Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi's maiden speech to parliament

I want to pay my respects to the traditional owners of the lands from the Hunter electorate, the Wonnarua, Awabakal and Darkinjung people and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.

Anikanya Yantiyn....... Wontakalowa........Yarma.... which is Hello and Welcome in the language of the Wonnarua, Awabakal and Darkinjung people.

I'm not your average person and I am certainly not the average person you would expect to be in Canberra. I'm not a guy that has come through the usual path to politics.

I was born in Carlton, Victoria, and spent my early years growing up in Melton South, in the newly formed seat of Hawke. My mother was a nurse, and my father was a Quarantine officer.

I definitely feel that mum had the harder job.

My older brother Jason, younger brother Stephen, and I had what you would call a normal upbringing.

Our days were spent out with our mates, on our bikes, outdoors, and we had to be home when the streetlights came on.

If we were late, or we did something wrong, mum would get the wooden spoon out, and if we were really bad, she would tell us "Just wait till your father gets home."

When I was 26, I found out that I had an older half-sister, Karen. I'm glad that you found us, and it's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you and your family over the last 14 years.

Melton was where I found my love for shooting. I attended the Melton Pistol Club from as early as I can remember.

My mum worked nights on the weekends, so the old boy had no choice but to take me and my younger brother to the pistol club.

We were known as the gruesome twosome.

I attended Melton South Primary School and Wilson Park Secondary College, now called Staughton College, but let's be honest, I wasn't the greatest student and couldn't wait to leave.

After leaving school at 15, I started my apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner at D & H Rodwell Tooling.

I spent 10 years working for Don and Heather Rodwell, learning my trade with a small team of dedicated workers many that I'm still friends with today, like Dennis, John, Chris, Steve and my older brother, Jason.

It wasn't always easy working with my brother. I was a pretty lippy apprentice, and from what I can remember, I copped it from all of the tradies.

I probably deserved everything that I got. It was a hard, old-school workplace that really taught me well.

Thanks Don and Heather for taking a chance on me.

It's odd that we have three tradies in the family, especially given that the old boy doesn't even know which end of a screwdriver to use.

It's fair to say that there were plenty of people who were involved in shaping me into the person that I am today. My first shooting coach, John Corral, my first sponsor, Darrell Bevious, most of the members of the Melton Pistol Club, Norm and Margaret Edwards, Allan and Julie Evans, Judy and Terry Kennedy, John and Anne Alisbury, my mates and of course my Mum and Dad.

I would not have achieved the milestones in my life without the sacrifices that you both made for me. Thank you.

I played many sports growing up, with my main focus being on basketball and shooting.

Unfortunately, I was better at the sport that wasn't very appealing financially.

Representing Australia on the world stage is an incredible honour, and I feel very privileged to have represented Australia since 1998.

I have competed in World Championships, World Cups, Oceania Championships, and national championships where I have won over 50 National titles.

I have represented Australia at five Olympic Games and four Commonwealth Games. I have won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and three bronze medals. Or as my girls and I call them, the brown medals.

I can tell you there was no better feeling than winning the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in front of my wife Alex, my daughters Zoe and Asha, and a large group of my family and friends.

Turning around to see the excitement on all their faces is something that I will never forget.

I started work in the mining industry in 2009. I began working as a line borer, travelling all around the state, before landing a full-time position at Mount Thorley Warkworth.

It was an opportunity to drive something that I really could say was bigger than me.

In the seven years I spent working at Mount Thorley Warkworth, I was a union delegate, a dispatch officer, a trainer, and an operator.

Being an operator is the best job in the pit, where the biggest concern that you have for a 12-and-a-half-hour shift is what setting the air con is on, 1, 2 or 3.

At the end of 2017, I was head hunted by Rusty Russell at Double R, to manage a new engineering shop in Singleton.

Our focus was on working in the mining industry and trying to grow the Business to around 15 employees.

Fast forward four years and we had grown the business to be 70-plus employees, working all around the Hunter and beyond, specialising in tractors, ag equipment, parts sales, as well as our core business in repairs and heavy engineering.

I had some amazing times both professionally and personally whilst I was working at Double R and it's still by far the best team that I have ever been a part of.

I know me ending up in Parliament wasn't in our ten-year plan Rusty, but you have to take every opportunity that life throws at you.

Thank you, Kate, Rusty, and the Double R Team. It was an amazing ride.

I have been lucky to travel the world doing a sport that I love, and that has given me some of the most amazing experiences of my life.

But there is nothing better than coming home to the best country in the world, Australia, and especially my home in the Hunter Valley, the gateway to paradise.

