Mr GIBSON(11.48) —Thank you, Mr Speaker. I second the motion. I am honoured to second this motion moved so ably by my colleague the honourable member for Richmond (Mr Newell). I may add that on top of his magnificent achievement of snatching the seat of Richmond, he almost reached the heights of being Prime Minister on his first day in this building. I remind colleagues of the first Caucus meeting where unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, the chairperson of Caucus did not accept the nomination. Such a meteoric rise would have made even the honourable member for Hotham (Mr Crean) envious.

I join with the honourable member for Richmond and other members in congratulating you, Mr Speaker, on your re-election as Speaker of this House. During my short time in this place I have observed that you discharge your duties fairly and with good grace. I know that you will continue to bring great respect to the high office you hold and I assure you of my continued cooperation during my time in this place. I also congratulate the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees on his re-election.

I am grateful to my colleagues for allowing me to make my first speech so soon after my arrival and for the opportunity to second this motion. It is a privilege as a new member to enter the Parliament as part of a government with such a comprehensive and visionary package of proposals outlined on Tuesday by His Excellency. These will continue the work of building a fairer and more compassionate Australian society.

I stand before the House today, like the honourable member for Richmond, as the seventh member to represent the seat of Moreton since its creation in the first Parliament of 1901 and as the first Labor member to represent this seat since 1906. I thank the people of Moreton for their trust and support and the opportunity to participate in the governance of this great nation of ours.

As all honourable members will appreciate, to achieve such a task requires enormous hard work and dedication from a vast range of people, to whom I am indebted. I am only able to claim my seat in this Parliament because of the commitment of hundreds of party members and supporters and because of the love and support of my wife Ann, my parents and my children whom, I am pleased to add, are all here with us today.

The electorate of Moreton is an inner city densely populated seat on the south side of Brisbane. It is almost exclusively residential with the relevant commercial and service facilities and a small segment of light industry. The composition of the constituency has been undergoing considerable change during the last five years, particularly with the encroachment of multiple dwellings and greater levels of rental accommodation. It has a higher than average older population with the associated need for greater care, support, housing and nursing programs and facilities to assist this most important sector of our community. The electorate is lacking in a range of community facilities, particularly in the area of recreational or leisure pursuits for young people and older residents. It is also in need of greater levels of public housing, child-care facilities and improved health facilities. It will be one of my major goals to significantly improve such vital community resources in Moreton.

My election as member for Moreton is the culmination of 18 years of work with the Labor movement through my party membership and union activities. I was drawn to this movement because of my deep philosophical commitment to genuine social justice and a desire to actively participate in the process of social reform. I look forward to my work in this Parliament in advancing that process, particularly in the light of the initiatives outlined in the speech by His Excellency. I am not naive enough, however, to believe that the Parliament or the Government can direct from above the process of social reform. It is vital for the success of any reformist approach that changes come from within the community. The Parliament's role is to enable and encourage the development of new ideas and attitudes and to respond to changing values and demands.

I am driven by a desire to see our country free from racism, discrimination and bigotry. My fervent hope is for a society where all its citizens enjoy real equality of opportunity, regardless of their race or sex, and where we all respect the rights and life choices of others. We do not have the right to impose our lifestyle on others. But we do have the responsibility to protect those in our midst who do not enjoy the same opportunities or circumstances as ourselves. Any reasonable assessment of the decade of the eighties will show that the Hawke Government has overseen many substantial achievements in social reform. I am proud to take my place in this House as a member of a government with that record.

As has been indicated by His Excellency in his Speech, there is more that can and will be done. I believe that all of us assembled here, as the citizens empowered with the leadership of our nation, have a number of important questions to face in the decade ahead.

We inhabit this planet for just a short time and during this brief period we have a duty to leave it a better place than we found it. Mankind is just one of thousands of life forms which share the ecosystem of planet Earth. All of our destinies are intertwined with the plants and animals and the physical environment around us. When we hurt one we ultimately hurt ourselves. Some would have the rest of us believe that we are the only creatures that have a say. They believe that mankind has the right to alter and recreate the physical environment to suit ourselves and that no harm will come of it.

We have acquired a mentality in this country that says we must continue to develop or our whole society will collapse. We insist on making and buying new things and throwing away good useable items simply because they are old.

We do the same to our people. Old is not fashionable. Pity the person who loses a job at age 50 for he or she shall be considered too old for re-employment. Yet we complain about the lack of skills that most young people suffer when first seeking to enter the work force. We have lost the practice of the older skilled practitioners passing on their expertise to the young apprentices.

