Kerry O'Brien,
Senator for Tasmania
First Speech - 08/10/1996
In making my first speech to the Australian Senate, I want to
express my gratitude for the great honour and privilege that I have been given
by the Australian Labor Party in being selected to represent it and the Australian
people in this chamber. My commitment is to the Australian Labor Party and the
values of social equality, opportunity and community advancement that it represents.
I will do all that I can to meet its high expectations. I am a first-generation
Australian. I was born in Sydney a little more than 45 years ago and grew up in
the then outer suburb of Bass Hill. My parents came to Australia from Dublin via
New Zealand and, like many of my schoolmates, I had through my family the influence
of another national culture while calling myself an Australian. While my parents
had to struggle to `make it' in Australia, I do not regard myself as underprivileged.
I cannot remember being hungry or deprived, although I know how hard my parents
worked to make sure that their family had a better life and b
etter opportunities
than they had had in their country of birth. I was educated in the public education
system and have been privileged to be associated--with many students--with the
excellent educational opportunities that the public system opened to us then.
My own experience has taught me the importance of a public education system and
I intend to do whatever I can to nurture and preserve that system. I lived
and worked in Sydney until 1983 and, after leaving school, had a variety of jobs
and spent some time working as a law clerk. That experience and my father's involvement
in the union movement led me to be employed on research and industrial commission
work with the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union under General Secretary Ray
Gietzelt. In 1982 the Tasmanian branch secretary of the union was charged with
a number of breaches of union rules and ultimately resigned. I was asked to move
to Tasmania to assist the branch. With my wife Louise and my daughter Dale I moved
to Hobart. What was, at t
he time, a great challenge became the greatest experience
and opportunity of my life. From 1983 until July this year I held office as branch
secretary of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers Union, becoming joint branch
secretary of the Australian Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union
in 1983. In July this year I resigned the joint branch secretary position and
filled the position of branch president, until I resigned in anticipation of my
appointment to the vacancy created by John Coates's resignation. John was first
elected to the House of Representatives in 1972 at the age of 27 and served two
short terms representing the seat of Denison in that house, losing his seat in
1975. John was elected to the Senate in 1980 and re-elected in 1984, 1987 and
1993. Over a political career spanning 24 years, 19 of which were spent in the
Senate or the House of Representatives, John Coates made his mark, particularly
in his committee work. John Coates entered parliament as a socialist and left
as a social
ist. He proved himself to be an uncompromising advocate of his
beliefs and a dedicated member of the Australian Labor Party. I wish him well
in his retirement. My work as a union official has given me a special opportunity
to learn from many people. Firstly, members of my union and other unions have
given me a daily reminder of just how hard it is for working families to go about
their lives, meeting their responsibilities to their employers, their workmates,
members of their family and the community. Secondly, employers and their representatives
have given me some insight into some of the problems and possibilities which the
business sector faces. Thirdly, dealing with government has given me an insight
into the workings of the public sector, the responsibilities and problems of government
and opposition and the opportunities for government to be a creator, an instigator
and an inspirational force, or an inert organisation. Most of all, it has shown
me that the most wonderful of feelings is the feeling of
being able to make
a difference, to be able to say that someone's life is a bit better and that somehow
I had a hand in that outcome. There is nothing more gratifying than a genuine
thank you from a union member, even better when you know that somehow you have
helped the member do something for themselves. Having been president of the
Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council, I am happy to say that I have worked not
just for the members of my union but for members of all unions in Tasmania. As
Senator Harradine can no doubt confirm, the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council
has a strong record of achievement for the Tasmania community. I take this opportunity
to commend its secretary, Lynne Fitzgerald, who is a professional and dedicated
person. Lynne is the first woman to hold office as secretary of the peak union
organisation in a state. I regard organisations of employees as one of the
cornerstones of modern democracy. Countries which do not have significant free
trade union movements are generally lesser d
emocracies or worse. The greatest
advances for the population of this and other countries have occurred concurrently
with the organisation of employees into democratic representative bodies. A society
that values the individual to the detriment of the community cannot make progress.
