Vincent Catania's Inaugural Speech in the Legislative Council
Author: Vincent Catania
Published on: 24-May-2005
Mr President, I congratulate you on your elevation to the position of President in this chamber. Having had the good fortune of working with you in your role as a minister in the Gallop government, I firmly believe you will make a significant mark in the very important position of President of the Legislative Council. I also take this opportunity to congratulate my fellow members from all sides of the chamber on their election and I look forward to working together to make this current chamber one that will be of great benefit to the people of Western Australia. I thank the Australian Labor Party for its confidence in preselecting me to become its representative in this Parliament. It is an honour to have been elected under the ALP banner, the oldest political party in Australia, with a colourful and proud history.
I was raised in a household that instilled and nurtured high moral and social values, and I carry them with me to this day. I am proud of this fact and I am proud that these values represent the cornerstones of the Australian Labor Party. I thank the people from the Mining and Pastoral Region who had the confidence to re-elect the Gallop Labor government for a second term, a government that now includes three Labor members in the Mining and Pastoral Region Legislative Council team. It is a privilege to represent the Mining and Pastoral Region, an area that is without doubt the engine room of the strong Western Australian economy. Although my family history is in and around Balcatta and North Perth, I have grown to know and appreciate the Mining and Pastoral Region through my work and other experiences.
It humbles me to be the youngest person ever elected to the Legislative Council. I am acutely aware of the many difficulties and challenges facing young people entering public life. I look forward to facing those difficulties and rising to the challenge with enthusiasm. We live in a representative democracy, and diversity should be reflected and encouraged within our parliamentary chambers. I believe that this Parliament would benefit from the further infusion of people from different age groups, different ethnic groups and different cultural backgrounds to promote their active participation in civic and public affairs. The Mining and Pastoral Region is well known as the engine room of the Western Australian economy. As we all know, the mining industry in particular has had a major role in the development of our state. In saying that, however, the contribution of small business to the economic and social fabric and prosperity of the local area should never be understated. I am passionate about small businesses and the challenges they face, no matter where they are located within Australia. However, one thing is for sure; unfortunately, small business in regional Western Australia is no stranger to adversity. It is fair to say that it is just a bit harder to live in the bush; everything is further away, more expensive and harder to obtain. In regional Western Australia, a delicatessen cannot provide only sandwiches and choc milk. Small shops in regional Western Australia need to stock everything from hardware to cosmetics, and the owners and their staff need to have a wealth of knowledge to help local shoppers and tourists alike to obtain the goods and services they need.
Commitment to community is a core value among most residents in the country. Individuals and families who live in smaller towns in Western Australia often stay in the town they are connected with at great personal cost. They establish and run businesses that form the social and cultural fabric of their area. They provide opportunity for local growers and producers, entertainment and a social outlet and they keep our towns alive. What they do not have is easy access to government and non-government support services, and they may struggle to obtain advocacy, professional services, banking and more. One of the functions of government must be to assist small business in a fair and open manner. Although it is not government’s role to provide profit margins to business, it is government’s role to ensure there are meaningful policies in place to give business a fair go. Strategies such as buy local, outreach programs for state businesses, support services and online sales and marketing facilities are examples of how government can make life easier for small business.
Although it is easier to take for granted roads, rail services, water systems and other state government-funded infrastructure, government investment in infrastructure is critical to achieving sustainable communities and enhancing their business and investment potential. The positive impact of public investment on the Mining and Pastoral Region is two pronged: it not only supports our communities but also opens them to the vast tourism potential this region holds. The opportunities for further development of tourism are limitless. Just as we harnessed raw resources in the gold rush days at the turn of the century, during the nickel and iron ore booms in the late 1960s and early 1970s and with the recent development of oil and gas resources, we have another natural resource that we can develop, promote and, at the same time, protect. There is great potential for the development of tourism infrastructure in Carnarvon so that that centre can be a base for tourists visiting Coral Bay, Ningaloo, Exmouth and other attractions in the region. We have already witnessed the success of the development of centres such as Broome and Kununurra as gateways to neighbouring areas. This success can be represented in a number of regional centres. Monkey Mia, the goldfields and many other locations within the mining and pastoral area are historical and tourist icons to Western Australians. We should invite the world, not to mention our mates in the eastern states, into our great backyard to share the sights and sample the delights of our western shores.