There are many other great contradictions in our society that need to be addressed if we are to fulfil our responsibilities to our current citizens and to future generations. I would like honourable members to ponder on just a few of these.

The use of violence in our society is of great concern to me, as I am sure it is to most members. The incidence of murder, rape, assault and injury in our towns and cities and inside the home increases each year. How we as a society respond to this is a great challenge. Community leaders decry these developments and demand action. Our citizens have the expectation that they should be able to live their own lives free from the threat of physical violence. Yet every day and every night we continue to provide further encouragement of the use of violence.

If we want to develop a non-violent society we need to give our children positive images and models. That is certainly not happening at the moment. Television is the major educator and communicator for children. More than all other forms of communication put together television shapes the attitudes, values and knowledge that children develop.

The Australian Children's Television Foundation estimates that an average child views 15,000 hours of television during his or her school years, compared to receiving 11,000 hours of formal education. A pre-school child will have watched 4,500 hours of television before even starting school. They do not read newspapers. Unfortunately, few read books. Television, with its associated videos, is their almost exclusive communications medium.

Most of this television will be adult shows where the use of violence is often prevalent. Violence is on the news, in many sporting events, in films and television shows and even in cartoons. The theme is portrayed that violence is an acceptable part of society. Children seek role models with which they can identify. They learn by mimicry. Too often that mimicry is violent.

I believe that we need to take a very serious look at the way television is shaping the attitudes of our young and decide whether we can continue on the current path of ever increasing violence where I believe television is leading us.

Further, can we continue to be hypocritical in our own laws? Institutionalised violence such as corporal punishment, which is still in use in Queensland schools, is a form of legal violence against children which should not continue. It is ironic that the punishment for fighting in the school grounds is to hit the offenders a few times with a stick.

In sport violence amongst players is depicted as normal healthy behaviour and is sometimes lauded by commentators. A man punching a woman in the street is rightfully viewed as having committed a serious crime and deserving severe punishment but if the same man goes home and punches his wife people call it a domestic and do not wish to get involved. We express horror and anguish at a person going berserk, killing people in a public place with an automatic rifle, and we then queue up to pay $10 to watch an American movie star do the same thing on film.

We will not curb the increased incidence of illegal violence until we cease providing conflicting images and values to our children about the place of violence in our society. Simply increasing the range or type of punishments will not work.

The abuse of drugs is very much related to the increasing trend of violence. Yet, here again, our society adopts double standards which are very hard for our children to understand or accept. Any drug used to excess will lead to enormous physical and mental damage. Yet some drugs-alcohol and tobacco in particular-are quite legal to use, even to excess, while others are declared illegal.

Dependence on illegal drugs creates the necessity to engage in criminal activities, often involving the use of violence. I commend the continued action proposed by the Government to combat the drug trade.

Excessive use of alcohol also creates situations where violence often occurs. In fact, there is a far greater level of violence associated with alcohol than from the procurement or use of illegal substances, particularly in the case of domestic situations and the toll on our roads. Thousands of people die every year on the roads as a result of alcohol use. That is a massive waste in terms of suffering, loss of skills and other social costs. Yet the community at large views excessive alcohol consumption as reasonably normal and often humorous behaviour.

Tobacco usage kills more people than illegal drugs, or, in fact, almost all other causes of death. Figures from the Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health show that more than 18,000 deaths a year are caused by active smoking, which is one-sixth of all deaths in Australia. Yet we continue to tolerate its production, distribution and advertising. Smoking costs our community an enormous amount each year. If we were to add up all of the health costs, social security costs because of loss of earning capacity, productivity losses and other social costs I believe they would far outweigh the revenue earned by governments from this industry.

I do not seek to preach or pontificate with these comments. I merely wish to expose the contradictions which exist and which I feel we have a duty to redress in some way. There are no easy solutions. As a strong advocate for the fundamental principles of freedom and democracy I realise that we cannot succeed by censorship, by control or by force.

What is important to understand is that every member of our society has a stake in the process of responding to these challenges. It is everyone's problem. The Parliament's role is to provide a framework for the process of finding the solutions.

The issues of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, the road toll and community health costs are all intertwined with contradictory attitudes and rules. Above all, the protection of the physical environment around us is of paramount importance.

These questions deserve consideration and debate by all honourable members if we are serious about providing a better society for our children and grandchildren. This last decade of the century may well be our last opportunity. I thank honourable members for their attention.

Honourable members-Hear, hear!

Mr SPEAKER —I call the honourable member for Aston and remind honourable members that this is his maiden speech. I expect the House to hear him in silence.