PETER KAVANAGH: Member for Western Victoria

SENTENCING AMENDMENT BILL

2009-12-16T16:09:00.002+11:00

Victorian Parliament Hansard

Title SENTENCING AMENDMENT BILL
House COUNCIL
Activity Second Reading
Members RICH-PHILLIPS
Date 24 November 2009
Page 5546

SENTENCING AMENDMENT BILL
Second reading

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- The Sentencing Amendment Bill 2009 seeks to, in effect, provide for additional legal penalties for crimes, especially assaults, motivated by hatred for people of particular races, religions or sexual preferences. In my opinion the bill's motives are noble, but to some slight extent at least it is also somewhat misguided.
To the extent that this bill seeks to punish an offender more severely for deliberate, planned violence, the principle of the bill is in my opinion correct. I think we all know that the moral wrong of an assault that is premeditated is vastly greater than that of an assault that is the result of spur-of-the-moment anger.
In my opinion penalties should be more severe when an assailant is motivated by a belief that their victim is weak and unable to defend himself or herself. The reasons why attacking those perceived to be vulnerable should be even more strongly punished are, firstly, the degree of moral reprehensibility of attacking the defenceless, and secondly, the necessity of deterring violence against those who lack the strength to defend themselves.
To offer more legal protection to members of particular racial, religious or sexual preference groups seems to be inconsistent with our principle of equality before the law. Our legal system should particularly defend those who cannot defend themselves. This principle will often achieve in practice what the bill seeks to achieve in principle -- that is, perpetrators of crimes who are motivated by hatred of particular religions, races or sexual orientations will effectively be given extra legal punishment. That is what this bill intends.
In other words, there will often be consistency between this bill and what I regard as the correct legal principle of offering particular legal protection to those in particular need of legal protection. On that basis I will not vote against or oppose the bill.
Tonight we have had a wide-ranging discussion about violence and the relationship between violence and legal protection. In my view a fundamental legal principle is that removing legal protection for some people will inevitably weaken legal protection for all people.

Berlin Wall: Fall

2009-12-16T16:07:00.001+11:00

Victorian Parliament Hansard

Title Berlin Wall: fall
House COUNCIL
Activity Members Statements
Members KAVANAGH
Date 10 November 2009
Page 5230

Berlin Wall: fall

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall fell. It was a most dramatic milestone in the decline of a powerful political-economic system that controlled much of the world. That system was and is by its very nature inherently totalitarian, brutally oppressive, systematically murderous on a mass unprecedented scale -- for instance, the Cambodian communists murdered one-third of their own people in three years -- and economically backward to the point of causing the largest famines in the history of the world and even inducing widespread cannibalism.
I had the privilege of helping to knock down the Berlin Wall. As I bashed into the wall it was with great joy that I looked along the wall and saw hundreds of people doing likewise.
In my joy I thought of those Australians who had given so much over so long to protect their fellow Australians from this brutal, murderous, backward ideology. Those heroes included many Democratic Labor Party people. Prominent in my thoughts were my grandparents, Bill and Mary Barry. Their sacrifice has been fully vindicated by history.

Corio Bay: Pollution

2009-12-16T13:49:00.001+11:00

Victorian Parliament Hansard

Title Corio Bay: pollution
House COUNCIL
Activity Questions without Notice
Members KAVANAGH
Date 11 November 2009
Page 5309

Corio Bay: pollution

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- My question is for the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Gavin Jennings, and relates to pollution and contamination in and around Corio Bay. A Geelong resident, Mr Stan Taylor, has been concerned for a long time about apparent contamination in and around Corio Bay. With few resources, he has been collecting samples of sludge and having them analysed at his own expense. As I speak he is displaying some of those samples on the steps of this building. The initial scientific analysis suggests rates of contamination, including lead and mercury, that are very many times higher than recommended limits. I ask the minister: what does the most recent data available to the government show about the levels of contamination in and around Corio Bay?
Mr JENNINGS (Minister for Environment and Climate Change) -- I thank Mr Kavanagh for the question and the opportunity to talk about the program that is coordinated through the Environment Protection Authority in Victoria to monitor water quality right around Port Phillip Bay, and in this context that includes Corio Bay. This program has been intensified in the last two years due to the increased monitoring associated with the channel deepening program to provide confidence to the Victorian community about the condition of these important parts of the marine environment in Victoria.
I have not been privy to the private research that Mr Kavanagh refers to from Mr Taylor, but I would be very happy to receive any advice and evidence he can bring to bear for us to take account of and compare with the knowledge that has been compiled through the EPA's programs.
I am advised that none of the heavy metals Mr Kavanagh has referred to in his question are evident in quantities that would trigger any environmental alarm or concern within the community. However, I am very happy to have a look at the material Mr Taylor has provided. Heavy metal analysis is part of the program the EPA undertakes on behalf of the Victorian community, and I have received some advice recently about recent monitoring in which the heavy metals Mr Kavanagh refers to have not been evident. Indeed the only elevated feature of analysis that I have been referred to relates to oxidised nitrogen. This information is something that has probably been available in the public domain through the public release of the EPA's material, but whilst there is a heightened level of this element within the monitoring regime it is not at a level that would warrant further examination. However, it is certainly something that warrants our taking note of to be sure that we are mindful of these levels into the future.
I am told that this does not necessarily relate to the channel deepening program because heightened levels of oxidised nitrogen were discovered back in 2002 and they subsequently subsided, so I am happy to share across the chamber with Mr Kavanagh publicly, but also privately, what information we may have available to both of us.
Supplementary question
Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- I thank the minister for his answer. He referred to the program being undertaken by the EPA and to the study of water quality. What about the foreshore and areas near the foreshore of the bay, not just the water itself?
Mr JENNINGS (Minister for Environment and Climate Change) -- In terms of the absolute technique and the method and whether it relates to foreshore sludge, as Mr Kavanagh has described it, that may be evident along the foreshore, I am happy to take advice on the technique and the method, and perhaps we can compare notes about the best way we can compile evidence to provide some degree of confidence into the future.

Israel: Missile Attacks

2009-12-16T13:40:00.001+11:00

Victorian Parliament Hansard

Title Israel: missile attacks
House COUNCIL
Activity Members Statements
Members KAVANAGH
Date 26 November 2009
Page 5663
26 November 2009 COUNCIL
Page 5663

Israel: missile attacks
Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- As Mrs Kronberg did yesterday, I would like to express my admiration for the people of Sderot, Israel, which is a town we visited last week. The people of Sderot have been victims of almost daily missile attacks from the Gaza Strip over several years. None of us would be surprised by deplorable acts committed in the course of the Middle East conflict, but, in the case of Sderot, some acts in civilian areas are targeting civilians. The people who are forced to allow their backyards and neighbourhoods to be used as missile launching places are secondary victims, but the primary victims are the people who are being fired at. We saw primary schools which have had huge concrete structures built over them in an attempt to protect children to some extent from missiles. Kindergartens are built from missile-resistant materials. Even playgrounds have bomb shelters in them that are virtually disguised as children's toys.
I express my admiration for the people of Sderot and their tenaciousness.
No doubt any appeal to the people firing the missiles would be futile. But I ask my fellow Australians to understand that Israel is likely to have to respond and in that circumstance to ask themselves what they would do if their neighbouring property was being used as a place from which to fire missiles at them and their families.

Children First Foundation: Conjoined twins

2009-12-16T13:31:00.001+11:00

Victorian Parliament Hansard

Title Children First Foundation: conjoined twins
House COUNCIL
Activity Members Statements
Members KAVANAGH
Date 25 November 2009
Page 5570

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- I pay tribute to members of the 16-member medical team at the Royal Children's Hospital who recently separated Bangladeshi conjoined twins, Trishna and Krishna, in a 32-hour operation.
I also congratulate my cousin Moira Kelly and my aunt, the senior Moira Kelly, who have been looking after Trishna and Krishna for two years, along with some helpers. For that entire period they have been giving them tender, loving care. I was in hospital in September and had the privilege of being visited by the junior Moira, together with Trishna and Krishna. On that occasion the twins were full of energy and love of life.
I express my thanks and admiration to the medical team, to both Moiras and to all those who helped the twins.
All Victorians have contributed, through their taxes at least, to the extraordinary medical skills that have added so much to the lives of these two little girls. All Victorians can therefore feel not only joyous but also proud of their contribution.

Planning: Growth Area Infrastucture Contribution

2009-12-16T13:15:00.002+11:00

Victorian Parliament Hansard

Title Planning: growth areas infrastructure contribution
House COUNCIL
Activity Questions without Notice
Members KAVANAGH
Date 26 November 2009
Page 5693

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- My question is for the Minister for Planning and relates to the growth areas infrastructure contribution (GAIC). The minister has recently announced a change to the proposed GAIC so that this tax will be payable on the next sale of a piece of land by the land purchaser rather than by the present landowner. Will the GAIC tax still not effectively be paid by the landowner, if only in the form of receiving a lower price for the land that is sold, even in cases where, contrary to the minister's repeated assertions, there will not be a great uplift in price due to the fact that the land cannot be developed perhaps for decades?

