A  healthy
community is not one that succumbs to destructive addictions, be  it  they drugs
or compulsive gambling.
I would  also like  to  place  on  record  my  disappointment  in  the  lack  of
significant  advancement  in  the  government's  attempt to break  the  drug-use
culture among our young people, and clubbers in particular.

The provision of  stronger  rehabilitation programs for  drug users and  ongoing
support  for  young people whose  lives  have  been  damaged  by  drug  use  are
challenges, with many unlikely to hold productive jobs. I would like to see this
government  and this Parliament  address this issue  because  the cost in  human
life,  the  tragedy  as well as the economic  cost,  makes  this  an  absolutely
non-negotiable imperative.
The rights of adopted  children  to  have access to some basic information about
their biological  parents when  they turn  18 years of age and where contact  is
reciprocated is a reform that I pursued knowing how critical this  knowledge  is
to the identities and rights of those who have been adopted.

The  physical  resources maintenance system established under the former Kennett
government, which has  now seemingly been  relegated  to relative disuse  by the
current  government, was a  mechanism I conceived to  eliminate the practice  of
previous governments  using school maintenance  for party-political patronage. I
believe school communities deserve better. I am  still  of the view that schools
and  school  communities  deserve  to  have a system which  is  fair,  open  and
accountable, and a system which provides some certainty about schedules and time
frames around which schools can better plan their facilities and capital needs.
The  work  I  undertook as a  member  of  the  all-party  Family  and  Community
Development Committee over a decade, along with  other parliamentary colleagues,
was also time well spent, with several reports making a significant contribution
in developing blueprints for the future development of services.

I point to the Planning for Positive Ageing, report  which  was  extremely  well
received at the time and which is still used as the basis for the development of
programs,  services  and  policies today.  The  reason  was that  it  focused on
practical outcomes supported by both sides of the house.
The review undertaken of family and children's services in the first term of the
Kennett government recommended a number of  initiatives  which surprisingly have
been  adopted  by this government,  including  one announced  in  the Governor's
address -- the clustering of  family services and centres for the convenience of
parents and families. I am delighted the government is finally moving along this
track, although the wheels of democracy  appear  to  be  moving  very  slowly in
Victoria.

Over the last seven years we have seen some of the problems caused  by excessive
consultation, excessive collaboration and excessive promotion, which is all fine
except that  many  of  the problems  have  become acute and  remain  unresolved.
Clearly  many  challenges  need to  be  addressed  by  the  government  and this
Parliament with a greater degree of urgency -- for  example, the  way forward in
avoiding and minimising the devastation of bushfires, which have taken lives and
homes and  burnt over 800 000 hectares in our state. I place on record my thanks
of  course to all of these volunteers and firefighters  who  have  been  risking
lives to protect others.
The drought,  with record low levels of water in our reservoirs and metropolitan
Melbourne soon to  enter  stage  3  water  restrictions -- and according to some
industry sources perhaps  even stage 4 is not too far  down  the track -- is the
product of five years of record low rainfall during a time when $1.

6  billion has  been taken out of the water authorities by this government, with
the  problem  of  water having been largely ignored and neglected. The impact of
the drought on economic  growth,  on  assets,  gardens  and trees -- many mature
trees costing $50 000 each to plant  -- and  the destruction of our recreational
reserves,  cancellation  of   various  types  of  sporting  pursuits,   sporting
competitions, loss  of  jobs, the inability  to  secure enough feed  for  stock,
leading farmers to  sell  even  their  breeders, has exposed clearly what is the
government's Achilles heel.
The challenge of providing for an ageing  society,  of providing for an increase
in population  and  of providing  access  to  key services,  infrastructure  and
affordable housing are all  issues that require longer-term planning and careful
use of funds, especially during  our  prosperous  times  to  ensure  that we are
providing adequately for our various communities.

