Jeremy's Inaugural speech - 9 December 2008

MR HANSON (Molonglo), by leave: First and foremost, I express my gratitude to the people of Molonglo for allowing me the privilege of representing them for the next four years. I congratulate my fellow members on their election to the Assembly, in particular, the seven who join me here for the first time. With minority government we have an opportunity to work together in the Assembly to achieve great outcomes for the people of Canberra and I look forward to working with each of you towards that end.

I come to the Assembly from the Army, which I left in August this year after a career spanning almost 23 years. It will not be a surprise, therefore, if I say that the Army has had a profound effect on who I am. Although my military service has on occasion taken me away from loved ones and put me in situations of danger and discomfort, I have benefited enormously from the experience and feel privileged to have served with so many great Australians.

I will bring some of the benefits of my military experience to the Assembly and I intend to approach my job with the same work ethic, planning ability, leadership, management and organisational skills that are characteristic of an Army officer. I intend also to carry with me the sense of duty, moral courage, teamwork and integrity that have been instilled in me throughout my service.

Across Canberra there are many serving ADF personnel, ably supported by their public service colleagues, and I salute them for the contribution that they make in ensuring our safety and in providing security and stability across our region and across the globe.

My life until quite recently has been somewhat nomadic. I grew up overseas and, since moving to Australia in 1983, have not stayed long in any one place. I have served throughout the world and been posted to many locations in Australia. I chose to settle in Canberra because, of all the wonderful places in our nation, it is without doubt the best city in which to raise a family.

There is no doubt that Canberra is underrated, but I am sure that those of us who live here and appreciate what it offers would agree that it is something special. Canberra finds the path between country town and city that provides the best of both worlds. It is a spectacular national capital, hosting such icons as Parliament House, the War Memorial and Lake Burley Griffin, and increasingly it is a city with confidence that has a vibrant cultural life. Our suburbs also have a sense of community not present in most cities, and we are not as proud of them as we should be.

A city is its people, though, and I have been lucky enough to meet thousands of Canberrans over the last several months during the election campaign. I liked what I saw and, with only rare exceptions, I found my fellow Canberrans to be industrious, good humoured, polite and compassionate. We are a remarkably friendly and civil society.

Not all of us are doing it easy, however, and I make special mention of those I found who are doing it tough; in particular, the elderly and the disabled and those who care for them. They need as much support as we can offer and I will be making it my goal over this term in the Assembly to do all I can to improve their quality of life.

I will also make it my goal to help improve the quality of life of Indigenous people in the ACT. As shadow minister for Indigenous affairs, I look forward to learning more about the history and culture of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people and to ensuring that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in the ACT are well represented here in the Assembly.

Government does not act alone in helping the disadvantaged, and I pay tribute to the many volunteers in Canberra who contribute so much to our city. The clubs, associations and individuals who give of themselves in the interests of others deserve our recognition and support, and I thank them for what they do. I make special mention of the RSL, Rotary, Legacy, and the National Brain Injury Foundation, with whom I have had some association lately.

I come to the Assembly as a member of the Liberal Party and consider myself a liberal by the definition of the word. I follow the ideal of Sir Robert Menzies, who said, "We took the name 'Liberal' because we were determined to be a progressive party, willing to make experiments, in no sense reactionary but believing in the individual, his rights and his enterprise, and rejecting the socialist panacea."

I am enthused by the rejuvenation that has occurred in the Liberal Party at this election and I am very proud to be a member of a party that is well led, is united and is focused on the task of opposition. We will keep the government honest and accountable and we will provide the people of Canberra with a very credible alternative government.

Although Canberra has so much to offer, the Stanhope-Gallagher Labor government has a record of neglect and mismanagement that has left many in the community wishing that they could retreat to what they consider were Canberra's better days. I am confident, however, that better days are before us and that, despite the toils and troubles that any city confronts, our future will be bright and full of opportunity. Our responsibility here is to identify those opportunities and to deliver better outcomes for the people of Canberra.

My vision for our future is a vibrant, progressive and sustainable city where our health care, our schools, our roads, our public transport and our economy are, once again, the envy of the rest of Australia. When I compare our future with that faced by many of the people I have worked with in such places as Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Iraq there is no doubt that we sometimes do not appreciate how good we have it.

In many of the places I have served with the Army, freedoms were only recently won and at great cost in both wealth and in human lives. In part, as a result of this experience, I treasure the individual freedoms that we have, and I have a moderate's view of the world. I reject zealots and extremists at both ends of the political spectrum.

I have great respect for all religious faiths and I believe in a secular society where men and women of all races and religion and those without religious beliefs are treated equally. I believe that a person's morality is measured by their actions rather than by their creed.

I support individual freedoms over collectivism and I believe in choice. I believe in an individual's right to choose the school that best meets the needs of his child or her child. I believe in an individual's right to negotiate with his employer as part of a union or as an individual.

I support a woman's right to choose, and I am encouraged to serve an Assembly where nearly 50 per cent of its members are women. I believe in advancing the rights of gay and lesbian people.

Although I embrace these freedoms, they are only possible in a society that has strong laws that are upheld and enforced fairly and with conviction. Individuals have a responsibility to adhere to our laws, and I will be working to ensure that the police have the powers and the resources to enforce those laws properly.

As we each have a responsibility to adhere to society's laws, I believe we each have a responsibility to contribute to the society in which we live. We must look after the disadvantaged in our society by providing them with genuine opportunities to succeed, and equally we must avoid any handouts that serve only to satisfy our sense of charity in the short term but ultimately act as a disincentive for advancement. We must foster a sense of aspiration across our society rather than a sense of entitlement.