Hon. J. M. MADDEN (Minister for Planning) -- I welcome Mr Kavanagh's question and I welcome his interest in these matters, as I welcome the interest of members of all parties in this chamber in the impending introduction of the growth areas infrastructure contribution. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and a lot of it is based upon contradictory views about to what extent a value uplift will occur around the adjustment to the urban growth boundary. We still stand by our view that in adjusting the urban growth boundary you will get a significant uplift in the value of that land just by changing the vast majority of that land from land which is basically not currently developable to land that is developable, so there is a very significant uplift.

I have heard various contradictory remarks from a range of individuals, who on the one hand are saying, 'With this we will be rated off the land' and on the other are saying, 'With this, though, we will not be able to get any uplift'. There is a direct and stark contradiction there.

I heard it yelled from the opposition earlier in question time that they will be rated off the land. Why would they be rated off the land? They could not be rated off the land, because first of all for their rates to go up there has to be a very significant value uplift. That is of critical importance here. You cannot have the value uplift through coming into the urban growth boundary but then say, 'There is no uplift of value on my land'. That is a contradiction. What is very important here is that there is a very significant uplift in the value -- very significant.

I have no doubt that later on as the land moves through its development steps there will be additional uplift, but the most significant uplift occurs when land is brought into the urban growth boundary.

Honourable members interjecting.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- I take up Mr Guy's point that you have to have the cash to do it. The issue here is that there is very significant uplift in the adjustment to the urban growth boundary that is captured in the value of the land. When that land is next turned over, we will seek to capture some of that uplift through the growth areas infrastructure contribution.

I have gone through a lengthy dissertation. I expect we will hear even more about the merits of that, and I know we will hear from members of the opposition why they do not believe it is appropriate. At the end of the day the government has a commitment to building vibrant, strong communities with good infrastructure, particularly good transport infrastructure. We believe this is the most appropriate mechanism to see this through.

I have suggested, and I continue to suggest, to the opposition and other parties that if they have a different view, they should put it to this chamber in the form of an amendment and we will consider it on its merits. Labor is not the only party that will vote on these matters. Mr Kavanagh will vote on them, members of the Greens will vote on them, and from time to time the Liberal-Nationals coalition splits on things when it comes to matters of conscience. If there is a strong view from the parties on the other side of the chamber about these mechanisms, if they believe they are currently not right -- as we believe they are -- I would welcome them coming up with a solution or suggestion and letting this house of review debate it and try to work through the issue before they rule the legislation ineffective by voting against it outright.

Supplementary question

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- The objections to the GAIC are largely based on the timing -- the imposition of the GAIC at the point of sale rather than development. In other states the tax is imposed at the point of development, unlike what the minister is proposing in Victoria. Is the real reason for imposing it at the point of sale not to get the money now rather than leaving it to future governments?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 5694

Hon. J. M. MADDEN (Minister for Planning) -- I welcome that point. There are two issues here. As I have said before, one issue is getting the money sooner rather than later so that we can get the investment -- we do not steer away from that -- but the other issue is a technical one that the opposition seems oblivious to. I know Mr Kavanagh and members of the Greens would be interested in it because they seek to be interested in these matters rather than form a position that rules out alternatives outright.
What we do know is that sometimes when development occurs the developer never owns the land. He develops it all the way through the sequence and it is not until late in the development cycle -- with title exchange at a very late stage -- that there is a turnover of title. The misnomer -- --

Mr Guy -- But approval has nothing to do with the title.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- I take Mr Guy up on that. We are talking about the transaction and the title exchange; you are talking about approval.

Mr Guy -- That's right.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- Yes. Some developers take up the option and do not take up the land until it reaches that point anyway. It will most likely occur there anyway, because the vast majority of developers -- --

Honourable members interjecting.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- I know Mr Kavanagh is interested in my answer. The vast majority of developers come up with some option or arrangement anyway. What we are conscious of is that the later you push it into the cycle, the more we will have another argument. We will have another argument with developers.

They will say, 'I did not get the best deal on the land'.

Honourable members interjecting.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- I am trying to answer Mr Kavanagh's question, even though the opposition does not want me to give information to Mr Kavanagh. The issue here is that if you push it later into the development sequence or cycle, we will end up having another argument with the same industry representatives and the same developers.

Honourable members interjecting.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- I know Mr Barber and the Greens are interested in this.

We would have developers saying at the end of the precinct structure planning process, 'That developer got the retail area, which is great value; another got the residential area, which is not such bad value; and I got the industrial land, which does not hold the same value'. We know, and Mr Guy knows, we would end up with the same argument all over again with the same developers but around a different set of issues.

Mr Guy interjected.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- I know Mr Kavanagh is interested in my answer. At the end of the day the issue is, as Mr De Dominico of the Urban Development Institute of Australia said the other day -- and he expressed it quite holistically -- that taxes suck. I know that is the view of Mr Guy and Mr Finn. We end up in the same position time and again. No matter where we define it, no matter where we set it at, we will end up having the same argument.

Mr Guy does not have an argument about where it should occur; we know that. He is consistently shifting the argument in order to again have the same argument about no tax. He would prefer to side with the development community to stop it paying tax, to get significant uplift, to delay the infrastructure, to delay the transportation -- --

The PRESIDENT -- Order! I believe Mr Kavanagh asked both the question and the supplementary question. I suggest the minister might like to concentrate on his answer and not debate Mr Guy.

Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- Thank you for the guidance, President. To sum this up for Mr Kavanagh: we end up shifting the argument along the development sequence.

I know many people in this chamber are committed to seeing families -- the new home owners -- supplied with the right services, the right infrastructure and particularly the right transport infrastructure at this point in time, particularly if the most affordable housing option for them is a long way from the centre of the city. Our commitment is to try to do that in a way which we believe not only does justice to the infrastructure and to the new communities but also and in particular balances the needs of the building and construction industry in a measured and sensitive way that does not throw the baby out with the bathwater. No doubt Mr Kavanagh will see people who want to lobby him on their respective views, as we all will in this chamber. I look forward to the consideration of this bill being a measured consideration -- --

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 5695

Mr Guy interjected.
Hon. J. M. MADDEN -- Not on ideological grounds, Mr Guy, but on views which are about what is best for these new houses, what is best for these new householders and what is best for these new families -- the people who are settling in these new growth areas -- in years to come; not in years a long way out but years just shortly down the road, when we will need to provide them with the right service.

I look forward to that support. I look forward to any suggestions as to how we can improve. I look forward to a sensible consideration of these matters when the bill comes to this chamber.

Maiden Speech and Media Commentary

2007-02-25T20:09:00.000+11:00

Inaugural Speech by Peter Kavanagh DLP MLC
for Western Victoria
Legislative Council 13 February, 2007

Thank you President. I offer my congratulations for your election to the chair and to all Members for their election.

I would like to first acknowledge and thank all those heroic Australians who over the last century have risked and even given their lives in defence of our country. I would also like to thank and pay tribute to the volunteers who have been courageously fighting bush fires in Victoria.

Today, I would like to thank those who have helped me, explain my political motivations, and tell you about the DLP and how I hope to make a contribution in this Parliament.

I am very glad to have won, but sorry that it was at the expense of Elaine Carbines whom I know to be a very hard working, honest and talented woman. I would also like to acknowledge Samantha Macintosh of the Nationals and Marcus Ward of the Greens for their intelligence and generosity of spirit.

This is the first election win for the Democratic Labor Party anywhere for thirty six years and the first in this Parliament for fifty one years. I am strongly aware that many DLP people have deserved a seat in Parliament much more than me. I am reminded in particular of Jim Brosnan, and the late, great Frank Dowling, whom it was my privilege and honour to know when I was a boy.

I recently had the great pleasure of meeting my predecessor in this Parliament, Mr Frank Scully, DLP MP from 1955 to 1958. He is 87 years old now but his intelligence, courtesy, charm and goodness are immediately apparent. I will strive to be worthy of his example.

The people of Western Victoria brought me here, and I am grateful. In the cities of Geelong and Ballarat and small towns like Nhil and Camperdown, from Melton and Werribee to the border there are people who voted DLP and people who helped. I am not a Western Victorian but have been genuinely impressed by the people of Western Victoria. They really do represent the best of the Australian tradition. Western Victorians see strangers as opportunities rather than as threats.
I thank those parties which gave me their second preferences — People Power, Country Alliance and Family First.

My thanks also to the Parliamentary staff who have been welcoming and extremely helpful and to all Members who have welcomed me to this Parliament. Coming in from outside, I have been impressed by the intelligence, obvious decency and dedication of many Members from all sides of this chamber.
There are individuals I must thank, including my running mates, Clare and David Power and Leanne and Michael Casanova of Ballarat. I would also like to thank Max Crockett of Geelong, my uncle Bill Barry Junior, Alan Guilfoyle of Melbourne, Pat Healy of Hamilton and DLP stalwarts John Mulholland and Pat Crea.

I thank my friend Stephen Williams who contributed his expertise in public relations. His intelligence and creativity were crucial in overcoming the media's resistance to covering my campaign.

I would like to thank my parents—Mary and Frank Kavanagh. They did not have a lot to give materially but they did give their children strong values, including a love of learning and respect for education. Their love, care, worry and sacrifice raised six good citizens. My mother has been quite active in politics for most of her life.