The Hunter is such a dynamic electorate, stretching from Wyee Point at the southern tip of western Lake Macquarie, Australia's largest coastal saltwater lake, working its way around the back of the Wollombi State Forest, all the way to Sandy Hollow, across to Muswellbrook, and down to Cameron Park, Edgeworth and Glendale taking in major towns such as Morisset, Toronto, Cessnock and Singleton.

The electorate is 10,640 square kilometres and I have 128,832 bosses that reside in the Hunter electorate.

Some would argue that we have the best wine in Australia coming out of the Hunter Valley. There certainly is no argument from me, we do have the best wines in Australia, in fact, we have the best wines in the world.

From having Australia's first and oldest vineyard, Wyndham Estate, planted in 1828, to some of the most iconic brands in the wine industry like Tyrrells, Scarborough Wine Co, Mount Pleasant, Ernest Hill and many others, to the new wine makers in the industry really making their mark, like Usher Tinkler Wines, Mercer Wines and John Wallace Wines just to name a few.

Tourism is a massive part of the Hunter economy. From the regattas and families holidaying around the beautiful Lake Macquarie, to the world-famous golf courses, restaurants and boutique breweries scattered throughout the Hunter, to our world renowned horse studs in the Upper Hunter, home to champions like Winx, Home Affairs and So You Think.

The Hunter has been the powerhouse of the NSW energy and export market for well over a century, and will continue to be for centuries to come. There is no doubt about that.

At the moment, our traditional industries such as mining, energy, horse studs, farming and tourism are doing well.

My position, and Labor's position is clear - coal will continue to play a role for many years to come in powering the world.

Whilst ever there is an export market for coal, the Hunter and its workforce will continue to fill that market.

I'm proud to be a former coal miner, I'm bloody proud of my electorate's mining history, and I'm proud to be mates with many people who work in the pits.

We need jobs that are well-paid, secure and aren't dominated by dodgy labour hire arrangements.

Put simply - wherever you work, if you're doing the same job as the person next to you, you should be paid the same.

Same job, same pay - it's simple!

That's the difference between us on this side and those that play dress ups on the other side - we back mining and we back our miners, and we say the same thing in my electorate as we do in my friend Michelle Ananda-Rajah's electorate.

As I stand here today, the export market for coal is as strong as it has ever been. For as long as that continues, and it will continue for years to come - I will make sure the Hunter remains at the forefront of supplying coal to the world.

My message to every Hunter mining family, and the whole Hunter electorate - in a changing world is - I will always be up front and I will always have your back.

The Hunter is about to go through one of its biggest booms in decades, not just in booming traditional industries but with the next phase of powering our nation through hydrogen, biomethane, battery storage, win and solar farms and a range of innovative new projects.

Now that the Labor Government has committed to the 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, we have just firmed up a solid stance that will invite business and private investment into the Hunter with certainty and I plan to use my big voice to make sure the Hunter electorate gets its fair share.

It is an exciting time for the Hunter electorate.

I know that I didn't become the candidate for the seat of Hunter through the normal processes, and to the branch members around Hunter I'm sorry about the process that was undertaken.

The seat was on 2.9 percent margin when we started the campaign and we ended up with a 1.1 percent swing to us.

With three more years of hard work, we will make this margin even bigger.

I thank you for all the help and time that you all put into this campaign.

I'm looking forward to working with you all into the future.

I have always had strong Labor values and have seen what great hope the Labor party gives to Australians when we are in Government.

I believe that everybody should be entitled to the same health care services, whether you earn five dollars or five million.

Now I know this is something that those sitting opposite us certainly don't agree with, and after nine long years of cuts to Medicare and health services, it's time for us to stand up for the everyday Australian again.

This is what an Anthony Albanese-led Labor Government gives to Australia - hope - after nearly a decade of cuts, neglect and aimless drift.

We now have a government that cares for not only the everyday Australian, but for every Australian.

I want to thank the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and all the now Ministers for all their help in the Hunter campaign. It really made a difference. I particularly want to thank the Prime Minister for supporting a big unit like me from day one.

This won't be forgotten.

As I campaigned around the Hunter electorate, a common theme from discussions with blue collar workers was that all politicians are all dodgy, on the take, on the gravy train and are only in it for themselves.

Despite repeated promises from those opposite, we now have a government that will actually bring in a National Anti-Corruption Commission.

An independent authority with some teeth, so once again, the people of Australia, can look at politicians with respect and pride, knowing that they are doing the very best for their communities and Australia.

For too long, the original custodians of this land have been without a voice in our parliament.

But now with a Labor government, we are one step closer to changing this.

I can't wait to be part of history when the Australian people own, support and enshrine the Uluru Statement From The Heart in full, and give the oldest-known civilisation in the world, a voice to Parliament. And what a loud voice it will be.

This is something every Australian should be proud of.