No discussion can be had about business without regard for the people who do the work and make it all happen. All employees must receive a fair go. Fair pay, fair conditions, job security and safety must never be sacrificed in the name of profit. In our current political climate we have a federal government that is threatening to remove from workers fundamental rights, and that will have dire consequences for standards of living and security of employment for people across our state. The federal government’s proposal to overrule the states’ rights to govern their industrial relations systems is nothing more than a power grab to further the outdated political ideas of our current Prime Minister.
This proposition is an attack on all working people in Western Australia and the unions that represent their interests. Protecting and supporting working people is the foundation of the Australian Labor Party and, together with my colleagues, I will fight against this draconian proposal. Central to this is the worker’s right to a safe working environment, the re-establishment of family-friendly working hours and rosters that have sustained a profitable mining industry for more than 100 years. Many people in the goldfields have shared their concern with me about the encroachment of the fly in, fly out policy in our community. I support the concept of fly in, fly out exclusion zones to ensure that our communities benefit from the resources in their own backyard. There must always be a balance between development of resources and the needs of regional communities.
It is a fact of life that not all members of society share the benefits of our economic prosperity. Members, we live in the twenty-first century, and even with all the advancements in health, education, recreation and social infrastructure, some of our local communities have among the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and some people in our community are suffering from Third World diseases. Some children are born with foetal alcohol syndrome and die from malnutrition. Families are being ripped apart by the scourge of alcohol and solvent abuse. Regardless of the current economic prosperity, no amount of fiscal fortitude can wipe away centuries of tears and lost fortunes and the decline of culture. However, our recognition of these facts will assist in the healing process. Two per cent of the Australian population is Aboriginal, yet, shamefully, 70 per cent of the Western Australian prison population is Aboriginal. Does this mean that Aboriginal people commit more crime? Yes. That may be one answer but the question we should be asking is why. We need better mechanisms to cater for the needs of all Western Australians, black or white, from the country to the city. There is an overflowing too-hard basket within government at local, state and federal levels. It is up to all of us to roll up our sleeves and take up all the hard issues. I cannot stand here and tell members that I have all the answers to what may well be insoluble problems in our community. I can only say that I will not shy away from the too-hard basket. I will give my utmost endeavour to all the issues facing the area that I represent.
I stand here today because of the help and assistance of many people, in particular John Borkowski, Alf Parolo, Michael Melita, Anestis Rompotes, Clinton Floate, Isidoro Messina and Artha, Helen, James and the Liminos family, some of whom are in the public gallery tonight. I also thank Carlo Pennone, and Tony, Mary and Sal and the Vallalonga family. We all know the importance of friends, and I am very privileged to have a core group of friends who have supported me over the years and who are also in the gallery this evening: my schoolmate Andre Feghaly, Patrick Baroni, Peter and Carol White, and my godson Nicholas, Tim and Michele Fanowris, Brad Hutchinson, Simone Carter, Daryl Benstead, Brad O’Callaghan, Sheldon and Megan Patrick, Garry and Charmaine White, Craig and Dan Floate, Dan Lucve and Robert Lashansky. I have had the privilege of meeting many new friends along my journey and would particularly like to mention and thank Lyn Jager, Brian Yakich, Ashley Vincent, John Thomson, Megan Anwyl, John Carey, Roz Harley and Mike Anderton.
Mr President, I would like to particularly single out two of my closest friends, John Little and Jaye Radisich, for their advice, unflinching support and loyalty. I would particularly like to thank the Mining and Pastoral Region team: the member for Kimberley, the member for Central Kimberley-Pilbara, the member for North West Coastal, and my fellow Mining and Pastoral members, Hon Jon Ford and Hon Shelley Archer; and sincerely thank the member for Murchison-Eyre, with whom I spent many hours in the car travelling the region with his wife, Maryann, and sons, Joey and Sam, and had one hell of an adventure. I would also like to thank two people who always make me feel welcome in Kalgoorlie, James and Lynne Donnelly.
My greatest debt is to my family. I am very lucky to have them in the public gallery tonight. I would like to thank my ever supportive and loving mother, Rita; sister, Angela; brother-in-law, James; brothers, Stephen and Marc; my grandfather; and I would particularly like to thank my cousin, Kristy. They have supported me in my pursuit to enter Parliament. I thank them. To my greatest supporter and the greatest influence in my life, my father, Nick, without whose friendship, guidance and support standing here today would not have been possible, thank you.