My mother's parents, Bill and Mary Barry were important figures in the DLP story. My grandfather was president of the Carlton branch of the ALP from the age of eighteen and a member of the other House for twenty three years. He was Labour Parliamentary secretary for seventeen years and held several portfolios as well as being a Melbourne City Councillor for sixteen years and Labor leader in the Council. At its first election, in 1955, the DLP was often called "the Barry Party".

My grandfather was of convict stock - his grandfather, James Barry, was said to have been transported to Van Diemen's Land for agitating against the British occupation of Ireland. My grandfather's father, William Barry, I will call him, devoted his life to improving the lives of working people. He was instrumental in establishing a number of unions and the Labour Party itself in Tasmania and the Carlton branch where he was campaign manager for FH Bromley who was elected Labour Member for Carlton in 1892. William Barry's union activities marked him in the Depression that began in 1896 and he was forced to move to the goldfields of WA, where he worked for Federation.

My grandfather, Bill Barry, sought and used his positions to help battlers. He fought for the mentally ill and for improvements to 'sustenance' during the Great Depression. He was responsible for locating the Royal Children's hospital where it now stands, helped greatly to win the Olympic Games for Melbourne and campaigned tirelessly against capital punishment. As Minister for Health he introduced a comprehensive range of measures which resulted in the near eradication of tuberculosis, initiatives that were copied in other states. These were among many other political achievements.
My grandmother, Mary Barry, was also a member of the ALP for decades. While still a teenager, she was an activist against conscription and for Ireland's liberation. She led Labour Women for many years, in an honorary capacity, and was on the ALP executive - the only woman, during the Split. After the Split, she continued working for the Australian people, through the DLP, until her death. She succeeded in having women prisoners moved out of Pentridge. She fought with all she had for those condemned to execution, organised for relief during the Second World War and successfully lobbied for child endowment and other assistance to families.

My grandparents' qualities, including their enthusiasm for helping others, partly represented the times in which they lived. They worked not only in the Party and the Parliament but, in the then existing Labour tradition, they also helped the disadvantaged within their home. "No-one in Carlton will sleep outside" campaigned my grandfather during the Great Depression. With support from others, my grandparents housed the homeless, fed the hungry and clothed the desperate - literally. My grandmother's skills as a seamstress were often utilised altering my grandfather's clothes so that constituents could attend job interviews. The Barry family frequently had meagre fare while their intended meal, and often their shoes, were given to Carlton residents who came to the door hungry. My uncles and aunts remember as small children often waking up with unknown children sharing their bed, put there quietly late at night, while homeless families were found more permanent accommodation.

My grandparents are the people effectively referred to by John Cain Junior recently as "sectarian serpents". As to this particular assertion I would like to draw attention to the observations of Robert Murray, the most authoritative and objective commentator on the Split. In his book, "The Split", referring to John Cain Senior of course, he says, "this might be said even of Cain – bitterness against the Barry Group flowed over, all too often to be reinforced by deep seated religious prejudices, which came to the surface under pressure" ( p.248).

The Australian labour movement of the nineteenth century was the true origin of the Democratic Labor Party. In the mid 1950s however the extreme left attempted to take over the ALP, especially to prevent parts of the Labour Party continuing to counter Communist attempts to control Australia's unions. The extremists were aided by the mental state of the ALP's federal leader who took their side and purported to have the legitimate Labour executive in Victoria sacked. The utterly bogus and unconstitutional nature of the persecution was confirmed by the ALP's own Jim McLelland and Clyde Cameron shortly before their deaths. The eventual result was that a majority, sixty percent, of Labour Party members in Victoria (and nearly eighty percent of Labour Party branches) were expelled or left in sympathy to form what became the Democratic Labor Party.

The DLP was clearly then, anything but a "splinter group". Nor was the DLP the instigator of the Split, DLP people were its victims.

Dozens of Parliamentarians gave up careers. Their sacrifice was for a principle, a correct one, now vindicated by history. In my view this has given the DLP an extraordinary legacy of courage and nobility. When I was a child I thought that the DLP's founders were heroes who had sacrificed so much, including their livelihoods, to oppose barbarism. I still think so.

DLP people were sometimes treated despicably both during and after the Split by the more extreme of their opponents. To the greatly limited extent that it is my right to respond to this, I offer the observation that the prayer which begins the business of this House each sitting day makes it perfectly clear that we dare not even ask for forgiveness for ourselves without first forgiving others.

Anti-Communists are almost invariably portrayed in our media as misguided lunatics. Whatever the ridicule and derision however, the DLP's assessment of the nature of Communism was accurate. The DLP saw Communism for what it was - economically primitive, inherently brutal and expansionist, and by its nature, murderous on a mass scale.

I have experienced at first hard and even felt, painfully, some of the practical manifestations of Communism in other parts of the world. It was partially in tribute to the DLP that I joyfully joined with thousands of others in the physical knocking down of the Berlin Wall seventeen years ago.
The DLP has not only been correct in what it has opposed however, but also in what it has supported and in what it has initiated. The DLP was the first party to recognise the importance of Asia to our future and was the first parliamentary party in Australia to call for an end to the White Australia policy. It pioneered votes for eighteen year olds and equal pay for equal work. The DLP supported unions which advanced the interests of their workers without destroying the businesses which employed them, while also recognising union responsibilities to the broader Australian community. The DLP initiated child endowment for large families and government assistance for families to buy a home. It also struggled for, and achieved a measure of justice in education funding and pushed for genuine decentralisation and environmental protection. Little wonder then that even Sir Robert Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party, after his retirement, voted DLP. The DLP's initiatives of decades ago continue to benefit the lives of most Australians to this day.

Why did almost 60,000 Victorians vote for the DLP at the last election after it had been ignored for so long? I think it was at least in part because the voters of the generation before me, and before most of you, here, know how much was sacrificed in the past, and know how hard Democratic Labor people have worked to implement new ideas for their community and their country.
I summarise what the DLP stands for in this way: We are For Life, For Workers and Battlers, For Families and for Australia".

The DLP lost parliamentary representation in the mid 1970s, in my view largely because of its steadfast support for South Vietnam. There are many significant ideas - for example profit-sharing between business and workers -that could have been much more successful in Australia if the DLP had retained its influence. The DLP would have opposed many of the mistakes that have been made by governments in recent decades. Surely DLP Parliamentarians would also have done something for the three million unborn who have been aborted in Australia over the last thirty years or so.

I'd now like to tell you how I see some present and future challenges.

I believe that we could really address illness, poverty and family breakdowns and dramatically cut crime by genuinely tackling drugs and problem gambling. Addiction, whether to legal or illegal substances or to destructive behaviours is a huge, avoidable threat to individual and community health, prosperity, and security.

Our current drug strategies are failing — we need to change our approach. We need strategies that are both compassionate and effective. Drug usage should remain illegal. Users who are not trafficking, however, should be sentenced, not to jail, but to treatment. Sweden reports that 70 to 80% of its non-voluntary patients are made addiction-free through compulsory treatment.

The current state of rehabilitation in Victoria is bad, even for those who voluntarily seek treatment. There are bureaucratic obstacles and insufficient resources.

We should work with the courts and community groups to develop comprehensive programs of rehabilitation and treatment; for voluntary and non-voluntary patients and we must put up the money to pay for them.

Some users of legal drugs need help too. Those with drinking problems and tobacco addiction deserve more than an assumption of the moral high ground by those who disapprove of their habits. They have paid quite enough in taxes on their habits to fully warrant government help to get out of the deadly traps they are in. As Minister of Health, my grandfather brought to Australia the world's best expertise in the fight against polio. I believe that now, we should bring the world's best medical and psychological techniques to Victoria and subsidise the most effective programmes that can be devised to help the victims of addictions.

What is loosely called "addiction to gambling" is destroying the lives of some people and spurring crime. Gambling brings many millions of dollars to the government but at a catastrophic cost to some families and individuals. I believe that our present poker machine policies and practices exploit the poor, the lonely and the ignorant and should be changed. I think we have an obligation to ensure that gambling is sensibly and effectively regulated in such a way as to minimise problem gambling.

The DLP pioneered government assistance for first home buyers. It is an achievement I would like to see built on. Even after recent reforms, Victorian families wishing to buy a home will still be taxed almost $15,000 to put an average roof over their children's heads. I believe that we should not be taxing families at all when they buy a first home.

I have been a teacher in Victorian schools and have taught and lectured in other countries. I have views about education. Our education system needs to provide a high level of skills, whether of an academic or technical nature as appropriate to the interests and abilities of students. The relatively recent decision to abolish technical schools, in my opinion and experience, has simultaneously lowered the quality of academic education, even for the academically gifted while causing the state to fail in its obligations to provide for non-academic students. The current state of education in Victoria is such that even our best universities now need to offer remedial English to new students.

Non ownership of a school by the government should not mean disownership of responsibility for that school's students by the state. The parents of students in non-government schools pay taxes to the government and their children are entitled to assistance from the government.
State schools should not teach sectarian values, nor should they indoctrinate children in leftist ideology. Schools are a natural place however for young people to learn fundamental, positive social attitudes, particularly the expectation that we all can and should contribute to, and not always take from, the community we share with other people, in other words, that is responsibilities as well as rights.