Collectivism in the work force, as in society in general, is the recipe for social
cohesion, community advancement and harmony. I am not saying that union members
or their leaders are always right. Just as juries convict innocent people, governments
make bad laws and the media fails to report important news, so employee organisations
make mistakes. But as juries, governments and the media are important elements
in a democracy, so are employee organisations. It is no coincidence that every
dictatorial regime the world has experienced this century has taken steps to crush
or control its country's union movement, to maintain control. Unions around the
world have played their part in giving the aspirations of ordinary people a voic
e, changing unjust laws and making living and working conditions more bearable
for the whole community. I have found that principles and high ideals are not
enough on their own; they need people to express them, to make them live and to
make them work. I credit my mother and father with impressing on me the basic
life values that I have built upon during my adult life. Unfortunately, neither
were alive to see my election to this chamber. Both my mother and father were
committed to a fair and just society. My father, a socialist and republican, worked
as a carpenter and later as a union organiser. A long serving member of the ALP,
he believed in working to make the lives of workers, members of the community,
returned servicemen and women--through his RSL activity--pensioners and young
people better. My mother was a quiet achiever who made my sisters and I appreciate
the lives that we had been given even more. I will miss their counsel. My experiences
and the people I have met as a member of the ALP in Ne
w South Wales have
given me an insight into the workings of a complex political organisation with
a broad charter. Some would describe New South Wales ALP politics as the sharp
end of party politics. It certainly is a good grounding for any person, particularly
when they have the opportunity, as I have had, to observe the people and the process
at close range. Through my involvement with the party in New South Wales, I
have had the great privilege of working with and observing Neville Wran, one of
the great premiers of New South Wales. Neville Wran stands out as by far the most
accomplished politician and leader of his era. While circumstance denied him the
opportunity, I have no doubt that, had he been given the opportunity of leading
the ALP in the federal parliament, he would have been one of the great prime ministers
of this nation. Wran's achievements in winning government in New South Wales when
Labor had just lost government federally, winning the environment debate and implementing
significant pro-
environment policies against major opposition from conservative
elements within and outside the party, and reforming the Legislative Council of
New South Wales to make it a democratic and full-time body, are achievements which
have always impressed and inspired me. As General Secretary of the FMWU, Ray
Gietzelt was an inspirational leader. Ray is a man of honour, his word is his
bond. He is a man who was driven to make his union the best, and in his eyes it
could only be the best if it achieved results for its members. A stickler for
union democracy, he influenced me in the time that I worked with him and I have
carried with me the rules of honour that he imbued in all of his officers. For
the past 14 years, I have had a close association with Leo Brown, former secretary
and later president of the FMWU in Tasmania. Leo was also a president of the Tasmanian
branch of the ALP. He is now a life member of the ALP and was awarded the Order
of Australia, general division, in 1988. A man of humble origins and
limited
formal education, Leo has impressed me with his insight into people and the political
process. Leo has never lost his commitment to the advancement of workers, pensioners
and the unemployed. He still gives freely of his time to the union and the peace
movement and is involved with community mediation in the interests of contributing
to a better society for all. I regard Leo as a friend and a valuable sounding
board for many issues. He is a great man who deserves and holds the respect of
many Tasmanians. His wife, Pauline, is an inspiration to him and to her family.
I share their love and admiration of her. Pauline is a true Christian in every
sense of the word. Although I am not a believer myself, that does not diminish
my respect for Christian values. What I respect the most is the person who holds
those values and truly practises them. I regard Pauline as such a person. I am
sure there are many such people. Pauline Brown is the person with whom I identify
these values and I am inspired by her
caring, selfless concern for others.
To that extent, she is a symbol to me and I hope that whatever I do here will
have her respect. I also want to acknowledge the inspiration that many members
of my union have given me. Few are given the opportunity to lead such a deserving
group of men and women. I have been inspired knowing them, serving them, achieving
for them and working with them even when winning their cause was not possible.
When I read Henry Lawson's poem I'm Too Old To Rat, I know what he felt. That
is a privilege that some senators here will share and that other senators could
only aspire to. I could not complete any list without giving perhaps the greatest
credit for inspiration and insight to my partner, Louise, and my daughters, Dale
and Erin. My partner, Louise, is my best friend, my adviser and my No. 1 supporter.
I continue to be surprised by her insight into people and relationships and her
ability to help me solve problems and face the difficulties of life. Without her
support, I wou
ld not be here today. My daughters, Dale and Erin--both beautiful,
talented and intelligent young women--have to be my home support team as I will
be away from them so often now. Families make their sacrifices, and I acknowledge
theirs today. Their pride in me is an inspiration to me. Since moving to Tasmania
in 1983 I have come to love the state, its beauty and grandeur. Few who visit
Tasmania can resist describing it as the most beautiful and charming part of Australia.
