Wednesday, 4 October 2023

Members

Member for Warrandyte

Inaugural speech

The SPEAKER (18:02): The time has come for me to interrupt business for the member for Warrandyte to make her inaugural speech. Before I do that, can I acknowledge the former member for Box Hill, the Honourable Robert Clark, in the gallery. I remind members to observe the courtesies of inaugural speeches, and I remind visitors in the galleries that no photography or filming is allowed. I call the member for Warrandyte.

Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (18:02): Thank you, Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to rise today to give my maiden speech. I am humbled to have been elected as the member for Warrandyte in the 60th Parliament. I thank the people of my electorate for bestowing me with this privilege. I am grateful and honoured that I get to represent our incredible community. Warrandyte is a truly unique and diverse part of Victoria. Nestled along the northern banks of the Yarra River, it boasts a stunning natural landscape that defines its character and charm. Warrandyte is not just 107 square kilometres of electorate. It is an embodiment of what makes our state and city so beautiful. Ours is a place where the country meets the city, with the natural wonders and beautiful landscape that span across the electorate to the urban and multicultural soul in suburbs like Doncaster East. We are blessed with the winding Mullum Mullum Creek in the south, the sanctuary of the Warrandyte State Park in the east and the scenic vistas of Mount Lofty and Wonga Park in the west. We are home to the lungs of Melbourne, a concept birthed from Liberal ideas. Our electorate boasts some of the most beautiful, lush wide-open spaces, thanks to former Premier Rupert Hamer’s legacy in introducing environmental conservation zones, now known as the green wedge. As both my predecessors Ryan Smith and Phil Honeywood were, I pledge to also be a defender of the green wedge. Our beauty is also our challenge. We face the risk of bushfires thanks to our green landscape. Two local issues that I will continue to advocate for and not grow silent over are adequate bushfire protection in our area and fixing the Five Ways intersection in Warrandyte South.

Ultimately what makes our electorate so truly wonderful is its people. Our local sports clubs are the heart of our community. From my friends at the footy and netball clubs in Warrandyte, Donvale, North Ringwood, Chirnside Park and Park Orchards to the bowls clubs, basketballers, cricketers, tennis and soccer players and beyond, local sport runs deep out our way. There are also homegrown legends who represent great institutions, from Julie Quinton, owner of Quinton’s IGA in Warrandyte, to Mary-Anne Lowe, owner of Bramleigh Estate, to Greg Kennedy, who, with a group of his mates in 2012, decided to chip in to save the iconic Grand Hotel in Warrandyte.

In my electorate I find myself in good company amongst the many community-minded people who have spent their lives giving back. This includes our incredible CFAs. These are heroes who put their lives on the line as volunteers to protect our local area. From Aaron Farr in Wonga Park to Cam Mackay in South Warrandyte, to Chirnside Park, North Warrandyte and Warrandyte, our CFA volunteers embody sacrifice, service and the Australian spirit. I could spend all day up here talking up our incredible community if only time would permit.

In recognising all of these Warrandyte greats, I am delighted to pay tribute to my predecessor, the Honourable Ryan Smith. Ryan was a brilliant minister and a formidable parliamentarian, but his first priority was always his local community, which he loved and still loves and fought for each and every day of his 16 years in Parliament. He is a man of courage and conviction who stands up for what is right and cares deeply for others. It is his shoulders that I stand on today and his legacy that I am proud to follow on from. It would be remiss of me not to also thank Ryan’s beautiful wife Avril, who is, as many political spouses are, the unsung hero in a life of public service. Thank you, Avril, for your family’s sacrifice and service. It is with deep gratitude that I acknowledge and honour you both today.

On that note, can I also thank the many people who have given up their time and effort, heart and soul into my campaign. The Liberal Party is a volunteer organisation – funded, driven and made possible by everyday Victorians. From the preselectors who entrusted me with this opportunity to the members of the Warrandyte state electorate conference and to those who have been with me from the very beginning of this journey, there are too many to name. I would like to thank our dedicated staff and the secretariats Stu, Ben and Robbie; my friends who believed in me Jane Hume, Michael Sukkar, Robert Clark; the Evanses, Harrisons, Smiths, O’Briens, Lis, Lings, Hes, O’Farrells, Dimitroffs, Walshes, Porters, Rosses, Johns, Pinks, Kalnins, Lawrences, Grays, Longs, Jeffreys, Shepherds, Crivellis, Freinds, Manju Hanumantharayappa, Grigaus; my girl gang; and my friend and brother Ben Buxton. The list could go on and on. Ours is a grassroots movement, and I thank each and every one of you who have played a part in helping me achieve this office.

Most of all, I want to thank my family. To Mum and Dad, thank you for everything. To the Werners and to Lance and Chris, thank you for your love and support. To my husband Fraser, you are the love of my life – steadfast, strong and loyal. You are my safe harbour. I am so proud to be your wife and partner in this life. Thank you for believing in me and loving me the way that you do.

Our family is a picture of modern Australia. My husband Fraser is a fifth-generation country boy from the Goulburn Valley and grew up on a 2000-acre sheep farm that once belonged to the great Weary Dunlop. I am the daughter of Chinese–Malaysian migrants and grew up with English as my second language. I am proud to come from a culturally diverse background and proud today to be the first Asian woman elected to state Parliament in the Legislative Assembly.

My journey into politics has been unique, rewarding and challenging. As a young woman seeking to serve in public office, the discrimination I have faced has been shocking and unfortunately far too common. It may astonish those opposite to know that much of the mudslinging and derogatory commentary has unfortunately come from those that side with them. The misogynistic comments I have endured, like how there is no place for women in leadership, have motivated rather than dissuaded me. Today I proudly stand as the first woman to represent the seat of Warrandyte and the new youngest member of the Assembly. There have also been many occasions where I have experienced blatant racism as a person from an ethnically diverse background. Negative commentary like ‘Go back to your own country’ and racial slurs that have been levelled at me make me proud to stand in this chamber and be the first of my community to enter this place. May there be many more.