On most social issues, I believe that people should be largely free to pursue their own happiness in their own way. The contrasting issue is, of course, abortion because I believe, for good reasons, that human life begins at conception. This is not an article of religious faith but is a conclusion based on logic, knowledge, experience and reason.

The unborn person is admittedly human life at its most immature, its most vulnerable, its weakest, its
most defenceless. Surely however, the young, the defenceless and the weak deserve more rather than less legal protection.

In addition to justice for the unborn, babies who are born alive after undergoing attempted abortion procedures are as entitled to respect and medical attention as anybody else. This is not often talked about but there are around fifty cases a year in the UK, suggesting an annual rate of perhaps four or five in Victoria. Investigations have been held in other states into babies being neglected after surviving attempted abortions. One baby in Sydney had been discovered crying in a waste bin. Victorian law should make it explicit that medical personnel are obliged to help such babies.

To me, this is a central issue - the limits of government and individual power. To have no reasoned and reasonable position on the limitations of such power is to conspire silently in creating a world where the abuse of power has no limits.

I congratulate this government on making this chamber a forum for a true multitude of counsellors. I hope to be a counsellor on behalf the unrepresented – including children in non-government schools and for the unborn who have no voice at all.

I also hope to speak for those who did vote but are underrepresented, including the aged and the disabled, and the supporters of minor parties.

They voted - not to bring down the government, but to counsel it.
They voted - not for the carefully crafted image of a major party, but for their own firmly held beliefs.
They voted - not for power, but to be heard.

I share at least some common ground with every Member here. I look forward to working with other Members who have expressed concerns which I share on challenges including homelessness, crime, environmental protection, public transport and our water crisis.

The government has a strong mandate so I expect to vote with the government quite often. Wisely however, Victorians also want their government to be accountable and so I will vote for measures which the government may not like, to put it under scrutiny which is fair, reasonable and close.
I may fail but will aspire to emulate the courage and dedication of the DLP's founders in working for the enduring ideals and values of the Democratic Labor Party - For Australia, For Workers and Battlers, For Families, For Life.

Publisher: Fairfax
Publication: The Age, Page 6 (Wed 14 Feb 2007)
Keywords: Peter (2),Kavanagh (2)
Edition: Second
Section: News

I see DLP people: Kavanagh raises some ghosts

NOTEBOOK

A WHOLE new house it may be, but the Victorian Parliament's upper house - politically renovated and reconstituted - can't shake its ghosts.

Indeed, some of the Parliament's most divisive spectres were summoned into the chamber yesterday by a man whose party had itself done a Lazarus.

The medium was the still surprised-looking new member for Western Victoria, Peter Kavanagh, of the Democratic Labor Party, addressing the red chamber in his maiden speech.

First, for the benefit of Victorians born in the 50-odd years since a DLP member last stood in the Parliament, Mr Kavanagh took a romp through history - his family's and his party's, the two being inextricably entwined.

Mr Kavanagh's grandfather, Bill Barry, was a prominent player in the 1955 ALP split that led to the creation of the anti-communist, Catholic-based DLP. "He devoted his life to improving the lives of working people," Mr Kavanagh said.

His grandmother, Mary, was also a political activist with the Labor Party from her teens, campaigning "against conscription and for Ireland's liberation", an emotional Mr Kavanagh recalled.

After the split, working with the DLP, "she succeeded in having women prisoners moved out of Pentridge. She fought with all she had for those condemned to execution."

Mr Kavanagh seemed at pains to address the tag of "right-wing nutter" given to him by his new parliamentary bench-mate, the Greens' Greg Barber.

He scrolled through a long list of socially progressive causes championed by him, his party and his ancestors: assistance for first home buyers, child endowment, the eradication of capital punishment, equal pay, profit-sharing and public health. His grandparents "housed the homeless, fed the hungry, clothed the desperate . . . My grandparents are the people effectively referred to recently by John Cain junior as 'sectarian serpents'."

At which point Mr Kavanagh quoted historian Robert Murray, who wrote of the Labor split: "Bitterness against the Barry group flowed over, all too often even reinforced by deep-seated religious prejudices."

The members in the chamber absorbed all this with quiet attention, perhaps imagining the echo of impassioned hollering from former honourable members.

"When I was a child I thought that the DLP founders were heroes who had sacrificed so much, including their livelihood, to oppose barbarism," Mr Kavanagh said. "I still think that."

The former teacher, lawyer and outspoken anti-abortionist pledged to be a voice for the unrepresented, including children at non-government schools and "the unborn who have no voice at all".

The DLP member shares a cross bench with the three Greens, the first to enter the house.
But proof that proximity and closeness are different concepts was acutely apparent, with the Greens huddled as far to one end of the bench as they could. It might be a long eight years.

The only person looking less comfortable, hidden in a deep dark corner of the chamber, was the recently disgraced Richard Dalla-Riva, he of the ill-advised text message, his hands folded coyly and in full view on the bench in front.

All four new minor members are in the Legislative Council courtesy of the most radical overhaul of the chamber in 150 years, including the shift to a proportional representation voting system.

"I'd like to congratulate the Government on making this chamber a forum for a true multitude of councillors," Mr Kavanagh said, pledging to represent supporters of minor parties.

"(They) voted not to bring down the Government, but to counter it. They voted not for the carefully crafted image of a major party, but for their own firmly held beliefs. They voted not for power, but to be heard."

Caption :PHOTO: Historic day: Peter Kavanagh MLC.

Author: PAUL ASTIN
Publisher: Fairfax
Publication: The Age, Page 17 (Thu 15 Feb 2007)
Keywords: Peter (2),Kavanagh (2)
Edition: First
Section: News

A new voice rings out from the deep well of Labor history

Vindication was the theme of DLP member Peter Kavanagh's first speech.

THE sense of history was palpable. At 3.45 on Tuesday afternoon, a member of the Democratic Labor Party rose to speak in the Victorian Parliament for the first time in 51 years. And Peter Kavanagh was not about to take a backward step.

The representative of the widely despised and often ridiculed DLP, surprisingly elected at November's state election, placed his party squarely in the great Labor tradition of standing up for working people and speaking up for those without a voice. Confronting the image of DLP members as misguided lunatics, he bitterly rejected former premier John Cain's characterisation of the Labor breakaway party as a "sectarian snake" and proclaimed that history had vindicated the party's crusade against communism. In a carefully crafted and impressively delivered inaugural speech, Kavanagh dug deep into his ALP antecedents. His great-grandfather, William Barry, son of a convict, was instrumental in establishing several unions and the Labor Party itself in Tasmania, before moving to Melbourne and setting up the Carlton branch of the ALP.

Kavanagh's grandparents, Bill and Mary Barry, were also central figures in the Victorian ALP - and in the great split of the '50s that destroyed the Labor government of John Cain senior and led to the creation of the DLP, whose preferences helped keep the ALP out of power in Canberra and Spring Street for decades. At its first election, in 1955, the DLP was often called "the Barry Party".

Kavanagh said his grandparents, in "the then existing Labor tradition", had helped the disadvantaged not only in the ALP and the Parliament, but in their home. His grandmother's mission during the Great Depression was that "no one will sleep outside in Carlton". "My grandmother's skills as a seamstress were often put to use altering my grandfather's suits so constituents could attend job interviews," he said. "The Barry family frequently had meagre fare while their intended dinner, and often their shoes, were given to Carlton residents who came to the door hungry. My uncles and aunts remember as small children often waking up with strange children sharing their beds, put there quietly late at night, while homeless families were found more permanent accommodation. My grandparents are effectively the people referred to recently by John Cain jnr as 'sectarian serpents'."
His response was to quote historian Robert Murray, who had written in his "authoritative and objective" book The Split: "This might be said even of Cain - bitterness against the Barry group flowed over, all too often reinforced by deep-seated religious prejudices, which came to the surface under pressure."

The DLP, argued Kavanagh, was a reaction to a bid by the "extreme Left" to take over the ALP. As a result of the "utterly bogus and unconstitutional" persecution of the anti-communists, 60 per cent of ALP members in Victoria (and nearly 80 per cent of ALP branches) were expelled or left in sympathy to form what became the DLP.

"The DLP was clearly anything but a 'splinter group'," Kavanagh said. "Nor was the DLP the instigator of the split - DLP people were its victims. Dozens of parliamentarians gave up careers. Their sacrifice was for a principle, a correct one, now vindicated by history. In my view this has given the DLP an extraordinary legacy of courage and nobility."

Vindication was a recurring theme in Kavanagh's speech. "Anti-communists are almost invariably portrayed in our media as misguided lunatics," he said. "Whatever the ridicule and derision, however, the DLP's assessment of the nature of communism was accurate. The DLP saw communism for what it was - economically primitive, inherently brutal and expansionist and, by its nature, murderous on a mass scale . . . It was partially in tribute to the DLP that I joyfully joined with thousands of others in physically knocking down the Berlin Wall 17 years ago."

But the DLP had not just been right in what it had opposed; it was right in what it supported. It had been the first party to recognise the importance of Asia to Australia's future, and the first to call for an end to the White Australia policy. It had pioneered votes for 18-year-olds and equal pay for equal work. It had initiated government assistance for families to buy a home, and had pushed the cause of environmental protection.

