Parliamentary Debates (HANSARD)

FORTIETH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSION 2017

JOINT SITTING OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

Joint Sitting of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly

Wednesday, 16 August 2017 ______SENATE VACANCY In accordance with the standing orders passed by both houses of Parliament and approved by Executive Council, the members of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly met in joint sitting in the Legislative Council chamber to fill the vacancy in the representation of in the Senate of the federal Parliament caused by the resignation of Senator the Hon Christopher Back. The President of the Legislative Council (Hon Kate Doust), in accordance with the standing orders, took the chair at 11.00 am. She was accompanied by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly (Mr P.B. Watson). ELECTION OF SENATOR THE PRESIDENT (Hon Kate Doust): Honourable members, this joint sitting has been called to choose a person to hold the place in the Senate of the Commonwealth of Australia rendered vacant by the resignation of Senator Chris Back, notification of which has been reported to this Parliament by Her Excellency the Governor, Kerry Sanderson, AC. I now call for nominations to fill the vacancy. MR M. McGOWAN (Rockingham — Premier) [11.02 am]: I propose that William Edward Slade Brockman of unit 2, 16 Coode Street, South Perth, Western Australia, being a person who is eligible to be chosen pursuant to section 15 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, as amended, be chosen to hold the vacant place in the Senate of the Parliament of the Commonwealth created by the resignation of Senator Christopher Back. I advise that I have Mr Brockman’s assurance that if chosen, he is willing to act. Before proceeding, I wish to make a few brief comments to reflect on the service of Hon Chris Back whose resignation from the commonwealth Parliament has led to this joint sitting. Chris Back was a member of the for Western Australia, endorsed as a senator in 2009 in this chamber. His first term began on 1 July 2011. He served in the Senate until his resignation this year. Chris Back, a father of three, was the first veterinarian elected to the Senate of the federal Parliament. Amongst other roles, Chris has served as Chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee and Chair of the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Reference Committee, and has been an active contributor to Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committees. Chris’s guiding vision as senator was — Towards an Australian community in which every member is safe, feels valued and contributes to a sustainable future. Although Hon Senator Back and I may have different ways of pursuing such a vision, it is a principled stance and one that I congratulate him on following. I wish former Senator Back all the best as he pursues his post-parliamentary life. Mr William Edward Slade Brockman is a seventh generation Western Australian—important to note! I hope that is correct. He was born in Manjimup, Western Australia, in 1970. His family still owns the farm in Pemberton that was started by the son of William Locke Brockman, who became a leading pastoralist and stockbreeder and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Mr Slade Brockman is a father of three who has worked as a budget and political adviser to senator and Minister for Finance, Hon , and before that as Senator Cormann’s chief of staff while in opposition. He is a member of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia and has committed himself to enhancing the interests of rural and regional Western Australia. Mr Brockman holds a first-class honours degree in political history from and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of New England, New South Wales. Mr Brockman has stated that he wants to see goods and services tax reform. He wants to see WA get a fairer share of GST revenue. I encourage Mr Brockman to make his mark in the federal Parliament in defence of Western Australia and vigorously pursue the needed correction to what is the worst distribution of GST to WA—in fact, to any state—in the history of the Federation. In accordance with section 15 on the Commonwealth Constitution, today we are nominating a person to fill the casual vacancy and represent Western Australia in the Senate. The constitutional provisions that bring us here today are designed to preserve the proportional representation in the Senate as determined by the electors, in so doing ensuring the interests of Western Australia are at the forefront of our national debates. After years working

