Moncrieff Electorate

It’s quite hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of the 47th parliament. It seems like yesterday that I came to this place in 2019 and again in 2022, and I’m very proud to be the member for Moncrieff and advocate for you, my community, and, of course, for the Liberal National Party values of equality of opportunity, reward for effort and freedom of association and conscience. We’re the party of free markets and trade, lower taxes and smaller government and the party for families and small business and for fairness and personal responsibility of the individual.

The Gold Coast is many things to many people. It’s the home of sand, surf, sunshine, boating and theme parks. It’s a tourism mecca—the nightlife of surfers paradise and our city’s villages, shining lights and fast cars, construction and cranes on the skylines, sports and entertainment events, education and international students, the health and knowledge precinct, manufacturing and the arts, and great coffee and hospitality offerings. It really is a great place for a family holiday.

My experience as a Gold Coaster for 24 years now is community, and that means belonging to something special, looking after our own and giving back a sum greater than any one person. And how does my community achieve that? Well, we are the home of the entrepreneur, and entrepreneurs have a generosity of spirit. And, of course, we’re the small-business capital of Australia, so we give back to those who need help. I want to thank the many entrepreneurs who give to those in our city.

I want to thank the many charities and foundations—and the chambers of commerce also for the work that they do—who help with food security and with families who now have mortgages and their childcare fees have gone up and everything else that they’re paying for has gone up under this government. There are many charities who are helping out on the ground.

I also want to thank our volunteer Surf Life Saving clubs. I’ve got nine of those, and you are the glue that holds our community together at the beach. Thank you for the lives that you save every year.

I want to thank my community cabinet, which is a plethora, if you like, of faith leaders, community organisations and not-for-profits in my electorate that come together regularly in my office and also off site in their churches and their community halls to meet and to share what’s going on in the community. I’ve had that community cabinet now for nearly six years, and we’ve managed to do a lot of work together, which is great.

I want to thank the Sea World Foundation and Karen Phillips for their support for the IMPACT Gold Coast Youth Summit. I have an announcement tonight to all of those young people on the Gold Coast. If you live on the Gold Coast and you’re 15 to 24 years old, you can come to the IMPACT Gold Coast Youth Summit this year, which is on 6 and 7 June. It’s the third one that I’ve delivered as the shadow minister for youth but also for my local community, of course.

I want to thank the sporting clubs, like the Titans NRL club, the SUNS AFL club and the Surfers Paradise Baseball Club. Baseball, AFL, NRL, netball, pickle ball, croquet, tennis, bowls, golf, swimming, skateboarding, BMX—we’ve got gold medals in every single one of those sports probably on the Gold Coast. We raise champions on the Gold Coast. There’s no doubt about that.

I’ve got three RSL sub-branches. I’ve got about 3½ thousand veterans in Moncrieff. I want to thank you for your service and your dedication to our community as well. To our Men’s Sheds, Rotary clubs, Lions, Apex and Probus, thank you for what you do.

I’ve got 33 schools that I try and get to every year and visit. I particularly enjoyed over the last term visiting Benowa State High School and St Hilda’s School and doing saxophone workshops with their bands. I really very much enjoyed that. Thanks for having me.

To the multicultural communities in Moncrieff—MFO, GCMCC and TMC—who work so hard with new migrants and our community as well, like the GOPIO community, the Chinese community, the Filipino community and the Indigenous community. Uncle John Graham, thank you for what you do for our community.

I want to thank my shadow portfolio staff and my EO staff, my neighbours and my friends and, especially, my family for putting up with me not being there. As the grandchildren grow up, you miss some of that.

To finish, I just want to outline what I promised to you when I was first elected—that is, a leader who listens, who cares and who will speak with vigour and courage on your behalf when national debates arise; a leader who will affect your goals and aspirations and your trials and challenges; and a person who understands your struggles, your disappointments, your blessings and your triumphs. But, most importantly, I promise to put your needs before all else. That is my pledge to you. I hope to continue to do that after the next federal election, which is marching forward very quickly, so I can keep fighting for my community and keep fighting to get our country back on track.