On "most" social issues, Kavanagh said, "I believe that people should be largely free to pursue their own happiness in their own way." But he did not shy away from the famous exception - abortion. "I believe, for good reasons, that human life begins at conception. This is not an article of religious faith but is a conclusion based on logic, knowledge, experience and reason. The unborn person is admittedly human life at its most immature, its most vulnerable, its weakest, its most defenceless. Surely, however, the young, the defenceless and the weak deserve more rather than less legal protection."

Kavanagh concluded with a pledge to try to speak for not just the nearly 60,000 Victorians who voted for the DLP in November, but for all who supported minor parties.

"They voted not to bring down a government, but to counsel it. They voted not for the carefully crafted image of a major party, but for their own firmly held beliefs. They voted not for power, but to be heard."

On the evidence of his historic inaugural speech, Kavanagh can be expected to provide such voters with a compelling voice.

Paul Austin is state political editor.

Ken Davidson's column is in Business.

Headline: A new voice rings out from the deep well of Labor history
Author: PAUL ASTIN
Edition: First
Section: News

Author: PAUL AUSTIN, STATE POLITICAL EDITOR
Publisher: Fairfax
Publication: The Age, Page 4 (Fri 16 Feb 2007)
Keywords: Peter (1),Kavanagh (1)
Edition: First
Section: News

Cain warns on DLP comeback

'Church has rights,' Kavanagh responds

FORMER Labor premier John Cain has hit out at the resurgent Democratic Labor Party, warning of the danger of religious fundamentalists seeking to influence mainstream political parties.
Mr Cain, whose father John Cain snr's state government was destroyed by the 1950s Labor split that led to the formation of the Catholic-based DLP, said it was vital to avoid sectarianism and protect a secular society.

"Fundamentalist religious beliefs are growing in strength and seeking to further their ends by influencing political parties," he said. "The principal parties have to be aware that this is emerging and that they should resist any attempt, from within or without, to achieve political influence through religious pressures. The key issue, 50 years on, is whether we maintain the separation of church and state - our widely accepted secular society."

Mr Cain was responding to this week's inaugural parliamentary speech of Peter Kavanagh, who at November's election became the first DLP member of State Parliament since the 1950s.
In his speech Mr Kavanagh painted the DLP as a keeper of the Labor tradition of helping battlers and fighting for social reforms. He criticised John Cain jnr for having referred to DLP members as "sectarian serpents" and suggested Mr Cain snr's bitterness against the DLP was fuelled by "deep-seated religious prejudices".

Asked for his response, John Cain jnr told The Age: "The social conscience of DLP members to which Mr Kavanagh refers is not the issue. The people he lauds cast aside their role as members of a Labor government in implementing the reforms he cites. They did this in pursuit of what they saw as a higher cause when the (B. A.) Santamaria and (Catholic archbishop Daniel) Mannix forces sought to have the Catholic Church dominate the Labor Party by stacking its membership with their supporters.
"There was understandably great bitterness (in the Labor Party) about that disloyalty to their colleagues."

Mr Cain said Mr Kavanagh remained silent on whether he and the DLP supported a secular society.

But Mr Kavanagh last night said he did believe in the separation of church and state, adding: "This does not mean that only the state has rights. 'The essence of fairness is mutuality, and this doctrine implies both rights and restrictions on both churches and state.

"The DLP is, proudly, influenced by Judeo-Christian values. The term 'religious fundamentalist', used by Mr Cain to inflame prejudices, is not, however, applicable to the DLP."

Mr Kavanagh said Mr Cain was wrong to ascribe religious motivations to the people who left the Labor Party and formed the DLP. "Although many (by no means all) were Catholics, their motivations were actually political," he said. "The Left was attempting to take over the Labor Party . . . Many of the people who became the DLP attempted to prevent this takeover."

He also rejected Mr Cain's accusation that the Santamaria forces had tried to "stack" Labor branches.
"Most of the people he (Mr Santamaria) encouraged to join became valuable, committed, contributing members of the Labor Party," Mr Kavanagh said. "Rather than 'stacking', the process is better described as 'recruitment'."

Headline: Cain warns on DLP comeback
Author: PAUL AUSTIN, STATE POLITICAL EDITOR
Edition: First
Section: News

Parliamentary committee to investigate licences and pokies

2007-02-09T10:25:00.000+11:00

Peter Kavanagh will participate in a parliamentary committee to investigate the government's handling of lottery licences review. At Mr Kavanagh's insistence, the committee will also consider the Community Support Fund and the role of poker machines in poorer areas.

The full Herald Sun article announcing the formation of the committee follows.

Gaming chiefs face grilling
Written by Michael Warner
Published in the Herald Sun on 9 February 2007

THE controversial Tattersall's consultant David White will be among dozens of political figures and gaming chiefs hauled before a parliamentary pokies inquiry.
The inquiry will focus on the Government's handling of the poker machine and lottery licence review.
The Liberals yesterday joined forces with the minor parties in the Upper House to force the wide-ranging investigation.

It will have the power to subpoena individuals, documents and tape recordings -- including those believed to have been made in the Tattersall's boardroom.

But Premier Steve Bracks last night indicated he would use parliamentary rules to avoid appearing at the inquiry.

Mr White's relationship with the Premier and his role as a consultant to Tatts will be a central focus of the inquiry.

Others expected to be called include former Tatts chief Duncan Fischer, Tatts trustee and Melbourne Cricket Club president David Jones, state gaming authority chairman Ian Dunn, former gaming minister John Pandazopoulos, and former Kirner government treasurer Tony Sheehan.

Witnesses who refuse to attend could be charged with contempt of parliament and, in extreme circumstances, jailed.

They will be required to answer all questions without a lawyer. But because of its Upper House status, Lower House MPs -- including the Premier and Treasurer John Brumby -- can decline to appear.

The inquiry follows a series of Herald Sun reports on the role played by Mr White in Tatts' bid to renew its lucrative poker machine licence.

Mr White, president of the ALP agenda committee and a former Cain-Kirner government minister, was hired by Tatts to help extend its licence, which expires in 2012.

One internal Tatts document seen by the Herald Sun reveals how Mr White told company bosses that they could go straight to the top by handing a secret offer "written on a piece of paper" directly to the Premier.

Mr Bracks has since admitted to sharing a private dinner with Mr White. But he denies the pair ever discussed poker machines licences.

Mr White was removed by Tatts chief Dick McIllwain late last year.

The inquiry will also investigate reasons for repeated delays in the Government's lottery licence tender process.

Tatts and rival Greek gambling consortium Intralot have been shortlisted for a slice of the $1.2 billion-a-year lottery industry. But unexplained probity issues have forced the Government to delay making a decision.

A report compiled by solicitor-general Pamela Tate is believed to have found Intralot was denied natural justice in its dealings with the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation.

Liberal Upper House leader Philip Davis said the inquiry panel would be made up of two Government MPs, two Liberals, a National, a Green and the sole DLP member, Peter Kavanagh.

"The role played by senior Labor Party figures in the licensing process and their dealings with members of the Bracks Government raises serious concerns," Mr Davis said.

Revelations about Tatts' lobbying stem from a continuing Supreme Court battle between the four trustees and a group of former beneficiaries.

The inquiry will also examine the Community Support Fund and poker machines in poorer Victorian suburbs and regions.

Thank You Western Victoria

2006-12-22T16:25:00.000+11:00

Last Thursday 15 December I was officially declared to have won the fifth seat for Western Victoria. This has received considerable attention in the press as the first DLP win in the Victorian Parliament in more than fifty years .

I owe a great deal to all those people throughout Western Victoria who helped me and the DLP achieve this historic victory. I would like to thank everyone who voted for me of course. I would also like to thank everyone who thought about their vote, even if they voted for someone else.

Throughout the campaign, I was genuinely impressed by the people of Western Victoria. Strangers were noticeably friendly, warm and open. I recall teenagers on bikes calling out greetings as they rode by, drinkers at pubs putting their heads out to say hello. The people of Western Victoria really do seem to represent the best of the Australian tradition.

Throughout my campaign I argued that, as far as practicable, local people should decide local issues. I hope to get to know the ideas and views of Western Victorians better. I will visit many parts of the electorate in the new year to listen to the concerns of residents. I have also promised to pioneer new ways of consulting the people of Western Victoria. This promise will be fulfilled.

Thank you Western Victoria.

Wishing all Western Victorians the best for Christmas season and for 2007,

Peter Kavanagh
DLP MLC for Western Victoria
Parliament House, Melbourne

Preferences Give DLP Best Chance in 50 Years

2006-11-12T20:29:00.000+11:00

Preferences for Upper House seats were announced by the Victorian Electoral Commission at 3.48 pm today, 12 November.

The preference arrangements for Western Victoria are extraordinarily favourable to the DLP. We have the highest possible preferences from the Country Alliance and Family First and effectively, People Power. We also have high preferences from the ALP. I have only ever previously described my chances of winning as a "reasonable possibility". Under the new system of proportional representation, the preferences announced today really boosts the chances for a DLP win in Western Victoria very considerably. Now, we really do have a very strong chance of winning the seat.

I would like to sincerely thank all the other parties who have preferenced so generously to the DLP. If elected I will make myself available to listen to their concerns.

The DLP is fielding a full team of five candidates for Western Victoria. I am supported on the ticket by Clare Power of Creswick, David Power of Belmont and Michael and Leanne Casanova of Ballarat.

