First Speech

Paul MERCURIO (Hastings) (11:17): I might just say that I believe my granddaughter Grace is going to heckle me throughout my speech, and I welcome it – and of course for the next 50 years. I wish to acknowledge and pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we stand today, the Wurundjeri people, and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land of my electorate, the Boon Wurrung people. I would like to thank the previous member for the electorate of Hastings, Mr Neale Burgess, for his 16 years of service to our community. I would also like to thank the previous member for Nepean, Mr Chris Brayne. I was looking forward to working with Chris, and I am saddened that he was not re-elected. Chris showed what you can achieve when you have a seat at the table. I am deeply grateful to the people of the electorate of Hastings who voted for me. I believe they voted for me because they wanted a seat at the table in a sitting government. They want to be part of the conversation, and now they are, because I am standing here now thanks to them and on behalf of them.

If I may, I would like to continue with my thankyous as there are quite a few. Firstly, I would like to thank my mother Jean, who is 86 and here today, for the unconditional love that she has given me and the rest of her extended family, for her generosity of spirit, for the support she has always shown me and for the inspiration she gives me through living her life by her example. Life was certainly not easy for my mum nor for us as a family. She and my father split up back in 1969, when I was five. Dad stayed in Melbourne. Mum, with four kids, caught a train to Perth. We were going on a holiday. My holiday lasted for 13 years before I came back to Melbourne. My mum’s lasted 27. If there was only one thing I could say about those 13 years it would be this: my mum always gave us a chance. Those times were pretty tough, but Mum always made sure we had the chance at an opportunity, at trying things. Whether it was singing in the choir, playing soccer, footy, surfing or, God forbid, ballet, Mum made sure we all had a shot. I remember at the age of nine, after watching an Elvis Presley movie and being rather inspired, I turned to my mum and said, ‘Mum, can I do ballet?’ She was so surprised the cigarette fell out of her mouth and burnt a hole in the carpet, but she gave me a shot. That drives me to be here.

I would like to thank my wife Andrea. We have only been married 35 years and have three kids and one granddaughter, and I think we are doing okay. There are many beautiful, incredible qualities that Andrea has. She is a ballerina, an artist and an amazing mum and woman. We are journeymen – we have travelled the world together, we have worked together, we have been rich together and poor together. In short we are an almost-perfect team. And the reason I say we are an almost-perfect team is because we have another 35 years together to grow, to nurture, to nourish, to learn and to love. Perfection can wait. I am enjoying the journey. That drives me to be here.

I would like to thank my three amazing daughters Elise, Emily and Erin – yes, three Es. They keep me young, they keep me on my toes, they keep me growing and they keep my mind open and active. Occasionally they laugh at my jokes, and they often tell me where I am going wrong. They always eat my food. We cook together, laugh together, sing together and cry together. I am such a better person thanks to them. It goes without saying that I feel the same way about my two sons-in-law, Jack and Ben, and now of course my granddaughter Grace. The circle of love keeps on giving. Once, when I was younger, I thought possibly love was finite and at some point I would run out of it, but I have learned you never will. Love is infinite: the more you give, the more you have to give. That drives me to be here.

My deep thanks goes to the members of the Western Port Labor branch and all of the volunteers and members of the CFMEU for the help and support given over what was a fairly gruelling campaign. My team and I could not have done it without you. I would also like to thank various members that have helped and guided me through the process of being elected: Will Fowles – for your friendship, for the support and help you have given me, for mentoring me through this process – Paul Edbrooke, Mathew Hilakari, John Mullahy, Jordan Crugnale, Tom McIntosh, federal member for Bruce Julian Hill and federal member for Dunkley Peta Murphy. To all those that reached out with a phone call or a word of support over the last year, my thanks. Lastly and most importantly I wish to thank my core team: our fly-in fly-out specialist adviser Rachel Smith; the best volunteer ever, Rebecca Stringer; media and communications expert Lucas Hogenbirk; and the most awesome campaign director, Kathryn Smith. Your passion for the labour cause, your commitment to doing the best for the community and your utter selflessness inspires me to be better, do better and work harder. That drives me to be here.

I was born in Swan Hill in 1963. My father Gus Mercurio was not a well-known actor and TV commentator then but a simple chiropractor. He was born in Milwaukee in the United States to a Sicilian father and a German mother. He did not enjoy the sort of childhood a child deserves. His father was a very hard man, an influential man in the Milwaukee fruit and vegetable markets. He was also heavily involved in the Nixon campaign, meeting with him and hosting him in Milwaukee. I was later to find out through a retired FBI agent that he was a member of the Milwaukee division of the Cosa Nostra. I remember when I was told this my head spun as I tried to truly understand what this meant. In Australia we like to romanticise some of our criminal characters, which I find difficult to comprehend, and even more so I was confronted with the fact that my own grandfather was a criminal and was involved in murder. I believe my father came to Australia to escape the life that was being shaped for him, and I have to say Australia is a better place for him being here. I learned a lot from him. One of the best things he taught me was how to peel a clove of garlic. Some might say it is a little thing in the scheme of things, yet every time I peel garlic, which in my house is every day, I think of him and am grateful. I taught my three daughters how to peel garlic, they have taught others and I will teach Grace. It is the small things, the simple things, that are important, and we should never lose sight of that. Here in this chamber I am sure we can get lost in the big things, but they are no more important than the small things, because those small things are what keep our feet on the ground, keep us real and keep us connected to our community, family and friends. That drives me to be here.