However, none of the worst of the sexism or racism that I have experienced in seeking public office has compared to the discrimination that I have faced for being a person of faith. We live in a multicultural and multifaith society in Victoria. My parents were married in a local Buddhist temple. Today in attendance I have friends who are Sikhs, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Catholics, Christians, atheists and Muslims. In fact in my community I recently met with a group of Islamic leaders who approached me in search of support because of the discrimination they have been facing thanks to certain ideological agendas and approaches to religion in our state. Victoria should be a place where your faith, values and culture are celebrated. The open hostility that people of faith continue to endure is not inclusive and not acceptable and has no place in modern Australia. My faith has shaped me, given me strength and taught me to love others, no matter who they are, what they believe and where they come from. It inspires me to have care and compassion for humanity. I stand here as a person of faith in the public square, representing and serving my community no matter their background, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or football team. And let it be on the record: up the Dees. I stand for the democratic ideals of freedom of choice, religion, thought, speech and association. Today I call for an end to the perpetuation of discrimination of any kind and for the embracing of true inclusivity in our state.

As a young Asian woman with a background in the charity sector, people have often stereotyped me as someone who would sit with those opposite. However, I, like so many, was drawn to the Liberal Party because of its values of aspiration, equal opportunity, reward for effort, lower taxes and economic prosperity. We believe in empowering small businesses so they can thrive, and in good economic management. We believe in preserving the environment for future generations. We believe in looking after those less fortunate. We believe that families are the cornerstone of society and in the innate worth of the individual, and we believe in small government with minimal interference in our daily lives so that people can have the freedom to choose so that they can live their best lives. These values are my values and what I will fight for and uphold as long as I am here.

My parents sit in this chamber today. They are why I am a Liberal. Dad migrated to Australia in 1987 with one suitcase and his life savings of $800. Mum joined him the following year, both in pursuit of a better life for their future family. My parents embody Liberal values and are a testament to the Australian dream of how hard work pays off and how you can come from nothing to make something of yourself. They worked hard to get ahead and make a life here in Victoria, working multiple jobs in factories, doing manual labour, cleaning toilets, doing odd jobs for friends in exchange for food, all so they could give my brother and me every opportunity that they had only dreamed of. Mum and Dad, it is your aspiration and sacrifice that has allowed me to be here. My success is your success. Mā Bà, xièxiè nĭ, wŏ ài nĭ.

Strong women run in my family. My mum’s mum, my popo, survived World War II by hiding in the jungle as a child when Japan invaded Malaysia. Because of her family’s poverty, she was never sent to school. To this day, at 90 years old, my grandmother popo is still illiterate. She used to always say these words to me growing up: guāiguāi dúshū – make sure you are a good girl and make sure you study hard. Popo thought that being a person of good character and having a good education was a recipe for success. Unfortunately she is now too elderly to travel so she is watching on from Malacca, Malaysia. Well, popo, hello from Parliament House in Melbourne, Australia. Wŏ yŏu guāiguāi, wŏ yŏu dúshū. I hope I have made you proud.

I am a firm believer in the transformational power of education. It is hard work and aspiration that raised my family from the depths of poverty to me standing before you today in the Parliament, but it is also education. I remember my popo telling stories of how she as a child would stand outside the local school in her home town and crane her neck to peer through a window just so she could catch glimpses of learning, so desperate was she to know how to read and write. She instilled in us the benefits of a good education, and it is this belief that spurs me on to fight for a better education system in our state. We need a Victorian education system that keeps literacy and numeracy as the main priority. We need to get back to basics.

Whilst my electorate boasts some of the best schools in Melbourne, nearly 30 per cent of Victorian schoolchildren are struggling to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards, and nearly 40 per cent of year 9 students are unable to read at a proficient standard. Although the Labor government is on record saying they consider these results to be phenomenal, I do not. In my professional life I would frequently come across high school students from across the state who were still struggling to read or write. It was not ideology, nor politics, that pulled my family out from poverty; it was the ability to read and write. Education is what my grandmother and my parents fought to ensure our family received. I am passionate for every child in Victoria to get a proper education. As the results in what was once the Education State continue to decline, we must make literacy and numeracy the foremost priority in our curriculum again.

I have not come here to make a career; I have come to make a difference. Mum tells me this story of when she was pregnant with me. Full of selfless hope and ambition as a new migrant and young first-time mother, she would put her hand over me in her belly and say to me, ‘I want you to be a leader, and I want you to change the world.’ I have devoted my life to giving my all to serve my community, from my days helping young people from underprivileged settings and refugee backgrounds to my time in the charity sector feeding the homeless and helping the vulnerable. I have always sought professional pursuits that put service above self. Martin Luther King once said, ‘Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve’. To me it has always been about service, and it has always been about giving back.

To the people in my electorate of Warrandyte, that is what I am here to do. To hold this office is an honour and not one that I take lightly. In closing, I make this commitment to you: I commit to being your advocate. I commit to being approachable, willing to listen and ready to serve. You will not find me office-bound in the political bubble making decisions from an ivory tower – you will find me embedded in our community amongst the people and focused on the things that truly matter. You will not get ego or elitism from me, and please hold me to it. I am just an ordinary girl who loves people and loves her community and wants to make a difference. I am here in Parliament to represent you, fight for you and serve our community with all that I am.

It is my hope that my time here will be marked by compassion and care for people, by conviction and courage in my values, by character – honest, just and pure – and by my calling to serve. Speaker, I thank you and the chamber for your time.

Members applauded.