The DLP is fielding candidates in every Upper House seat in Victoria, so every voter will vote for or against the DLP at this election.

Ballarat campaign launch

2006-11-07T20:57:00.000+11:00

Three DLP generations... From left, Peter Kavanagh, lead DLP candidate for Western Victoria, and William Barry, son of DLP founders Bill and Mary Barry. At right is Maria Robinson, daughter of Andrew Robinson, DLP candidate for Northern Victoria.

Yes, it was a bit cold and windy... but DLP candidates from around Victoria, supporters, and their children, gathered together in the Ballarat shopping mall today for the Ballarat launch of the DLP campaing in Western Victoria.

Andrew Robinson. candidate for Northern Victoria

Paul Crea, candidate for Eastern Victoria

John Mulholland, DLP Secretary

Michael Casanova, candidate for the Upper House in Western Victoria

Peter Kavanagh, candidate for the Upper House in Western Victoria, and Bill Barry (right).

Survivors of "failed" abortion need legal protection:

2006-11-03T00:00:00.000+11:00

Victorian law should explicitly mandate medical assistance for babies born alive after "failed" abortions.

Two cases have been reported in Australia of babies being left to die following abortion procedures, including one in the Northern Territory which was the subject of a public inquest (see Aborted Girl Lived 80 Minutes, Sunday Telegraph, 14 November 1999 and The Death of Jessica Jane, Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, 27 August 2004).

There is evidence that this happens much more frequently than it is reported. This is not so surprising, since there is no advocate for the fetus/baby in abortion procedures.

Surely babies born alive after undergoing abortion procedures are as entitled to respect and medical attention as anybody else. Members of the medical profession have a responsibility to such babies. Victorian law should make it explicit that physicians and nurses are legally obliged to do all they can to help a baby who is born alive, even after an "unsuccessful" abortion.

If I am elected to represent Western Victoria in the Upper House, I will work for legislation to mandate medical assistance for all babies born alive after 'unsuccessful' abortions. I think that many Victorians would be pleased to see both the ALP and the Liberal Party supporting this initiative.

Education

2006-10-26T22:17:00.000+10:00

Education is indeed, as often claimed, essential to our future prosperity and quality of life. The DLP believes that a school voucher system should be introduced. This means giving funding for their children’s education to parents. These ‘vouchers’ could be used at any registered school. This would put education funding in the hands of parents to spend as they see fit. In this way, parents would be given real choice and schools encouraged to do better. Fairness in school funding would be achieved by funding all students equally (except for those with special learning needs, who need extra amounts). The evidence in those parts of the United States where this initiative has been put into effect is that the empowerment of parents that voucher systems bring also strongly builds engagement with their children’s education and encourages schools to raise standards. Vouchers have improved education in parts of the US. While a voucher system is developed in Victoria, immediate short term steps should be taken to improve our education system.

We should recognise that the attitude of parents towards education is one of the most important factors in determining academic achievement. Parents teaching children by example that reading is a pleasure and that learning is important brings huge benefits. This is not something that government can do. It is up to members of the community.

The Victorian government should provide education that is appropriate to the interests and abilities of individual students. There is an assumption that maximising the number of students completing high school is equivalent to improving education. This thinking permeates government policy and public opinion but is misguided. The number of students completing Year Twelve has risen over recent decades. The requirements to pass have been progressively lowered to create extremely high “pass rates”. Adding large numbers of “disengaged” students to senior high classes (those who in the past would have been in technical schools or gone onto apprenticeships or other training) has not improved the academic standard of senior high school students in Victoria. Literacy standards have fallen to the point that even our best universities now feel the need to offer remedial English courses to new students.

Specialist technical education should be provided for appropriate students at school level and beyond. The ALP abolished technical schools in the late 1980s. This was a big mistake that should be reversed. It is no wonder that we are now facing a skills shortage. The Commonwealth has felt the need to partially fill the gap. Victoria should also open new technical schools. Apprenticeships should also be encouraged again on a very large scale.

The education system should help to develop good citizenship and positive attitudes. We seem to be witnessing a general reduction in character with declining abilities to postpone gratification and a growing assumption that everything is owed to the individual who has no obligations to others. There are many causes for this. The reasons seem to include biased content taught in our schools. A lot of current course content in Victoria is dedicated to inculcating a “rights mentality” in the young. While awareness of proper rights is beneficial, our education is much less eager on the whole to develop a corresponding sense of responsibility. Courses in our schools also frequently take a very critical and negative view of Australian culture, history and tradition. While there are negatives about Australia that should not be ignored, there are also positives that should be celebrated. Young people should feel happy and indeed privileged to live in Australia.

Educational standards in Victoria will rise when a voucher system is introduced. We all also need to accept responsibility as community members for encouraging positive attitudes towards education. The Victorian government needs to end the assumption that all students need or are suited to an academic education and it should encourage the development of high level practical skills for those who are suited and interested. Our education system should avoid being excessively negative and encourage the development of good citizens who have a life long love of learning.

The Stamp Duty Burden on Victorian First Home Buyers

2006-10-18T21:59:00.000+10:00

The Victorian government now charges home buyers around $18,000 in stamp duty when purchasing an average house in Melbourne and close to that amount in provincial cities such as Geelong and Ballarat. What is less well known is that at the end of 2005 the state government also introduced a new "development tax" that works out to around $5,000 to $8,000 for houses in new estates. This amount is also now being passed onto new home buyers. These burdens form part of the reason why buying a home is becoming impossible for a growing number of Victorians.

The Democratic Labor Party has always placed a high priority on helping families to buy a home. Indeed, today’s help from the Commonwealth for first home buyers has evolved from earlier schemes initiated by the DLP decades ago.

In assisting a family to buy a home, governments help not only an individual but all members of a family - for life. Home ownership makes families less dependent on governments in the long term. It eliminates the need for the provision of rent assistance for example. By ending the need to pay rent, home ownership also increases resilience to economic downturns. A high rate of home ownership goes some way towards equalising the distribution of wealth. It gives all family members a sense of security and a feeling of sharing in the ownership of the country. This can only be beneficial to the long term health of our society.

Our taxation system gives huge benefits to investors (negative gearing and depreciation) but not to those struggling to buy a family home. The result is that a minority of people now own lots of properties while many families can no longer afford to buy even one.

The state government now depends on collecting huge sums in the form of stamp duty on real estate. This burden is heavy but probably manageable for those who are upgrading accommodation and have very likely benefited from capital appreciation. It is a different matter for those who are struggling to acquire a first home to simply put a secure roof over their children’s heads.

Of course it is easy for any candidate to argue against taxes. Voters are entitled to ask where the money for reducing stamp duty revenues is to come from. It would be also easy to answer that the state government should stop funding the painting of trees blue in parks for example, as it agreed to do quite recently. No doubt the expenditure on this kind of stupidity is a waste that should be stopped but it is also fairly minor in terms of total government spending. There is very serious money being misused however by the state government on advertising itself. The Bracks’ government is spending around $130 million on advertising per year, much of which is clearly intended to advantage the ALP. This expenditure should stop and the savings used to fund, among other things, cutting or eliminating stamp duty for first home buyers

If elected to represent Western Victoria in the Upper House I will propose and argue that there should be very significant stamp duty concessions for all first home buyers and that for families with children who are buying a first home, stamp duty should be entirely abolished.

MEDIA RELEASE: Self Broadcast Campaign - Australian First for DLP

2006-10-14T08:19:00.000+10:00

Democratic Labor Party candidate, Peter Kavanagh, appears to be the first in Australia and among the first anywhere in the world to use YouTube as a campaign and communication tool in a state or national election. Mr Kavanagh has published the YouTube videos on his campaign blog.

"The use of YouTube for the first time in a political campaign in Australia signals the opening of a new channel of communication in political debate. For decades small parties have complained they did not have the money to access media. Tools like YouTube and weblogs make getting messages across to a large audience much easier," Peter Kavanagh said.

"There is an enormous amount of political video material on YouTube, mostly relating to American politics; however, it all appears to have originally been designed for broadcast on television. It's advertising, or just snippets of television programming. There are a couple of American politicians, already elected, who have used YouTube to publish video campaign material on their websites. I don't believe any other politicians or candidates have done this in Australia yet."

"I haven't made any attempt to show-off video-making expertise, because it will be plain to everyone that I don't have any. But I should say that the videos cost the Democratic Labor Party nothing to make, and nothing to publish. That is, in itself, an interesting thing to think about."

"Major political parties in Victoria will be spending many millions of dollars on carefully crafted messages. The rest of us will just have to use our imaginations and the free media. For smaller parties, this technology provides opportunities. For major parties this technology presents dangers - their candidates will come under pressure to speak for themselves. This is precisely what the spin doctors employed by major parties do not want."

“This DLP initiative is the first small step in a process with the potential to revolutionise election campaigns throughout Australia,” Mr Kavanagh claimed.

Sharing Business Ownership with Workers

2006-10-10T20:17:00.000+10:00

Australia should rapidly implement a new economic vision for the future in which workers share in the profits and ownership of businesses, an idea championed by the DLP for decades. Progress in Australia has been at a relative snail’s pace, we have now been left behind by recent implementation of this reform in Europe and the US.

