Mr FAWCETT (1:13 PM) —Mr Deputy Speaker Hatton, as I rise I want to congratulate you on your election to your office. I would like to commence my parliamentary career by affirming that I am here by the goodwill of the people of Wakefield and by the grace of God. I want to acknowledge the honour bestowed on me to serve the communities of Wakefield and, in a broader context, the communities of Australia as a member of the 41st Parliament.

My mission here is to serve purposes that are greater than my own. Being in this place, therefore, is not about my efforts or my aspirations alone. There are many people whom I would like to thank for their role in bringing me to this point in my life: those who have shaped me in my life's journey so far, those people who have given of their wisdom and experience in the 11 short months since I joined the Liberal Party and last, but by no means least, the many people who have helped bring about the opportunity to serve as the member for Wakefield.

Foremost among those who have shaped me are my parents, Bob and Helen Fawcett. They have instilled in me lasting values, helped shape my character and work ethic and taught me the worth of faith and relationships. Friends from school, church and community groups have given me the freedom over many years to try, to fail and to succeed. They have encouraged me to strive for high standards but have had the grace to forgive in the times when I have failed to live up to them. I thank my many friends and colleagues in the Australian Defence Force, an organisation which for nearly 23 years has afforded me not only the means to serve Australia but many opportunities to grow in wisdom, skills and experience.

My political experience, however, is rather limited. The Prime Minister has often said that one of the strengths of the Liberal Party is its ability to attract candidates from a wide variety of non-political backgrounds. That is certainly the case for me. I believe I will be the first experimental test pilot ever to have the privilege of standing in this place. I am also the first in my family to join a political party since my grandfather joined the Kapunda branch of the Liberal Union in 1911. As a professional military officer, I chose to remain outside the party political system while in active full-time service.

As a political novice, I am therefore grateful to those who have given wise counsel as to some of the nuances and practicalities of political life. These people include Mrs Joan Young, my campaign manager in Wakefield, who is in the gallery today—I thank you, Joan—and who gave selflessly of her time to ensure that no detail was overlooked in the busyness of the last seven months of my full-time candidacy. To Senators Jeannie Ferris and Alan Ferguson: thank you for your tireless support and wise guidance. My thanks go to the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, to Mrs Helena Dawkins, President of the Wakefield FEC, and to Mr Ron Watts, who provided consistent support and encouragement.

Importantly, I wish to thank the previous member for Wakefield, the Hon. Neil Andrew, who chose to embrace marginal seat campaigning with a passion. I thank him for the strong legacy that he left in Wakefield and for the wisdom he has imparted to me over many months. It has been a privilege to have worked so closely with him, and I wish Neil and Carolyn all the best in their retirement.

For the work to transform a campaign plan into victory, thanks must go to the members of the Liberal Party in the branches throughout Wakefield. These people worked over many months to form a strong team of volunteers who supported me in many practical ways and who worked tirelessly in their communities to help people understand that in this election, more than any other, their vote would really count. I wish also to thank the members of the Liberal Party in Grey who provided such strong support. Thank you, Barry.

My thanks extend also to the many federal and state members of parliament who gave willingly of their time to visit and support the campaign in Wakefield. Not least amongst these, thank you, Prime Minister, for your visits to Wakefield and, importantly, for the leadership you have shown across a broad range of issues, which has won the respect and support of many of the people of Wakefield.

Lastly, I wish to thank the people of Wakefield, who took every opportunity to inform me of both the problems and the achievements of their various communities. At the end of the day, it was the people of Wakefield who chose to put their trust in me to serve them as their representative in this place.

The seat of Wakefield was originally established in 1903. The seat was named after Edward Gibbon Wakefield, whose plan for the systematic colonisation of Western Australia and South Australia directed much of the settlement. A bit like grandfather's axe, though, which has had a couple of heads and a few handles but is still known as grandfather's axe, Wakefield has had a few boundary changes over time. The most recent redistribution fundamentally changed the nature of the seat from a rural seat to one that has a diverse range of communities from both metropolitan and rural areas. This is due to the inclusion of the old federal seat of Bonython, which was established in 1955—and which I note has only ever had Labor representation. I therefore welcome to Wakefield the `faithful remnant': those members of the Liberal branch in Bonython who did not give up hope as they worked over many years to see this day.

At this point I also wish to acknowledge the many years of service provided to the people of Elizabeth by the previous member for Bonython, Mr Martyn Evans, in all three levels of government. Mr Evans's reputation as a fair and decent man was borne out by his campaign for Wakefield and I wish him well in his future.

Wakefield now runs from Salisbury in the south to Clare and Hilltown in the north, from Port Wakefield in the west to Kapunda in the east. It takes in premium vineyards, broadacre farms, a vibrant horticultural sector, intensive piggeries, urban and industrial areas, coastal plains, valleys and hills. Wakefield has a large defence presence with the RAAF Base Edinburgh, the Port Wakefield proof range and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, as well as a number of the larger defence industry players. It is also where I served 10 of my most satisfying years with the Australian Defence Force, culminating in an appointment as the commanding officer of the Royal Australian Air Force Aircraft Research and Development Unit.