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This  is certainly  not the  case in  the growth  corridor in  the South Eastern
Metropolitan Region, where we still need the Cranbourne rail extension built, we
still need the Lynbrook station advanced, we need country roads upgraded to cope
with city volumes of traffic and  of course  further south  we need  the Dingley
bypass completed  as a  way of getting rid of the blanket of traffic  congestion
choking  up  the south-eastern  suburbs  because  the government  has  failed to
connect arterial flows to better manage increasing traffic.
The resources for better enforcement of law and order are also stretched, not to
mention access to our hospitals -- Monash Medical Centre and Casey and Frankston
hospitals.
The  things  that make up the  bedrock  of our society  --  our families and our
communities, including  our social sporting  and business communities -- need to
be supported.

This is  community  building,  to which  Ms  Tierney  referred  earlier  in  her
inaugural  speech,  but we need to focus on practical solutions and cut  through
the  ideological  divides,  especially  those  created  by  language.  Community
building  requires  a  number  of things. We need to provide the  services,  the
physical infrastructure, and relief from  punishing  financial  pressures  in  a
planned,  prudent and transparent manner. I thought the slogan 'When it matters'
that the Bracks Labor government  took to the election  actually highlighted the
government's  weaknesses. The government  seems to let  things  slide until some
arm-twisting  occurs, until there  is community outrage  and  until its hand  is
forced. The reality is that it ought to matter all the time.
In summary, an effective state government has four roles or functions.

The  first  role  is  to provide  much-needed  development  of  social  capital:
services,  stronger  families,  well-organised  community  organisations, better
community safety, access to hospital services  when required -- not two or three
years later -- a stronger mental health system and  a strong education system. I
am a former  teacher -- clearly  there are a  few of us in this chamber -- and I
taught for 14 years in the state system and, as I said,  I am also  a product of
the state system. I firmly believe that the state education system must lift its
offerings  to  our  community and to our students. It must challenge, extend and
take our students out  of  the  realms of populist culture that often reinforces
mediocrity and a sense of  hopelessness. Many immigrant families  rip their kids
out of  state schools, including elite  ones such as McKinnon Secondary College,
because  they are  so  disappointed  with the  content  of the  curriculum.  Our
families and  community  need to  have  strong expectations that  children  will
receive a quality public education.

Secondly,  an  effective  government  needs  to  deliver  the necessary physical
capital. This includes infrastructure projects, railway lines, stations  for new
suburbs,  schools  where  they  are needed -- such as  Timbarra  in  Berwick  --
upgraded hospitals,  roads which connect arterial flows and of  course our water
infrastructure.
My concern is that if governments cannot build the infrastructure in good times,
when can  they be  built? Clearly our ability to build social capital, invest in
the futures of our children and families and communities  also  depends on being
able to access and  use the required physical  capital -- well-connected  roads,
effective public  transport,  schools, and a secure water supply, to name just a
few.
In a complex society we cannot build social capital without physical capital.

Both are  necessary for  the health  and wellbeing of our communities and are  a
necessary investment in people's lives and their futures.
The problem of major project overruns and the lack  of planning  of new projects
are key challenges for the government. The waste of millions of taxpayer dollars
is  tragic for  Victorians. The  state budget  is  now $33  billion and  was $19
billion in 1999. In  view  of this bigger budget  we  should have been  able  to
deliver  many  of  these  projects  and  planned  future  projects.  The  annual
indexation of over 5000 taxes and charges allows a lack of financial discipline,
as of course does the largesse of the goods  and services tax receipts from  the
federal government.
As I said, the government has four roles. The last  one I would like to refer to
is the role  of  being  a  transparent  and  honest  government,  and  of course
strengthening our democratic institutions.