Federal and state governments should provide increased tax incentives and remove obstacles to businesses sharing profits and ownership with their workers. Rewards for workers in the form of shares and dividends should also be taxed more favourably than they are at present.

Benefits would include easier capital accumulation and improved productivity and profitability for businesses and higher real wages, increased savings and long term prosperity for workers. Workers would have improved morale and concern for the profitability of the business. Profit sharing arrangements in 1990 at SPC, for example, were a major factor in saving that company. Instituted on a large scale, sharing ownership with workers will align the interests of employees and employers and greatly benefit both.

Australian manufacturing is in rapid decline due to imports. Even the agricultural sector is under strain. Measures such as selected protection and denying access to our markets to competitors who do not trade fairly are important measures that should be implemented, so should sharing the ownership of businesses with workers. Will Australia retain a manufacturing sector without the productivity and efficiency benefits that follow from sharing ownership with workers?

Successive governments in Australia have taken some very small steps. This process needs to be rapidly accelerated. I will do my best to encourage that process if elected to represent Western Victoria in the Legislative Council.

Flattering the DLP by Imitation?

2006-10-04T20:45:00.000+10:00

The following is the text of a letter, part of which was published in the Herald Sun.

The Herald Sun recently published two press releases by Family First, one on the taxes on first home buyers, the other promoting the construction of dams.

Opposition to the huge tax burdens that the present state government places on first home buyers has featured on my website since late last year. Helping first home buyers has always been a primary policy of the DLP. Indeed the assistance for first home buyers that exists today evolved from initiatives of the DLP around forty years ago.

I have also strongly and clearly advocated the construction of environmentally responsible dams to avert a water crisis. This has also been prominent on my website since last December.

One of the articles concluded with a comment that has been made quite often in the Herald Sun to the effect that the introduction of proportional representation this year gives smaller parties "such as Family First" a chance of winning seats. The DLP has never been mentioned. It might therefore surprise your Herald Sun readers to know that the DLP outvoted both Family First as well as the Democrats at the last Senate election.

Peter Kavanagh

MEDIA RELEASE: "Empower Local Communities"

2006-09-28T20:50:00.000+10:00

Peter Kavanagh, the DLP Candidate for Western Victoria has called for a comprehensive, long term decentralisation policy based on the empowerment of local communities.

"Devolving power to the lowest level of government that can efficiently decide an issue is essential if people are to decide issues that affect them most directly. This is a long held, fundamental principle of the Democratic Labor Party," Mr Kavanagh said.

"Victoria currently lacks a comprehensive strategy for decentralisation. The ALP government's idea of encouraging industry and services around the state is merely hauled out whenever it wants to shore up support in marginal seats outside Melbourne," Mr Kavanagh said.

"At the same time, decisions are being taken at a State level that should be made by the people who are actually affected by the decision - locals."

"In Victoria at present the opposite is happening. The State government is vetoing developments against the wishes of local communities and allowing developments which are opposed by a majority of local people. Two examples happened in Geelong recently. Less than a year ago, sexually explicit entertainment at the 'Alley Cat Gentlemen's Club', a strip club, was approved by VCAT against the objections of the Geelong Council and large numbers of Geelong residents who were concerned, among other things, about the effects of this venue on local school children. Similar developments have been allowed in other parts of Victoria despite the objections of local people."

"In the middle of this year the State government vetoed the development of a Direct Factory Outlet in Greater Geelong, 'surprising the Town Hall'. This disappointed many Geelong people. Whether or not the development should have gone ahead is not the point. The point is that this is properly a matter for the people of Geelong, not the State government," Mr Kavanagh said.

"Moving the TAC to Geelong shows that the present State government's idea of decentralisation is to spend huge amounts of taxpayer's money in marginal seats with no improvement to services. This is not real decentralisation. The DLP was a prime mover behind the effective decentralisation plans of previous decades. A return of the DLP to Parliament, which is possible with the introduction of proportional representation this year, would see genuine decentralisation policy back on state and national agendas."

"Australia needs long term, coherent decentralisation strategies based on efficiently directing the future growth of government departments outside capital cities, providing government services to regional areas together with tax incentives and the recreation of a government sponsored development bank to encourage population and economic growth outside our large cities. Just as important, we also need to empower local communities to decide local issues for themselves," Mr Kavanagh said.

FOR FUTHER COMMENT CONTACT PETER KAVANAGH ON TELEPHONE m. 0413 847 413

Setting the record straight

2006-09-27T12:51:00.000+10:00

Gaining some coverage in the press is beginning to result in attacks from a variety of quarters, mostly from extremist elements. Two blogs, one “socialist” the other “exposing the Christian right” have recently attacked me over policies and comments that have received exposure in a variety of media. These attacks include falsely representing what I have said and criticising those fabricated comments.

It is claimed that I have said that “Mr Bracks is a baby killer”. In fact of course I have never said that. I have described the process leading to the ALP’s decision to remove all remaining protections for the unborn in this state and allow both late term and partial birth abortions. I have also described how Mr Bracks has been reported in the press to have made a secret pact with backbenchers guaranteeing the implementation of this policy after the election, providing that they do not make a face before he election and how he later announced to the public that he does not know if the matter will even be put before Parliament and if it is, he does not know how he will vote! I have said that the ALP’s policy will result in the killing of even healthy babies, some even as they are being born. Unfortunately, what I have claimed is true.

Both the DLP and I have been attacked as “racist and homophobic”. This is what opponents of the DLP consider to be intelligent debate! Actually it is a refrain often heard from primary school children these days. It is now common for young children when told, for example, that it might rain tomorrow to reply, “That’s racist!” In reality, the DLP has always stood firmly against racial discrimination, indeed the DLP was the first of the existing political parties to call for an end to the White Australia policy. It is actually the Left of Australian politics which demands racial inequality, i.e. discrimination on the basis of race, i.e. institutionalised racism. For the record, I certainly do not either fear or hate gays.

Another line of attack is to claim that the DLP will not win seats. Presumably, if the DLP's opponents were really as confident as they claim, they would not be bothered making the assertion. The fact is that prefernces could possibly deliver seats to the DLP in this election. There is no need to debate this however. Like a quarrel over who will win a footbal match before it is played, it is a futile debate. The Democratic Labor Party deserves to win seats, whether it does so or not however is up to the voters to decide.

Peter Kavanagh

DLP policies

2006-09-19T22:30:00.001+10:00

http://www.dlpforwestvic.org/

About Western Victoria and your vote

2006-09-19T21:23:00.000+10:00

http://www.dlpforwestvic.org/

About the Democratic Labor Party

2006-09-19T20:26:00.000+10:00

Peter Kavanagh talks about the Democratic Labor Party's history and values.

http://www.dlpforwestvic.org/

Peter Kavanagh and the DLP: now on YouTube

2006-09-18T22:49:00.000+10:00

http://www.dlpforwestvic.org/

Introductory video.

MEDIA RELEASE: Compulsory detox and rehab are the answer, says DLP candidate

2006-09-10T19:01:00.000+10:00

Compulsory detoxification and rehabilitation, along the lines of the model adopted in Sweden, is the answer to Victoria's burgeoning youth drug problem, says Peter Kavanagh, DLP candidate in the 2006 State Elections.

"We need strategies that are both compassionate and effective. Drug usage should remain illegal. Users, who are not trafficking, however, should be sentenced, not to jail, but to treatment. Can we do better for addicts than helping or even forcing them to get effective treatment?"

"One of the biggest problems for families and for young people with addictions to methamphetamines ("Ice"), heroin or other drugs, is that they don't have the resources and the knowledge to manage the detoxification and rehabilitation process. The existing law also leaves families legally powerless", Peter Kavanagh said.

"Some institutions, most notably those run by the Salvation Army, are doing good work but there are presently bureaucratic obstacles to treatment and insufficient resources. It will be expensive to establish the infrastructure needed to adequately support detox and rehab services but this is what we need to do," Mr Kavanagh said.

"In Sweden, police are empowered to take urine or blood samples from those suspected of drug problems. Police and parents are able to request Court orders mandating detoxification and rehabilitation. With other measures, the result is that now around 3 percent of teenagers use illicit drugs per year. The equivalent Australian figure is 28 percent. Compulsory detoxification and rehabilitation in Sweden appears to have been very successful. We should learn from what they've achieved and at least try to develop our own version of this response."

See also Dramatic changes to drugs strategy needed, below, for more detailed proposals.

Dramatic changes to drugs strategy needed

2006-09-09T19:13:00.000+10:00

Our ineffective drug policies must be changed. Australia desperately needs a strategy that works. Sweden has shown that there are measures which can be taken, even in a liberal democracy, which are effective in dramatically reducing drug consumption and associated problems including violence and other crime. One element of this strategy is to empower Courts to require teenagers with developing drug problems to undergo detoxification and then rehabilitation. In Australia, decades of an inconsistent, half-hearted 'harm minimisation' approach to drugs has resulted in disaster for many young Australians and their families and a huge economic and social burden on our community.

Consumption of many drugs is increasing. We are witnessing the beginning of a scourge of crystal methylamphetamine hydrochloride, aka "ice".(1) The potential harm of this drug alone is truly frightening. Cannabis is misunderstood and is being consumed by ever younger people and, although the public perception is still in the context of the 1960s, the drug itself, through genetic engineering, is now around thirty times stronger than it was forty years ago. Its increasing use is extremely harmful to both mental and physical health.

