Father figure

Father of the House Kevin Andrews calls for federation reform and laments the blight of identity politics as he reflects on his three decades in parliament.

My parents weren't wealthy. They worked hard all their lives. When my father died, my then 50-year-old mother took over the family trucking business, rising at 3 am and 4 am to transport stock to market until she was in her mid-60s. My parents gave my brothers and me two things more important than any material possessions, namely a good education and the encouragement to achieve our goals. This, I believe, is the great Australian dream, to hand on to the next generation an even better nation than the one which we've inherited. I've always believed that a successful society is a compact across generations. We prosper because of the wise choices, the sacrifices and the hard work of previous generations, and, in turn, it's our duty to use our industry and judgement to ensure the best for future generations of Australians.

Three decades ago, I gave up a career in law to pursue a vocation. A career is about the individual; a vocation is about a cause, and my cause has been the peace, the welfare and the happiness of the people of Australia. As I said when I first spoke in this place over 30 years ago, internally, my theme is justice. I declare my political creed here and now. It is that the essential end of government is not power or glory but the good life for ordinary men and women. The ordinary man, as I know him, asks for a happy life, not a complaining one; for a full life, not an idle one.

I came here three decades ago to make a difference. It was a concern that government was not acknowledging and responding adequately to the needs of families, particularly those with children, that motivated me to stand for election in the first place and is what drove my policy interests for the first decade. The work that I and others did, especially through the then Lyons Forum, culminated in the Howard government's national family strategy, including raising tax-free thresholds for families with children and subsequently the introduction of family tax credits.

I also somewhat unexpectedly found myself introducing a bill to overturn the Northern Territory's euthanasia laws, which were implacably opposed by the Indigenous community in the Territory and many others. I'm proud that it's referred to as the Andrews bill, but its success as only the 14th private member's bill to pass this parliament was the product of many contributions, including a then yet to be elected member of this place, Tony Burke. I should note that, when I expressed doubts about proposing the bill in a telephone call to Margie, she responded, 'Well, if you don't do that, you might as well come home and be a decent husband and father.'

When John Howard appointed me as minister for ageing in 2001, aged care was in the media for all the wrong reasons, including allegations of residents being given kerosene baths. The Prime Minister's wishes were clear: take aged care out of the media. I recently found my instructions to the department, which included getting more allocated beds operational, easing the burden of documentation on nursing staff, implementing a pricing review and expanding community care. I also established a national advisory council on ageing, chaired by my former mentor Sir James Gobbo, to help address the challenges of an ageing population, including the retention of older people in the workforce. That's a challenge which is ongoing.

When I was appointed to cabinet in 2003 as Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, the Howard government was struggling to get its legislation through the Senate. The outcome of the 2004 election enabled us to pursue a more ambitious agenda, including the establishment of the Building and Construction Commission to deal with rogue elements in that industry, the passage of legislation to recognise the role of independent contractors, the simplification of awards and the passage of WorkChoices. It included one of the most significant developments in Australian workplace law — namely, the establishment of a single unified national workplace relations system. That reform alone resulted in very significant productivity gains and economic benefits for this nation that continue to this day.

As Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, I took the tough decision to reduce the intake of entrants from some places until those already here from those nations could be assisted better to settle and integrate into life in Australia. During that year, I also introduced the citizenship test and strengthened the character provisions in our immigration laws. I was mindful of Sir Robert Menzies's observation that opposition:

… must be regarded as a great, constructive period in the life of a party … not a period in the wilderness, but a period of preparation for the high responsibilities which you hope will come.

So my efforts were devoted to the Policy Development Committee after the 2007 election loss, and I served on and subsequently chaired that body.

The leadership events of 2009, albeit traumatic, were necessary for the Coalition to return to government. Although, in another telephone call, when I told my wife, Margie, that I was offering myself as Leader of the Opposition, this time she told me, if I succeeded, not to bother coming home! Tony Abbott appointed me as shadow minister for family and community services, working on welfare and related policies, which I built on as Minister for Social Services in his government. The measures we introduced were significant, building on the report I commissioned Patrick McClure to undertake, which provided the foundation for the consolidation of many welfare payments and the establishment of an actuarial basis for further reform, as well as measures that resulted in a very significant number of people moving from the disability pension back into employment.

My final portfolio, Defence, was as unexpected as it was satisfying. In a relatively short period of time, we implemented the First Principles Review to finally establish a single defence force structure in Australia; crafted and drafted the Defence white paper; authorised the replacement of the entire Australian naval fleet; negotiated increased rotations of US marines and Singaporean defence personnel in northern Australia; and held discussions with India, Japan and the US, which ultimately led to the revitalisation of the Quad, amongst a long list of initiatives.