Importantly from a personal perspective, Wakefield still includes the town of Kapunda, which was home to my family for over four generations as they worked in health care and agriculture. Kapunda was also home at some point to 31 members of various parliaments. Notably, among these was Sir Jenkin Coles, who spent 33 years in the South Australian parliament, 21 years of this as the Speaker. This appears to be somewhat of a tradition for Wakefield. But, Mr Speaker, I assure you that I am not looking at your chair—yet! The first member for Wakefield, Sir Frederick William Holder, I note was the Speaker, and a century later the Hon. Neil Andrew, the member for Wakefield, also became the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr Andrew, I am pleased to say, left under somewhat happier circumstances than Sir Frederick, who I believe collapsed and died in the chamber, so distressed was he at the behaviour of the members present. I trust we do not cause you a similar degree of angst, Mr Speaker!

While significant in political terms, the redistribution is but one small element in an environment of continuous change which is affecting society in Australia today. With change inevitably come challenges, and Wakefield is not exempt from this. Wakefield now stands as one of only four electorates in Australia with unemployment over 10 per cent—in fact, 14.1 per cent in the City of Playford. It has communities with intergenerational unemployment, and those on the land are exposed to the full range of risk factors associated with primary industry. There are social challenges for each of these communities, such as the decreasing scope of services in rural areas or the teachers in urban areas dealing with children who, for example, come to school with no breakfast or perhaps no support in early learning.

Despite those challenges Wakefield is also a place of great opportunity and achievement. Many of those opportunities were brought about because of the policies of this government over the last nine years. To highlight just a few, I mention the Clare and Gilbert valleys have seen significant growth and innovation in the wine and tourism industries, producing some of Australia's best wines. There has even been innovation in the way we enjoy them. I am sure many of you have opened a few screw-tops on bottles this week, a contemporary trend that was actually started in the Clare and Gilbert valleys. Wakefield has also seen people work to regenerate their community in Salisbury North and Saddleworth, where community groups have worked together to bring about a rural transaction centre to return some of the services to their community.

The productivity of the northern Adelaide region—the cities of Gawler, Salisbury and Playford—accounts for over 70 per cent of the manufacturing output of South Australia, leading the nation's manufacturing export growth. The industrial precinct, represented by Edinburgh Parks and Elizabeth West, is attracting significant investment by Australian and international firms such as Holden, Priority Engineering and Hirotech. The Virginia Horticultural Centre is another example of communities regenerating. This centre has been developed with the support of local communities to increase export to overseas markets, enable cooperation and coordination between growers and promote research and development of new techniques for an industry that is now worth over $70 million each year.

Another example is the City of Salisbury, now recognised as a world leader in the field of wetlands technology. Stormwater, for example, traditionally regarded as a problem or even a threat, is now harnessed and utilised by Salisbury in a series of wetlands which enhance the landscape and create habitat diversity. Importantly, this innovation is also bringing real results. Previously 1.1 billion litres of water was being pumped from the Murray River to supply the Michell wool plant, among other users, but it now will stay in the Murray. Lastly, while looking at the successes of this region, I would like to mention Salisbury High School, a public high school under the leadership of principal Helen Paphitis. In the words of the Australian from November 2001:

To see that transformation bears testament to the effectiveness of the policies and the reforms that the education minister and this government have been bringing in over the last eight years.

As the newly elected member for Wakefield, what is my role in helping to return the dreams not only to our youth but also to families, small business owners, pensioners and those who are either caring for people with a disability or living with a disability of their own? What perspective do I bring to help facilitate positive outcomes to the challenges Australia faces in the next decade as we work to realise the dreams for our communities?

My perspective is shaped by a broad range of life experience. I have been blessed with the opportunity to see life in Australia from many perspectives, both within Australia and from abroad. I was born and raised in a country town and enjoyed the freedoms of outdoor play and activities that that afforded an Australian boy growing up in the 60s. As a youth I had the opportunity to live in Thailand and experience what it is like to be a stranger in a foreign land, coping with and adapting to different cultures and values.

Through a career in the ADF spanning over 22 years as an Army pilot, I was privileged to travel throughout Australia, living and working in the bush, our cities, the outback and in Papua New Guinea. I was posted overseas to live and work in the UK, Europe and the USA with counterparts from many countries of the world. Through these varied experiences I learned much about choice and much about the value of relationships. I have learned that people's choices and attitudes play at least as large a part in the outcomes they seek as the circumstances which face them. This is true not only of enterprise, work or business but also, equally, of the relationships people enjoy.

