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Richard Colbeck, Senator for Tasmania
First Speech - 13/03/2002Thank you, Madam Deputy President. There would be few before
me, and I suppose there will be few to follow, who would not feel an enormous
sense of pride to be a representative of the Australian people in the
federal parliament. I am no different. It is indeed a most rare honour
and privilege to take my place here as a representative of my party, my
state and my country, and I do so with great humility.
I would like to thank the membership of my party, who saw fit to include
me as a member of the Tasmanian Liberal Senate team. I am a proud member
of this great party and I look forward to representing its principles
in this chamber over the years to come. I also thank the Tasmanian electorate
for seeing fit to return three Liberal senators at the November election.
The nature of the electorate in Tasmania and the electoral processes that
electors are exposed to at a state level make them very discerning. It
was an outcome that went against all the expectations of the pundits,
and it was a very good one for the Liberal Party. It is my intention that
it be demonstrated to be a very good one for Tasmania.
I must also pay tribute to my predecessor in this chamber, the former
Senator Jocelyn Newman. It is an honour to be selected by my party to
follow someone of the stature of Jocelyn Newman. In Tasmanian terms, she
is one of the most significant identities in the history of our parliament
and more so in the context of the Liberal Party in Tasmania. She ranks
alongside Dame Enid Lyons in terms of her achievements, and I pay tribute
to the contribution that she made to both her state and her country. I
again thank her for the opportunity and the privilege to be a part of
the opening of this 40th parliament. It was a most generous gesture and
I am extremely grateful for it.
Most importantly, I express my thanks to my wife, Gaylene, and to my
children Carmen, Rhys and Dane. We all know that the pressures of political
life have an impact that extends beyond the member, and I could not have
asked for a family which is more understanding and supportive of my involvement
in politics.
I am a proud fourth generation Tasmanian, with my family settling at
Bothwell in the 1830s—and, in case you were wondering, there was
no prison at Bothwell. It does say something about our country that someone
from a dairy farm at Wilmot in the foothills of Cradle Mountain, who started
their working career as an apprentice carpenter, can become a representative
in the Senate of the federal parliament. As a representative of Tasmania,
I can but delight in the premium outputs of the people and the industries
of the island—outputs that are recognised internationally as being
the best available. I take some delight in naming and boasting of some
of these:
- disease-free Atlantic salmon that we now export back to source
as fry to replenish stocks
- premium product from our wild fisheries
- the only beef in Australia guaranteed by legislation to be free
of hormone growth promotants and therefore sought after in premium markets
such as Japan
- dairy products from the north and north-west and King Island
- premium vegetable crops
- unique tourism industry with experiences that surprise those
who visit
- mining, forestry and fine timber products
- innovative technology developments including, of course, world
leading shipbuilding technology.
There is a host more that I could name; yet this wonderful island continues
to struggle to keep pace with growth levels across a range of indicators
of the rest of the country and battles to keep pace with the rate of change
that is these days a fact of life. This brings me to several issues that
are of significant interest to me in advancing the cause of my state.
While some may think, `Here we have another Tasmanian with the upturned
hand approach,' I assure you that is by no means the case. In most instances
it would be quite appropriate to substitute regional Australia for Tasmania—in
other words, what is good for Tasmania is generally good for regional
Australia. I realise that Tasmanians need to play a large role in developing
their future and, in some respects, they need to change their perspectives
to achieve that development.
The real issue for Tasmania is that key issues need to be addressed by
governments at both state and federal levels to allow for the natural
advantages that we enjoy to be fully exploited. The first of these has
to be access and the cost of access. This would have to be the most significant
influence on the potential growth of the state. It does not matter which
industry you come into contact with; sooner or later the conversation
comes around to this topic. The issue is more than just access and cost;
it extends to guaranteed reliable transport.