The government would have us  believe that indeed it is  doing so. If this  were
the case, there  would  not  be  the  fudging of performance indicators across a
range of portfolios, the butchering of the freedom-of-information system and the
tabling  of parliamentary reports  when Parliament is  not sitting, despite  the
concession of being able to make a comment in the chamber at a subsequent time.
The  four  clear  roles  for government are the building of social and  physical
capital with the prudent use of taxpayer  funds in an open, transparent and fair
way. This is what is required for building community capacity.
It is yet  to  be seen whether this  chamber is able to effectively  subject the
government to much-needed scrutiny, not only for its  own sake  but for the sake
of 

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Victoria.  The   people  of  the  South  Eastern  Metropolitan  Region  look  to
governments  and  parliaments   for  leadership  and  strength  of   conviction,
especially during  difficult times. The community does need to be consulted, and
it  must trust that the actions and the priorities of the government are focused
on all of the things that matter all  the time, not just at election time. There
should be no  smoko times for governments.  Effective government matters all the
time, and of course I look forward to making sure that the  promises outlined in
the   Governor's  speech  are  delivered  to  Victoria  and  the  South  Eastern
Metropolitan Region.
In closing, I commit to working with all  of those who have been elected to this
office to vigorously represent the interests  of the region as well as the state
to plan  and prepare and do  what  is humanly possible to  secure  the future of
those who have placed their faith in us by electing us to office.

In 1992 in another place  I outlined  in my inaugural speech my inspirations for
joining the Liberal Party. I will not cover that; much of  it is evident from my
life story. However, I would like to refer to a book by neo-conservative Francis
Fukuyama, The End  of History and the Last Man. In it he expressed the view that
liberalism is by far  the best protection from  undemocratic forces and arrogant
government. Essentially I share this view, but this is tempered by caution and a
wariness of those who present themselves as supporters of greater liberties, but
frequently do so at the expense of someone  else's liberty, or do so  by ripping
down or undermining the great democratic institutions of our society.
I would like to thank all of those people with whom I must share this particular
accomplishment. First  and foremost  I thank my family -- my mother, Nena and my
husband, Savo. I also thank my wonderful  supporters and campaigners and my son,
Paul. This is the first election that he has not been able to take part in -- he
is a university student in New York.

We did keep in touch via MSN and Skype, and he proved to be an enormous personal
and emotional support.
I thank my many supporters over many years -- party members -- and of course all
of  those who  continued to  work tirelessly  for the  party  by  turning  up at
pre-poll voting  and letterboxing, the usual  campaigning and so  forth. I would
also like  to thank those  who supported  me in  my role  on the  administrative
committee and as vice-president for two years.
In particular I would like to thank the following people for their encouragement
of  me over  many years: Thelma Mansfield, Patti and Ben Sanders, John and Kathy
Foley, Peter  and Katrina Grove, Peter  Norman, Geoff Leigh  and  the Honourable
Geoff  Connard.  I  thank  all  the  region's  hardworking lower  house  Liberal
candidates, their  families and their  campaign teams who  worked tirelessly and
sacrificed much over many months.

These include Michael  Shepherdson in Narre  Warren South, Stephen  Hartney in
Mordialloc,  Ashton  Ashokkumar  in  Mulgrave,  Gary Anderton in Lyndhurst, Jeff
Shelly in Carrum,  Rochelle  McArthur in  Frankston,  Cr Mick Morland  in  Narre
Warren  North,  Luke Martin  in  Cranbourne, Michael  Gidley  in Mount Waverley,
Michael Carty in Clayton, and Cameron Nicholls in Dandenong.
My  election,  along   with  Mr  Gordon   Rich-Phillips,  as  a   Liberal  Party
representative  on  a full  upper  house ticket  presented  to  electors,  which
included Ken Ong and  Susanne La Fontaine, is the  product of the work  of  many
people.  I  would  like  to share my win with  all  of  those people whom I have
mentioned and many I have not.
I would  also like  to pay  tribute  to the  service provided  by the  immediate
outgoing  Liberal members of the  Legislative Council in the area, including the
Honourable Andrew Brideson and the Honourable Chris Strong.

Lastly  I wish to thank the electors of the South Eastern Metropolitan Region. I
will  work hard to repay the faith that has been placed in me. Not to be outdone
by  my  colleague Mr Matthew Guy,  I would like to  say  the following: ziveli i
nazdravlje! In English it is: wishing you long life and good health!