In this context, I wish to just touch on a few of the areas covered by His Excellency the Governor-General in his address to the parliament this week: unemployment, welfare reform and families. The Governor-General rightly spoke of the achievements of this government which has seen unemployment fall to 27-year lows. While Wakefield has also seen increasing employment, as I said before, it remains one of the four seats in Australia where unemployment is over 10 per cent. People under 20 comprise over 33 per cent of the population in parts of Wakefield with correspondingly high levels of unemployment, yet this is an electorate that accounts for over 70 per cent of the manufacturing output of South Australia. Current investments by industry mean that the demand for a semiskilled and skilled work force is already high and will continue to increase. I therefore welcome the initiatives announced by the government to provide additional support for the vocational education and training for students in years 11 and 12. I note that the ability to provide this training was one of the key success factors for Salisbury High School, which I mentioned earlier. Give the youth in Wakefield an opportunity and the mentoring to help them to choose to take it up, and they will succeed.

I witnessed this first hand earlier this month when I attended the opening of the Playford `rage cage'—an outdoor sports structure which was built by local youth. Positive role models provided training in basic metal working and welding skills. The young people were held to high standards of participation and quality of their work and they responded. Not only did they deliver a great community facility but, importantly, eight of the 12 people who participated went on to take up apprenticeships. The young people and older workers of Wakefield have every potential to fill the bulk of the 2,700 jobs which industry estimate represents the current demand in Wakefield, as well as those forecast to be created.

There is a missing link, however, and that is access to schooling that values trade training and provides these people with the confidence to choose to train and work. I therefore welcome the initiatives and opportunities for older people to take up a trade. Along with the member for Kingston, I will also be making a priority of working to facilitate collaboration by industry, local government and community to support a tender for one of the 24 Australian technical colleges in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. Perhaps a split campus will be a good outcome. The role models and mentoring provided by a supportive school environment which values trade training will help these young people to make a choice to take the first step toward seeing their dreams fulfilled.

His Excellency also mentioned the need to address the high rate of welfare dependency in some parts of Australia. Again, Wakefield comes to the fore in this regard, particularly in some of the areas where single parent families make up over 22 per cent of homes. I have spent time listening to the leaders collective of the Peachey Belt, among other areas in Wakefield, who have highlighted the need for welfare reforms. They have told how people in their community want timely, compassionate help for those in need. They also recognise that, while many want to work, they have become dependent on welfare. Some do not see enough incentive while others lack the confidence or indeed skills to take the seemingly risky, uncertain move into the work force.

There is a need to reform and a need to balance the tension between creating the incentive to work and adequately caring for those who are unable to work. There is a need for a system which is less complex and represents a whole-of-government approach to overcome the dysfunctional interfaces between state and Australian government legislation. The vast majority of Australians believe in a fair go, but they want people to take the hand-up and not to choose to rely on the hand-out. I therefore welcome the government's initiatives to look at a new department for better delivery of these areas. I look forward to working with this government and the people of Wakefield to further develop a compassionate welfare system which cares well for those who have little choice but provides incentive and material reward to those who are prepared to choose hard work and commitment.

There is a common thread running through these two issues, and that is the impact of breakdown in family relationships. These breakdowns can affect the confidence, ability and capacity of many youths and adults to move beyond their current circumstances. His Excellency spoke of the government's plan for increased family support and reform to the areas of family law and child support. I welcome these initiatives given the high social and fiscal cost of relationship breakdown. I would propose, though, that Australia's future rests on further reform in this area. To use a simple analogy, we have become adept at funding increasingly complex and expensive rescue services for those who have fallen off the edge of the relational cliff. Why do we appear to have given up on the fence at the top of the cliff? Surely it would be cheaper and more effective to prevent some of the breakdown of relationships rather than to pick up the pieces.

I accept that the reality today is that, through circumstance or choice, many relationships do not finish up or indeed start as the ideal. Traditional wisdom would argue that the ideal is a husband and wife, married for life and providing consistent, loving care for their children. The increasing number of blended, single parent and separated families has led many to believe that it would be discriminatory to promote the traditional family model as something to be aspired to. But in my community work with families, I have spoken to many people who are in just these situations. It is they who so often describe their circumstances as less than ideal for a wide range of reasons.

I believe it is time that Australian society should once again be willing to provide a goal for young couples. While compassionately supporting relationships without discrimination, we should be prepared to actively promote the traditional model of the family as a desirable goal. We should explore ways to facilitate relationship coaching and establish mentoring relationships where required. This will go some way toward empowering people's choices and attitudes to play a larger part in the outcomes they seek than the circumstances and pressures which so often defeat them. The family is a foundational element of our society and should be valued and promoted as such.

In conclusion, I wish to affirm my own family for their love, support and encouragement to take up this opportunity to serve the people of Wakefield. I recognise the need to balance my commitment to the people of Wakefield, who have put their trust in me, and to my family, who will still want me as a husband and dad long after my last election. An appropriate balance will not only sustain my marriage and my relationship with my children but also, I believe, enable me to be a more effective representative for the people of Wakefield. To my wife, Lorna, and my daughters, Alexandra and Emily, who are in the gallery today, thank you. You have my love always. To the people of Wakefield, both those who supported me and those who did not on this occasion, you have my commitment to serve you with diligence and integrity.