[JOINT SITTING — Wednesday, 16 August 2017] 2841 in politics, policy development and the rural sector, Mr Brockman has confirmed his commitment to enhancing the lives of those living in regional and rural Western Australia, as well as adjusting our state’s unjust distribution of GST revenue. In these and all efforts I wish Slade every success in his representation of Western Australia in our federal Senate. DR M.D. NAHAN (Riverton — Leader of the Opposition) [11.06 am]: I second the proposition of the Premier. I begin today by thanking the government, the Premier and the Parliament for enabling this procedure to ensure the election of a new senator, Senator Brockman, and for Western Australia to maintain its strong representation in federal Parliament. At the outset, I congratulate Slade Brockman on his appointment to the Senate and wish him well. I trust and know he will work hard in the interests of Western Australia. Chris Back has been a stalwart of the Western and made an immense contribution — Hon Peter Collier: Liberal Party. Dr M.D. NAHAN: Liberal Party! Forgive me, Chris. He has made a major contribution to Western Australia for a long time, particularly to rural and regional Western Australia. Chris’s passion for agriculture and rural issues and his strong effective representation of the regions will be an ongoing legacy. Chris was and is a no-nonsense straight talker with a great sense of humour, and these attributes won him respect both inside and outside politics and indeed across the political spectrum. He also carried out his work without seeking the limelight personally. He was satisfied with outcomes, not with his own publicity. He brought a commonsense perspective and practical experience in business and veterinarian practice into Parliament. Chris will be remembered as a senator who was thoroughly decent in his conduct at all times, highly competent as a representative of Western Australia and someone who cared deeply about the ambitions of Western Australia. As the Prime Minister said when he acknowledged the contribution of Chris, members and senators are volunteers to Parliament and their families are conscripts. Senator Back’s decision to put his family first should be commended. I wish Chris, his wife, Linda, and their family all the best. It is a good day for Parliament to appoint someone of the quality of Slade Brockman to the Senate. Like Chris, Slade has a strong rural and regional links, and his selection to the Western Australian Liberal Party to fill this vacancy is a signal to rural and regional Western Australians that the Liberal Party remains committed to them. I am pleased to report that I have spoken to Slade this morning and I can confirm that Slade is not a dual citizen, coming from a seventh-generation farming family. He has visited Hutt River Province; I think it is safe, but I do not know! We might have to have the High Court evaluate this. I think it is safe to say that any citizenship conferred by Hutt River Province will not trigger section 44 of the Constitution. Slade is ably supported by his wife, Rebecca, and together they have three children, Jonathan, Eleanor and Felicity. Every one of us is influenced by our upbringings and I give a special mention to Slade’s mother, Susan, who is here today. Susan, I am sure that today is a very proud moment for you, as it would be for any parent. You can be proud of yourself for bringing up someone of Slade’s character, who will make a strong contribution to our state and our nation. As I mentioned, Slade comes from a seventh-generation farming family, which gives him strong roots in the soils of Western Australia. He understands that farmers are independently minded people who look to their families as a support network and believes in enterprising hard work as a means of getting ahead. Slade’s values have grown from these roots and these values extend to his passion to see a better Australia for future generations. Slade’s values have been demonstrated throughout his career both inside and outside politics. Slade was the campaign director of Australian Grains Champion and led to efforts to reform the ownership arrangement for the CBH Group, Australia’s largest export of grain and Western Australia’s largest agricultural business. The proposals would have unlocked in excess of $3 billion to the balance sheets of WA grain growers and traded a WA-based agriculture business powerhouse. That conversation is ongoing in the grain grower community. Slade remains passionately committed to seeing agriculture modernise and change in order to thrive. Slade was also the policy director of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association and played a role in fighting to end monopoly-controlled wheat exports. This is an example of his sensible free-market principles being applied to agriculture for better outcomes to the families who depend on the industry for employment and income. Slade has lived and managed his family farm in Pemberton and can speak to the practical realities of rural life. While having extensive rural credentials, Slade is well experienced in politics and worked at senior levels of government, being a former adviser to the federal Minister for Finance. Slade has worked as a senior adviser and chief of staff in opposition and worked on a range of key campaigns, including to defeat the Labor government’s carbon tax and mining tax and to reform the financial sector. Slade has also worked as a consultant and held many other roles in small and medium business. With the Senate in Canberra as finely balanced as it is, it needs a senator of Slade’s quality to fill this role. I have no doubt that Slade will work to advance the interests of Western Australia and our Federation and will do all of us proud as he takes on his new responsibilities as Western Australian senator. Slade, I wish you, Rebecca and your family great success in Canberra representing our great state. Members: Hear, hear!

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MR P.A. KATSAMBANIS (Hillarys) [11.11 am]: How can I miss the opportunity to speak in this chamber again? It is a great pleasure to support the nomination of my good friend Slade Brockman to fill the vacancy in the Senate on behalf of Western Australia. I have worked closely with Slade. Over 18 months, we worked very closely together in Canberra and I can attest to his skills and the values that he holds. I know that going to the Senate, Slade will be a true Western Australian senator. In his previous roles, Slade has already worked hard for Western Australians. He worked extremely hard to defeat the anti–Western Australian mining tax and achieved that working with lots of other people. When he worked for the Pastoralists and Graziers Association, he pushed hard to break the monopoly of the single desk on wheat exports—again to support Western Australian farmers. He has done the same recently working for Australian Grains Champion. I know that that conversation continues to be had, but at the heart of it is Slade’s support for the Western Australian grain industry. As someone who knows what it is like to work on the land, he will represent rural and regional Western Australia. As someone who knows the impact the unfair GST share has on our state, he will work assiduously to fight for a fairer share for Western Australia. Slade understands how Canberra works, and that is extremely important because he knows the bias that the eastern states have against us; he also knows how to work with the bureaucracy and across government benches to achieve outcomes. He is a Western Australian of longstanding. He is someone with strong family values. He is someone who has a very effective work ethic and his style lends itself to bringing people together. He is someone who works closely with other people to get outcomes and that has shown in his work so far. When he gets to the Senate, hopefully next week or tomorrow, I know that in Slade Brockman, we are going to have an absolute champion for Western Australia. I congratulate him, Susan and the Brockman family. To his wife, Rebecca, and to Jonathan, Eleanor and Felicity, all the very, very best in your role, because the supporting role of family is critical, especially when someone is travelling from Western Australia to Canberra. To Chris Back, congratulations on your achievements as a Western Australian and as a senator for Western Australia. I wish you and your family all the best in your future as well. With those words, I highly commend the nomination of Slade Brockman to this house, and I know my friend Slade Brockman will do a wonderful job as a senator for Western Australia. THE PRESIDENT (Hon Kate Doust): Are there any further nominations? There being no other nominations, I declare William Edward Slade Brockman of 2/16 Coode Street, South Perth, Western Australia elected to hold the place vacated by Senator Christopher Back. Members, I congratulate Senator-elect Slade Brockman, who is present in the President’s gallery today with his family, friends and guests. Members might want to acknowledge that he has just been elected. [Applause.] The Joint Sitting concluded at 11.06 am ______