Australian governments and law enforcement authorities take a relatively soft approach - Australians do not have to go far to see drugs being sold openly in the streets. At the same time Australian youth are officially discouraged from using drugs but given 'harm minimisation' strategies if they decide to ignore this advice.

Sweden has taken a very different approach and its strategy is working. Sweden has now cut drug usage by teenagers to three percent a year. (3) The figure in Australia is 27.7 %. (3) The Swedish strategy is comprehensive but at its centre is the introduction of compulsory detoxification and rehabilitation programmes for drug users.

An effective strategy will not be cheap, it demands funding the establishment of detoxification and rehabilitation centres on a large scale. The alternative however, clinging to failed strategies, will result in much greater social, as well as economic, cost in the long run.

If elected to the seat of Western Victoria, I will propose and work towards implementing the following initiatives:

1. Set the international best practice target of no more than 3% of teenagers having used an illicit drug in the previous 12 months.

2. Make teenagers the key focus to reduce the number of new users (studies show that those who do not use illegal drugs by the time they are twenty are unlikely to ever do so).

3. Ensure that information to teenagers is truthful, setting out the real dangers of illicit drug use.

4. Establish specialist detoxification and rehabilitation programs .

5. Empower Courts to direct teenage illicit drug users into detoxification and rehabilitation programs. This would be discretionary, on the recommendation of police, medical personnel, such as ambulance officers or parents.

6. Surveys and studies of teenage drug use to be carried out annually and reported to every Parliament in Australia.

7. Teenage drug use trends and strategies for reduction to the 3% target must be included in the annual report to our Parliaments.

8. Make the seizure of drug dealers' assets easier and simpler. The onus should not be on the Crown to prove that assets came from drug dealing, in order to confiscate them. The onus should be on drug dealers to show that their assets were not the result of drug dealing to avoid confiscation.

9. Vastly increase funding for and number of drug treatment places for voluntary patients.

10. Study the effectiveness of various rehabilitation methods and facilities and continue to fund only those that are effective.

by Peter Kavanagh
DLP Candidate for Western Victoria

Notes:

(1) Australian Crime Commission, Illicit Drug Report, 2004 - 05, p.9.

(2) See, David Perrin, Executive Chief Officer of Drug Council of Australia in News Weekly, 22 October 2005.

(3) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: Detailed Findings, p. 36.

MEDIA RELEASE: ALP dodging late term abortion debate

2006-08-25T12:44:00.000+10:00

The Victorian ALP is preparing to reverse the four decades old restrictions on abortion by permitting abortion of a pregnancy at any time and for any reason provided it is performed by a medical practitioner. The changes, proposed in 2005 by the Victorian ALP, will permit abortions up to very late stages of pregnancy.

Fearing a voter backlash, the Premier Mr Steve Bracks has made a pact with members of his own party, giving "iron clad assurances" that the ALP's policy will be implemented, while he tells the media and public that he "has not made up his mind" or that he has no intention of introducing these laws "in 2006".

Mr Peter Kavanagh, Upper House candidate for Western Victoria in the coming State elections, said “The letter of Victoria's current abortion law allows abortion only in cases of threat to the life or health of the mother (the Menhennitt ruling of 1969). The community retains strong reservations about late term abortions. If re-elected, the Victorian government will abolish the Menhennitt restrictions and allow abortion at any stage for any reason.”

In 2005 the Victorian ALP voted to remove all remaining, if nominal, protections for the unborn in Victoria. The existing ALP platform states: "Labor will amend section 65 of the Crimes Act to provide that no abortion be criminal when performed by a legally qualified medical practitioner at the request of the woman concerned". In May this year the ALP state conference voted overwhelmingly and explicitly against proposed amendments to retain any restrictions on late term abortions and even on 'partial birth abortions'.

“Partial birth abortion, actually a form of infanticide, is usually performed late in the second trimester or later. It involves turning a baby around inside the womb and, when it is born, except for the head, killing it, most often by inserting scissors into the brain. If the head were to be born first, the rest of the baby would emerge quickly, not giving enough time to kill it before birth is complete. There is evidence that this procedure is excruciatingly painful to the baby,” Mr Kavanagh said.

“In spite of constitutional restrictions on anti-abortion laws in the US, partial birth abortion was made illegal throughout the US in 2003 at any stage. The ALP's policy will allow partial birth abortions, even up to the time of natural birth,” Mr Kavanagh said.

“I know that there are lots of different views about this, but I think Victorians would want to see candidates questioned about this issue before they were elected. I don’t believe we’ve reached a stage in the debate where people no longer care that healthy, late term pregnancies could be aborted in what I think most people would call infanticide,” Mr Kavanagh said.

FOR COMMENT CONTACT PETER KAVANAGH ON TELEPHONE m. 0413 847 413

Campaign trail, March 2006

2006-03-23T23:00:00.000+11:00

Did a tour of the western parts of the electorate. Western Victoria is certainly a beautiful part of the world with very attractive rural cities and towns. The Grampians and coast, including the Great Ocean Road are justifiably famous but it seems that virtually every area has attractions and demonstrate the prosperity that comes from hard work. Unfortunately the effects of a long drought are evident everywhere.

The people of Victoria's country towns were very warm and friendly to me. The people of Melbourne have a great reputation for freindliness towards visitors; but really this the experience most people have travelling throughout Victoria.

Dropped into twelve or so local newspaper offices on the way. I was surprised at the level of interest of the journalists. I was greeted very warmly, photographed and interviewed in Colac, Camperdown, Portland and Horsham. In other towns including Warrnambool, Hamilton, Ararat and Stawell, journalists expressed interest. Some said that they had already run stories but showed an interest in doing more as the campaign develops.

Not being a local was a common theme in interviews and discussions. Most people do not realise yet that the new Upper House electorates are vast. The seat of Western Victoria for example stretches from the South Australian border to include parts of outer Melbourne!

Peter Kavanagh

3AW talkback

2006-03-21T23:03:00.000+11:00

Got onto 3AW as a caller to talk back radio. Began slowly but did much better as the panellists began to attack me and the DLP on extremely spurious grounds. As usual, their arguments were mostly in the form of ridicule and manifestations of prejudices rather than anything reasoned. One of the panellists disagreed with me that the DLP had not had a very fair go from the Australian media. When I asked if he had ever interviewed anyone in his career as a journalist he acknowledged that he had not and became noticeably less hostile. Was on for a total of perhaps ten minutes. Managed to get the name of the website out over the air. The panellists suggested that the DLP had never achieved anything! When I countered that the DLP as one example, was responsible for introducing equity into educational funding they tried to disagree. I retorted very firmly that it was a matter of historical fact that it was the DLP which had achieved ‘State Aid’ and the commentators acquiesced. At the conclusion thee panellists asked me to spell my name and commented, "Peter Kavanagh …well remember that name folks, you might be hearing it again in the future".

Peter Kavanagh

ABC Western Victoria

2005-12-19T22:52:00.000+11:00

Peter Kavanagh says he believes in affordable home ownership, dam building and lowering the abortion rate, and these viewpoints can be articulated from any location.

ABC Western Victoria local news story 19 December 2005

MEDIA RELEASE: DLP chooses candidate for Western Victoria in 2006

2005-12-17T14:34:00.000+11:00

A barrister-turned-secondary-school-teacher will be the Democratic Labor Party's candidate in Western Victoria for the state elections in 2006.

John Mulholland, Secretary of the DLP, said he believed the party had a good chance of winning at least one of the Upper House seats in the Victorian Parliament in the 2006 elections.

"Peter Kavanagh has been preselected as the candidate for Western Victoria in the 2006 state elections. Peter is the DLP's spokesperson on rural and regional affairs. He's a tremendous candidate and I think he has a very good chance of winning a seat in the Upper House in 2006," Mr Mulholland said.

The Upper House electorate of Western Victoria stretches from the outer Melbourne suburbs of Melton and parts of Werribee and Lara to the South Australian border. It includes the cities and towns of the Bellarine Peninsula, Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Portland, Colac, Horsham, Hamilton, Ararat, Avoca and Port Fairy.

"If you live in this part of Victoria you will have the opportunity to vote for Peter Kavanagh at next year’s state election," Mr Mulholland said.

"Upper House elections in Victoria will be conducted under a system of proportional representation for the first time. Candidates will be required to obtain one sixth of the vote--with no preferences--to win, or, with preferences, a candidate may win a seat with fewer, perhaps far fewer, votes."

"At the last Senate election the DLP outvoted the Australian Democrats and Family First--which won a seat on preferences. The DLP accomplished this with almost no money and no publicity."

"In the Upper House elections in 2006, winning a seat is a realistic possibility. Voters should remember that under our preferential system of voting they do not 'waste' their vote even if the candidate who gets your first preference does not win," Mr Mulholland said.

Peter Kavanagh is a secondary school teacher of languages, and has worked as a barrister and university lecturer.

FOR COMMENT CONTACT PETER KAVANAGH ON TELEPHONE m. 0413 847 413

Authorisation

2005-10-12T20:26:00.000+10:00