With that in mind I ran on a platform of keeping our communities connected. It is an unfortunate fact that if you do not have a car in the electorate of Hastings, then staying connected is a very challenging experience. We are a metro region, but we have a train line that runs every two hours. We have two bus lines that run every two hours – not on the weekend and not to all parts of the community. We do not have a cross bus service on the peninsula. If we did, it would be a 25-minutes service. Instead you have to catch a bus to Frankston and then back down the other side, a journey that can take two or three hours or more. My community want this changed. That drives me to be here.

I come from the wrong side of the peninsula. I come from the forgotten side. That is what most people feel on the Western Port side. And yet Western Port has so much to offer and has so much potential. The electorate of Hastings takes in the pristine French Island in Western Port Bay, the second largest bay in the state of Victoria and home to the almost 60,000-hectare Ramsar wetlands. It also takes in the suburb of Langwarrin, which is an ideal area for young families to bring up their children. It has great schools, parks, cafes, shopping and a not-so-bad public transport system. It also takes in half of the Western Port side of the peninsula, from the small township of Baxter through to the ever-evolving, eclectic township of Somerville, with its cafes, breweries, distilleries, restaurants and great shopping, to Tyabb with all of the amazing antique stores and the legendary Tyabb Airport, the birthplace of the air ambulance. Then to the township of Hastings, the third-largest town on the peninsula and one of incredible potential for small business, tourism, industrial opportunities, a green port and community engagement. It has the opportunity to be a real performing arts hub, with the decision by Mornington shire, championed by me as a councillor, to build a performing arts theatre there, something close to my heart. Further on you have the townships of Bittern, Crib Point, HMAS Cerberus, Balnarring, Somers and Merricks Beach, all thriving townships with communities that love where they live, supporting local business, sporting groups and markets. These are communities that care deeply about the environment and the effects of climate change, and they are passionate about supporting the wetlands, the green wedge and the native flora and fauna.

We all know how special this unique and forgotten side of the peninsula – or the ‘Ninch’ – is, the amazing potential it has. I am excited to say that finally – finally – after 16 years in opposition hands, being the forgotten side is over. This community has a seat in the Labor government, and I plan to capitalise on that to the fullest. That drives me to be here.

As much as there is to praise and celebrate about the electorate of Hastings, from my work as a councillor in the Mornington shire I know also that there are many problems and hurdles that we need to address. There is the rental shortage, there is a lack of affordable housing, there is growing homelessness and there are staff shortages. Now, I believe that some of these issues can be addressed by improving our public transport system. For instance, by putting sidings on the Stony Point line we could have a train service every half hour. By extending the hours of operation people could come into the area to work and get home again. People could travel to the city or to work or go to university or attend free TAFE. A cross bus service will allow people to cross the peninsula to get to jobs or access educational opportunities that they cannot access now.

With the rising cost of living, household budgets are stretched to breaking point. This leads to stress, anger, rising drug and alcohol abuse, increasing domestic violence, mental health issues, anxiety, depression and, tragically, the rise in suicides. I have lost too many friends to suicide. I lost my brother to suicide 23 years ago, and you would think the pain would get easier. That is why I am especially proud to be part of a government that held the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. They listened deeply to those people with lived experience and heard them and implemented every recommendation handed down. Yes, we can always do more, and yes, we will do more, but the Andrews government more than any other government in the nation has raised the bar to a higher level, and that is why I stand here today as part of the Labor government. I pledge that I will do all I can to help those in need, to support family groups and community groups, organisations and mental health providers in any and all ways I can.

There are many things I do not understand about society. As many people know, I started my career as a dancer. It was not easy, and like our Prime Minister I grew up in housing commission. There was Mum, four kids and virtually no support from Dad, and apart from financial hardship, there was the housing commission hardship. On way too many nights I would lie awake and listen to my alcoholic neighbour beat his wife and sometimes children, often watching TV and listening to it all unfold next door. Knowing what was coming, the mother would pass her kids over the fence to my mum, and we would all hide inside listening to the sounds of screams, pleading and a fist hitting flesh until finally silence would come. Several hours later, bloody and bruised, the mum would collect her kids – just another Saturday night, or maybe Wednesday, if the mood was right. Additionally, I had to contend with gangs in our housing commission area who were always on the lookout for that weird kid who did ballet. I did not go to the shops, which were a 10-minute walk away, for a whole year after they caught me there once.

Now, some would say it was the performing arts that saved me, but it was Labor. Only successive Labor governments have truly supported the performing arts. I would not have had the opportunities or the career I have had without the support of Labor. That drives me to be here.

As a dancer in the 1970s and 80s I worked within the queer community, although it was not quite called that or recognised as that until much later. My colleagues were men and women who were straight, gay, lesbian, non-binary, trans, queer – in short, people, friends, artists. I did not and do not understand the fear people have about others who are different. Diversity makes the world go around, and so I am proud to be part of a Labor government which embraces all people as equal and that is unconditionally inclusive of all people in our community.

In a ballet company men and women are equal. On stage there are only people working incredibly hard. Men lifted women; women lifted men. We work together as a team of equals, everyone giving everything to the performance, to the audience, to each other. It was only when I left this world and entered the business world that I saw this concept of women not being the equal of men, and it stunned me. That is why I am proud to be part of a Labor government that supports the unconditional equality of women. That drives me to be here.

I trust I have painted a picture of who I am, what I stand for and why I am here. There is much more that could be said, and I am happy to continue to tell my story. Stories are what nourish us. They feed the soul, the body and the mind. They do this whether you tell them through dance, acting or a dish you cook and serve to loved ones, friends or strangers. Stories give us inspiration and give us hope. Hope lives rent-free in my heart. I believe hope lives rent-free in all our hearts. This is why I stand here today.