Tasmania has the best scenery, the cleanest environment and the friendliest people
in Australia, perhaps even the world. The state produces some of the finest seafood,
cheeses and meat products in the world, and its waterways are often sailed by
Australia's best yachtsmen and women. It also produces some of the best Australian
Rules footballers. Heaven help the other AFL clubs if all Tasmanians now playing
for clubs around Australia form a Tasmanian based team in the competition. That
just might happen if things go well for Tasmania, b
ut at the moment Tasmania
hangs on the brink. In a state with a landmass greater than 67,800 square kilometres
and a population of 472,000, cut off from the rest of Australia by Bass Strait,
opportunities are limited. Australia has always complained about the problem of
tyranny of distance. Tasmania's tyranny is Bass Strait. If we could drive or rail
to the mainland, things would be better--we cannot. Tasmania, until the early
1980s, kept its head above water by virtue of the hydro industrialisation policy.
That was a policy of using Tasmania's water resources and terrain to create hydro
power--cheap power for industry. The policy created an economy with most investment
being in dam or power station construction to provide power to large manufacturing
or resource processing businesses. The 1980s, however, saw the beginning of
the end of the effectiveness of that policy. The blocking of the Gordon below
Franklin power scheme was in fact a benefit for the state. The building of two
small dams after that b
locking was unnecessary. The cost of power from these
newer dams as well as some of the older dams was too great when compared to other
potential power sources. Large power users started to downsize, and the construction
work force gradually disappeared. The Gray government, which won power on the
back of the debate over the Franklin and traded on the issue for years, had no
policies for the revitalisation of the industrial base and ran up public debt
to pork barrel its way to a series of election victories. By 1989 Tasmania had
no policies for renewal, an enormous public debt and shrinking employment opportunities.
Mining, manufacturing and forestry were all utilising machines to replace workers
or closing down production lines. It was all a recipe for economic disaster for
the state. In the 1989 elections, Labor, in accord with the Tasmanian Greens,
replaced Gray's Liberal government, but Labor found itself faced with an impossible
task. Minority government and big public debt were too great a burden
and
finally the arrangement with the Greens broke over what really was a non-issue--the
size of the woodchip quota. When Tasmanians went to the polls, the Liberals
won government in their own right promising, `Jobs, jobs, jobs,' under Ray Groom.
Groom then sacked workers, increased the pay of politicians and vandalised the
state's industrial laws. He did not produce jobs. After all, no government can
manufacture jobs without a viable strategy. Today we have a minority Liberal
government kept in power by their nemesis--the Tasmanian Greens. Still there is
no sign of the spark that the state needs for revitalisation. As national companies
move their administration back to Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide, as local companies
reduce their work forces through downsizing, the economy of Tasmania suffers more.
Now the Howard government wants to deliver the coup de grace. Hundreds of Commonwealth
public sector jobs are going with the current budget and associated funding cuts.
Services as well as jobs are disap
pearing. The Mowbray CES office and the
Launceston tax office have closed and the Family Court in Launceston is to close.