Much of this sense of purpose in life is formulated at a young age and there is no more important institution than the family. I believe we should support and encourage our families as much as we can but in doing so acknowledge that each family is unique. Mum, dad and the kids is not the only model that works, and those single parents and other family members looking after our young and most vulnerable are equally deserving.

Many of the social problems we face in the ACT, including homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and crime, stem from the three ills of problem gambling, alcohol abuse and illegal drugs. They are complex issues that we need to confront openly and aggressively on a range of fronts, including high-quality education, appropriate laws and compassionate medical and counselling services. To that end, problem gambling is a particular issue that the Labor Party must confront before they can convince me that they speak with moral authority on issues of social justice.

Although I have laid out for the Assembly some of what is important to me, the people of Canberra are less interested in ideological debates occurring in this place than they are in our focusing on the issues that are fundamental to the good governance of the ACT. I refer in particular to the management of health, education, housing, development and the economy.

Turning firstly to health, it is clear that with a growing and ageing population the provision of good health care is the greatest area of risk faced by the ACT. Despite the vast amounts of money we are currently spending, our system is under immense pressure and is failing us in some strategic areas. We must do what we can now to provide better health care but, importantly, we must think long term and be prepared for the increased demands on our system that are predicted.

I look forward to contributing to the health care debate as the shadow minister and intend to present a case for a greater focus on preventative health and primary care in our communities that would in turn reduce pressure on our overstretched hospitals.

Although provision of health care is a large and complex issue, an area where we can all help in an important way is to become organ donors. I encourage us all to do so and to look at how we can make it simpler for the rest of the community to become donors. I thank all of our dedicated health care workers here in the ACT and pay tribute to the wonderful job that they do.

Education is an area close to my heart, with one child at school here in the ACT and another due to enter the system in a couple of years. I am a great believer in both public and private education. Although the territory government's financial priority is appropriately directed towards our public schools, I acknowledge the sacrifice that many parents make providing private education for their children and recognise that without their contribution our tax burden would be much greater. Teaching is an undervalued profession in Australia and I offer my personal thanks and praise to all of our hardworking teachers here in the ACT.

Housing consumes the bulk of most weekly budgets, and home ownership is an aspiration that remains beyond too many Canberrans, particularly the young. We need to reduce the levels of stamp duty paid by first home owners and increase the amount of land released, amongst other measures, to ensure that home ownership is a realistic aspiration for us all.

I also am concerned by the disgraceful state of repair of many of the public housing complexes in the ACT, in particular those closest to the city centre. There is a case for renewal of the estate, and this is where we need to look most urgently.

We need to look at new options for the development in our city centre and town centres and not be afraid of high rise. High rise can be both more affordable and reduce the environmental impact of development. I am pro growth and I believe we should provide opportunities for Canberra to become a more sustainable, progressive and vibrant city. Part of this means enhancing our water infrastructure to ensure that we have adequate supply in the future and we are proofed against drought.

Of course, much of what I have discussed in the areas of health, education, housing and infrastructure is only achievable with a strong economy. In these uncertain economic times, good management of our economy is paramount, and I believe that over the course of the last few decades Liberal governments at the federal, state and territory levels have proven themselves more capable in this regard.

We need to strengthen and diversify our economy, and in my view we should become the smart centre of Australia. We should be the first choice for industries focused on education, the environment and technology.

We must be more business friendly as a city and review how our regulation and taxation frameworks could better support existing businesses and act as an incentive for new businesses to come to the ACT.

A way we could improve the business environment is to reduce duplication. There is too much duplication in process and bureaucracy across the various levels of government in Australia, between the ACT and our neighbours in New South Wales and within the ACT. The simplification of the mass of regulations governing any number of transactions affecting business and personal lives would make us more efficient and enable us to deliver more effective services.

Mr Speaker, my key objectives for the next four years are threefold. First and foremost, I will represent the people of Molonglo to the best of my ability. Second, I will at every opportunity hold the government to account. Third, I will be working with my fellow members of the opposition to provide quality policies that offer the people of Canberra an alternative government they can have confidence in.

In conclusion, I would like again to thank the people of Molonglo for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve as their representative. I also thank the Liberal Party members who selected me to represent our great party and those volunteers and staff who have worked so hard on the campaign. I congratulate Winnifred Rosser on the outstanding job she does as party president in the ACT, and I express my gratitude to those who stood as candidates and were unsuccessful. I especially congratulate Zed Seselja and Brendan Smyth on the great job that they are doing as the Liberal leadership team.

I would like to thank all of my friends and supporters who have contributed so much of their time and resources to my campaign. They include Greg and Margaret Cornwell, Dianne Anderson, Yvonne Symington, June O'Donnell, Virginia and Paul Berger, Natalie and Matt Colbert, Jo Giugni, Brent Hannah, Rochelle Hill, Amy Keenan-Dunn, Angela Michelson, John Sykes, Verity Hughes, Lance Reese, Karen Rush, Pam and John McAllister and David Toohey. It is great to see so many of them in the Assembly here today.

I would like to thank my family, who have been my closest supporters: my father Brian and my sons, Will and Robbie, and especially my mother, Wendy, who worked so hard through the campaign.

Finally, to my wife, Fleur: I love you very much. Thank you for supporting me in all that I do and for the sacrifices you have made over the years to allow me to follow this path. Thank you for your friendship and thank you for your love.