I couldn't deliver this speech and not touch on my predecessor, the Honourable Joel Fitzgibbon.

Where do I start!!

The previous Member for Hunter has been etched in the history of this fine building. There is not much that Joel hasn't done in the Labor party.

Joel. Thank you.

Thank you for the tireless work that you have put into the Hunter over the last 26 years.

Without you and your hard work, we would not have the Hunter Expressway, a vital piece of infrastructure that has opened up the Hunter to better tourism and business opportunities, and helped families like mine and many others get home safer.

The third rail line into Newcastle Port that has enabled the Hunter to thrive and become the largest coal port in the world. This has created tens of thousands of jobs in the Hunter and surrounds.

Without your vision for Hunter, we would not be where we are today.

Thank you.

From not only myself, but all of the constituents of the Hunter electorate.

There has been a Fitzgibbon representing the Hunter since 1984, so I certainly have massive shoes to fill.

Lucky I have big feet.

Thanks mate. I am proud to call you a friend.

Those on the other side of the chamber don't seem to, or just don't want to, understand how much blue collar workers in Australia need the mighty trade union movement.

From keeping our workplaces safe, to ensuring that we are all getting a fair go, we have much to thank unions for.

I want to thank Tony Maher, Grahame Kelly, Peter Jordan, Robin Williams, Shane Thompson and every member of the Mining and Energy union for their constant support of me since 2012 , when they helped me get to the London Olympic, and especially for all the support that you have given me throughout the campaign to win the seat of Hunter.

To the officials and members of the SDA Newcastle and Northern, MUA Newcastle, AMWU, Tony Callinan and the AWU, USU, IEU, CPSU, CFMEU and of course, my mate Leigh Shears at Hunter Workers.

Thank you.

I appreciate the work, the resources and time that you all put into our successful campaign.

A special shout out to Mich-Elle Myers and Barbra Nebart, for their constant support and friendship.

And what a campaign it was.

I was lucky enough to be surrounded by literally hundreds of incredible workers and volunteers to keep me on the straight and narrow.

I want to thank all the wonderful volunteers that I had throughout the campaign, without the help from you all I would not be standing here right now giving my first speech.

I especially want to thank George Simon and Josh Lloyd for the hard work that you both put into me at the start of this process.

Without the coaching and mentoring that you both provided me, I know that I would not be standing here today, and I'm sure that you both thought at some stage how did we get stuck with Dan.

To Bob Nanva, Oliver Plunket, Alex Costello, Dom Offner and Liam Rankin from Head Office. Thank you. Your guidance and wise counsel helped me win the seat.

To Chris Northam.

My constant companion during the campaign.

What a ride that was buddy.

Six months of early starts in the Upper Hunter, late nights visiting workers in coal mines and our of course daily visits to all the fine eating establishments around the Hunter electorate.

I couldn't have done this without you mate.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your dedication and support to help me win this seat will never be forgotten.

A special mention must go out to the rest of my amazing campaign team. James Connor, Mel Comber, Luka Harrison, Isobel Marshall, Chad Griffith, Mackenizie Robson, Phil Johnson, Zavier Minter, and Summer Johns.

Finally I want to thank my wife and daughters.

Alex, you are the strongest, most loving and caring woman that I know, and I am so proud and lucky that you came into my life when you did.

There is no doubt it has been a wild ride since we first met in early 2009. From you googling me when I told you I was an Olympian, as you thought it was a pickup line, to us building the life that we have today.

You have put up with a lot. From me traveling the world, training and competing, to working long hours, being away from home on a regular basis and now representing the Hunter in Canberra.

I bet you didn't see any of this in our future when we first met.

To my beautiful girls Zoe and Asha. You are both amazing kids and I cannot wait to see how you both continue to grow into the future.

ZoZo, you are a great athlete already, and the world is at your feet. You will achieve anything in life that you put your mind to.

And Ashie you are one of the most caring, lovable and interesting souls that I have met. Please don't change that as it will take you a long way in life.

As your mother and I already know, you are both very strong-willed kids, and this will become even stronger into the future.

I cannot wait to see the strong, independent women that you both will grow up to be.

Girls, I want you to have the same opportunities as anyone else in this country and I promise I will fight every day to make sure we have a more equal and fair society to pass on to future generations.

I am sorry to you all in advance for the birthdays, dinners and important events that I will miss with this new role, but I promise that I will always make up for it when I'm back home.

The three of you are the most amazing women and I love you all.

Finally, I look forward to getting to know the members from the Liberal Party, the National Party, and the Independents. But what I really look forward to most, is working with this amazingly diverse team that is the Australian Labor Party and delivering hope and certainty to the Australian public.

I stand here ready to work hard, and ready to look after the hard-working people of the Hunter electorate.