There are other matters I could mention, but, as the philosopher wrote, 'The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on.' Instead, let me make a few final observations about the challenges our nation faces. There are two significant challenges, one domestic and one geopolitical. This parliament, I believe, has an ongoing and critical role to play in relation to both of these issues.

Firstly, the COVID pandemic has exposed many weaknesses in our system of government and highlighted fault lines that we have long ignored. Regardless of our views on the various responses to the pandemic, I suspect we can all agree that the federation has faced stresses that have revealed weaknesses in its structure.

I cannot imagine that the founders of the Commonwealth ever thought that their work was complete or that the only changes that would occur would be by judicial fiat or fiscal stealth yet that largely has been the history of the past century. 'A nation without the means of some change', observed Edmund Burke, 'is without the means of its own conservation'. I encourage all who sit in this parliament in the next session to begin the long conversation about the constitutional and other arrangements that will best ensure that we remain, in Parkes's famous phrase, 'one people with one destiny', and it should commence, in my view, with a thorough, transparent review of our response nationally to the pandemic to ensure that we are prepared fully for the next such event.

There's a related question of population, including immigration, about which we need an informed debate, not one dominated by cliches. Numerous industries need workers to survive and thrive, but critical infrastructure must also continue to be provided if we are to maintain our economic growth and standards of living. I commend to the next government the establishment of a national commission on population to provide ongoing advice to both the people and the parliament on the challenges we face and solutions for their resolution.

Secondly, there is the great geopolitical challenge that will shape our way of life, our peace and our security for decades, if not centuries, into the future. That challenge is the totalitarian Chinese communist regime. The primary responsibility of a national government is the security of the nation. The security of our region is in greater peril today than it has been for generations. Not since World War II, some 80 years ago, have we had to contemplate defending Australia but we do. That makes our response all the more urgent. We must stand economically, strategically and militarily with those nations and states, however imperfect, that seek to uphold the dignity and the freedom of the individual against totalitarian regimes that believe the individual should serve the state and is expendable.

Just as Australia has stepped up its engagement in the South Pacific, it must continue to engage throughout the whole of the Indo-Pacific, including, I believe, greater parliamentary engagement with members of legislatures in our own region. How many, I ask rhetorically, in this place could pick up the phone to a legislator in a parliament or congress in another Asian nation? Not many, I suspect, and that's a tragedy.

I've had the good fortune to have served much of my term during one of the great reforming eras of Australian politics. History will judge favourably the Hawke and Howard eras. As John Howard observed: politics is not a public relations exercise; it is fundamentally a contest of ideas about what best serves the national interest. It is the ability to evaluate competing visions of a common good that marks a truly great people. That, I believe, must always be the aspiration of those of us fortunate to engage in the formation of public policy. The greatest force in life, certainly in politics, is inertia. There's always a reason to do nothing but that's a betrayal of why we're elected. It is better, I believe, to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.

Finally, may I say something about this House and, in doing so, I thank all the men and women who serve the parliament, from the Clerk and the Sergeant and their staff through to the Library, the committee personnel, Hansard and broadcasting, the transport office and Comcar, the catering staff, the attendants, the security officers, and those who maintain the building, provide services and clean our suites.

While this should be a place where ideas are contested and policies and programs scrutinised, it must also be a place that pursues national unity, and that quest starts with us all. In his inaugural address, an autographed copy of which I've had on the wall of my office for the past 30 years, John Fitzgerald Kennedy reminded us:

… civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.

The blight of factionalism and identity politics, which infects many tiers of national and community life beyond politics, must be resisted.

If there has ever been a time for the political virtue of toleration, as espoused by John Locke and others, being in need of revival, it is now. If our political system is to thrive, it needs to find ways of traversing the new fault lines in the national polity, especially the growing chasm between the experiences and expectations of those who live in the inner suburbs of our capital cities; those who live in the middle and outer metropolitan areas, such as my electorate; and regional and rural Australia, where I was born and raised.

Robust debate should not detract from our essential task, which, I believe, is the peace, the welfare and the happiness of the people of Australia. To reference Shakespeare: my hour of strutting and fretting upon the stage has come to an end. It remains for me to bid farewell.

In 'The Municipal Gallery Revisited', one of his last poems, William Butler Yeats recounts a visit to an art gallery where the portraits of many of his friends were displayed. It reminds me a little of the Members' Hall. He began:

Around me the images of thirty years;

and, with a minor change, I adopt his final stanza:

You that would judge me do not judge alone

This book or that, come to this hallowed place

Where my friends' portraits hang and look thereon;

Australia's history in their lineaments trace;

Think where man's glory most begins and ends

And say my glory was I had such friends.

May God continue to vouchsafe the deliberations of this parliament. May God bless Australia.

Kevin Andrews is the retiring Federal Member for Menzies and a former Cabinet Minister. This is an edited extract of his valedictory speech.