In an attempt to remove some of the preconceived thoughts on the relationship
between the two main land masses that make up our country, I will change
what is generally accepted as normal terminology, as I am one who refuses
to accept any concept of superiority that it might convey one way or the
other. In a tourism sense, there are many north islanders who would like
to visit the south island. In fact, research shows that about 18 per cent
of north islanders express this sentiment. The reality is that only about
three per cent actually do visit. But why? Is it fair that, for example,
a north islander has to pay approximately 60 per cent of the total cost
of their holiday to get to their destination on the south island or that,
when they get there, they might not be able to get back home again? Unfortunately,
no matter how small the risk, it is one that many north islanders are
not prepared to take. At this point in time, that is the situation, particularly
in the current climate of uncertainty surrounding air travel. While there
is no question that there has been significant ground made towards solving
this situation through freight equalisation and passenger equalisation,
and even more recent developments through the state government, in my
view there is more required to achieve the ideal situation, and I look
forward to working to achieve that.
There are other issues that derive from access, all of which, to some
extent, are felt by regional Australia. Education—particularly retention
rates to tertiary education—is a matter that is felt by all regional
communities in Australia, none more so than the region of Tasmania where
I live, where retention rates—14 per cent versus the national average
of 24 per cent—are lower than in any other part of the country, with
the exception of the Northern Territory. There is a widely held view,
and I am certainly one who holds that view, that the level of prosperity
of a community is directly related to its level of education. That is
surely borne out in the level of reliance on government assistance in
the region. I do not pretend to have all the answers to this issue. To
be frank, I do not believe that anyone does, but there must be a way to
address some of the cultural, financial and locational impediments to
reaching a better outcome.
Another element that Tasmania has struggled with, over the last decade
in particular, is that of attracting investment capital, particularly
at a reasonable premium. This has been particularly noticeable since the
scuttling of a certain project in 1989 for political purposes, raising
the element of sovereign risk for investors in Tasmania. A sour taste
still lingers in the mouths of investment houses around the country and
overseas. Business will not invest because there is not a high enough
return, and there are not high enough returns because there is not enough
investment. It may sound simplistic, but it appears to be the case. The
question is: how do we break the nexus? I do not claim that this is a
purely Tasmanian issue, because I know that other regional centres suffer
similarly, but in a Tasmanian context it is perhaps indicative that we
are still debating a bill that relates to securing against sovereign risk
some five years after the original agreements were signed. Most of these
elements have an impact on population, an issue that has been touched
on in the state over the last few years but has not been driven to any
extent— although it does appear that it may become a topic of national
discussion, which might serve to keep it to the fore in Tasmania and to
ensure that it is addressed in a positive manner.
It might appear that all is bleak on the south island and that there
is no hope for the future. I for one certainly do not believe that that
is the case. I have previously mentioned our wonderful agricultural industries
that, according to the industries themselves, have the potential to double
in output; a tourism industry that has potential beyond the concept of
most; and other sectors that I have spoken of here tonight also have positive
growth potential. In all, Tasmania is an island of enormous potential.
That potential is demonstrated by the fact that Tasmanians are per capita
the second highest exporters in the country behind Western Australians.
And if you consider, as I was reminded recently, that nearly 50 per cent
of the population rely on some sort of government support, you get an
indication of just how industrious and productive we south islanders are.
All we seek are the settings to allow us to reach our full potential,
whether that be quarantine—as we have seen with salmon or apples—ensuring
reliable and affordable access, greater retention rates in education or
improved investment levels. There are plenty of issues to pursue.
As members of parliament we are often and quite unfairly regarded as
being unaccountable and without benchmarks. Bearing in mind that in this
profession we are often measured or judged by the things that we say and
that this presentation is the one that those who search out information
about us often first access, the issues that I have spoken of here today
are those that I see as my own initial benchmarks. My objective here is
to get the job done. By whatever it takes? No. But I was recently reminded
at a Rotary weekly meeting of the Rotary Four Way Test: is it the truth,
is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better relationships,
and will it be beneficial to all concerned. It seems to be a pretty good
place to start.
I am fortunate to have lived and worked in many areas of the state—north,
south, north-west and west coasts and the two magnificent Bass Strait
islands—and look forward with great anticipation and pride to working
with and serving the people as my time here continues. As you might imagine,
I have received advice from many quarters since the declaration of the
poll to confirm my election to this chamber, but none better than that
from my parents, as is usually the way with mums and dads. On the night
before I was sworn in, they presented me with a memento to remind me of
life on our dairy farm at Wilmot: `Never forget where you came from and
never forget who put you here.' I look forward to living up to that advice
during my time here and, with great anticipation, to serving the people
who put me here. I thank the honourable senators for their courtesy.
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