The federal government cuts to state government funding have prompted it to implement
budget measures, which will see over 1,000 public sector jobs disappear. These
cuts will spin off into the private sector, particularly the retail and service
sectors. Hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs will be lost in these sectors. Couple
this with a decline in business confidence and the potential for a greater unemployment
catastrophe to descend upon the state exists. Running a business in Tasmania
in these circumstances is difficult enough. However, when you add the problem
of Bass Strait to this bleak picture it gets worse. Tasmania argues that other
states benefit from the existence of Commonwealth funded national highway schemes
and that this is unfair for Tasmanians who must pay the full cost of their air
fares and sea links to mainland Australia. The Nimmo inquiry into transport
to and fr
om Tasmania identified that the costs of transporting goods to and
from Tasmania were extremely high compared to transporting goods over the same
distance on the mainland, and that these higher costs were detrimental to Tasmania's
welfare and economic development. Tasmania needs a full and comprehensive freight
equalisation system in order to compete. The current levels of freight equalisation
have not remedied the inequities in the cost of transporting goods. Reductions
proposed to that assistance will make the problem worse. In March 1985 the
Inter-State Commission produced a report which demonstrated that the shippers
of non-bulk cargoes still faced a cost disability. The Tasmanian freight equalisation
scheme also neglects to provide subsidy for the cost of air travel, which was
a recommendation of the Nimmo report. The election campaign pledge of the government
to conduct a review of the Tasmanian freight equalisation scheme is estimated
to result in a reduction of $13.2 million in the subsidy over
the four years
to the year 1999-2000. It is not only freight that is disadvantaged when crossing
the strait. Tasmanian families and visitors to Tasmania also incur very high fees,
which for many makes travel financially impossible to consider, even with the
available subsidy for transport of a vehicle. In the early years of the 1980s
passengers were able to cross the strait on the Empress of Tasmania--a ship owned
and operated by the ANL with a subsidy which was provided by the Commonwealth
government. In 1983-84 the then Premier of Tasmania, Robin Gray, agreed with
the Commonwealth to do away with this subsidy and the ship the Empress of Australia
in return for a once-off capital grant of $26 million to allow the state to buy
a ferry. This once-off deal between the Commonwealth and Premier Gray meant that
there were no further subsidies paid for this service until 1993-94. In the 1983-84
expenditure the Commonwealth subsidy was worth $2.8 million. In 1993-94 it was
worth $2 million. Tasmania is worse o
ff for this arrangement. In today's
terms the 1983-84 subsidy is worth approximately $5.5 million. Tasmania has therefore
suffered a reduction of $3.5 million or 63.6 per cent in the 1983-84 subsidy in
real terms. One of the more positive stories for Tasmania is the success of
Incat Australia. Incat employs more than 1,000 people at its shipyard in Hobart
where it builds high speed catamaran hulled ferries. Recently this business has
been expanding rapidly, but now this company's operation in Tasmania is threatened
by the government plan to remove the ship bounty. The ship bounty is a Commonwealth
subsidy based on the eligible costs of construction of a ship. Currently the subsidy
is worth five per cent to Australian shipbuilders. This will mean that Australian
shipbuilders, and Incat in particular, will no longer be competing on a level
playing field. In fact, coupled with a strong Australian dollar, they will be
some 15 per cent worse off than their European competitors. If the government
goes ahead with
its plan to remove the bounty, the largest private employer
in Tasmania will be forced to accept the offer to build Incat K50 ferries in China.
With the already high unemployment in Tasmania set to rise as a result of further
Commonwealth cuts, this would be disastrous for the Tasmanian community. Telstra
is also a major employer in Tasmania. The Howard government wishes to part-privatise
Telstra now and if successful will inevitably seek to fully privatise it if it
is fortunate enough to win a second term of office. Job cuts have occurred under
the guidance of the previous board of Telstra. There is no reason to think that
the likely reduction in the number of its employees by 500 to 700 will be changed
by the new board. The job losses are mounting, are they not? Worse than that,
with the part-privatisation of Telstra, Tasmania will lose the benefits of cross-subsidisation
of its telephone and related services that a publicly owned system brings. This
will cost the public and business dearly in the long
term. Business will
face higher set-up and operating costs. This will make it less competitive. Tasmania
will also lose access to the most modern broadband cabling system in the future
as private operators will want to service only the high yield business centres
and not the less profitable regional areas. Denied this infrastructure, Tasmania
will not be able to attract the sorts of businesses that depend on such facilities.
This will be another reason for a decline in business and therefore work opportunities
in the state. I want Tasmania to have a good future. Tasmania is too good a
place to be abandoned to become a backwater. Tasmania has the basic infrastructure
that any community would aspire to. It is decentralised. It has a good education
system. Its work force is highly productive. It delivers a high quality lifestyle
to its people. It has a non-polluting power generation system, good agricultural
land and clean cities and towns. The aberration of the Port Arthur massacre is
not in any way a reflec
tion on the state or its people. It is a place with
unlimited potential. It is a place in need of renewal. Tasmania needs a state
government with a plan for state renewal and a federal government sympathetic
to its needs now and in the future. At present it has neither. I see it as
my task in this place to work for and with the Tasmanian community to repay their
faith in me by my commitment to them. In doing that, I intend to be governed by
the examples and philosophies that I referred to earlier in this speech, particularly
with honour and with special regard for people needing help and compassion and
by respecting the beliefs of others.
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