Regents Park Community Cabinet was held on Wednesday 22 May 2013 at Regents Park Christian in Western Sydney. It was attended by the Prime Minister Julia Gillard with local MP and Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare along with other members of the Labor Cabinet. The Community Cabinet meeting's public forum commenced with an address from Regents Park Christian School principal Gary Brummell, PM Julia Gillard's opening statement, introductions from the Cabinet ministers and an Indigenous Welcome to Country.
In the prime minister's opening statement, she congratulates the school community of Regents Park Christian School for a warm welcome. The importance of education and a "shared interest in education" is made apparent through the prime minister's suggestion of the school principal as a best friend. The context of education in government and Australian politics at this time is crucial as the Gonski Report was a major focus in the budget along with recent developments in the COAG levels.
Gillard allows each Cabinet minister to briefly introduce themselves starting with Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury. The Health Minister Tanya Plibersek uses the opportunity to emphasise the government's investment in health funding particularly for MS research. Breast screening is also mentioned as the government has the expanded the age for this health initiative. Western Sydney being the location of the Community Cabinet meeting is drawn into the spotlight with Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese mentioning his discussions about the potential for light rail in the region. Treasurer Wayne Swan gives his commendations to a "wise economics teacher" from Regents Park Christian School that he met during the ministerial meetings prior to the public forum along with his interaction with families affected by diabetes.
Communications minister Stephen Conroy highlights that the week is National Cyber Safety Awareness Week and also announces hopefully that Regents Park Christian School will be connected to the National Broadband Network in early July. The emphasis on the educational benefits of the National Broadband Network once again highlights the priority that the Labor Government is placing on such areas leading up to the Federal Elections later this year. Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor talks about how the government is seeking to use community interaction to create better opportunities for people. Such comments may be indicative of the current discussions surrounding the number of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat. Defence Material Minister Mike Kelly outlines the companies involved in many defence materials project in the region along with the Joint Strike Fighter program. Higher Education Minister Sharon Bird tells of her interactions with local TAFE colleges and support of low SES communities, once again putting the focus on the government's commitment to education.
The Prime Minister's opening remarks are an attempt to promote the Labor Government's economic management policies especially in response to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The government seeks to credit itself as being better positioned compared to other advanced economies along with being able to maintain low unemployment and being able to support families. Working with families, keeping the economy strong, social welfare and education are important areas as the Prime Minister tries to promote the government's investments. There is a strong emphasis on the connection between education leading onto an enhanced economy. This rhetoric is one that was also seen during the Budget speech delivered to Parliament a few weeks before the Regents Park Community Cabinet meeting and is likely to be a statement of the Labor Party's aims leading up to the elections.
"Young people in school today are our future and they can only be as good as the education system" - Julia Gillard
On top of the repeated emphasis of the Labor Government's investments in education, the Prime Minister also promotes the priority of health care and funding. Increased community focus in health care is listed as a direction in which Australia should head in. Gillard also remarks on Labor's record with healthcare being the creators of Medibank (now Medicare) and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Upon mentioning the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the prime minister is given a round of applause. The "fair go" element is seen as making a difference to all Australians. Although Regents Park Community Cabinet is the forty-first of such meetings, many people including a proportion of local residents have dismissed such as a political stunt.
The first question posed to the prime minister was "how it felt to be PM and what would you be if you weren't PM?". As Gillard tactically tried to lighten the atmosphere by suggesting that hardest questions often arise from children, she was faced once again with the controversial topic of her leadership dilemmas and the Kevin Rudd question. Julia Gillard in her answer acknowledges the responsibilities, burdens and the workload in the position of Prime Minsiter. Gillard talks about all the behind the scenes work involved along with the ability of the PM to look holistically at the entire country. Julia Gillard notes that before being Prime Minister she was a lawyer and that as a child she wanted to be a teacher citing that through her school visits as a politicians she has combined these areas. Again we see the focus on education but on top of this there is also the area in which Gillard tries to be the teacher in the sense that she is the leader of the Labor Party thus an attempt to dispel doubts over the leadership tensions.
The government is pressed about cost of living pressures and the source of the funding for the government's new spending and investment promises. Julia Gillard responds directly and rules out changing the GST as it is a regressive tax along with stating the Labor Party's opposition to the introduction of the GST by the Howard Government. Treasurer Wayne Swan also emphasises the government's changes in tripling the tax free threshold as this is a benefit to many families and in particular women. There is an emphasis on Labor values as being supportive of hard working families and the community. Criticism of the Liberal Party is also levelled by the Treasurer in a potential attempt to capitalise on speculation of the opposition's attempts to increase or broaden the GST.
The removal of the pension card for single parents in the Budget is also raised as an issue citing the increasing cost of living pressures. In an attempt to appeal to marginalised voters falling under this category, Gillard reaffirms the government's commitment to supporting families and children indicating that the family tax benefit along with other welfare payments have been reformed.
Education funding such as the Gonski Report is brought under the spotlight again with a high school student's question about the allocation of resources. Gillard highlights the differences in opinions particularly within the COAG meetings. There is also emphasis on how the right amount of money is being planned for both primary and high school students as proposed by the government's education reforms. The controversial MySchools website is mentioned as way of looking up how much Federal and State monies are being invested into each school around Australia.
Immigration minister Brendan O'Connor acknowledges the challenges of refugees and asylum seekers facing the Australian Government is similar to that of other first world countries. The use of bridging visas as claimed by the government is a method of supporting asylum seekers as well as reducing the likelihood of "people endangering their lives at sea". The emphasis on the later reiterates the government's current public position about boat people. The difficult balance between the need of the government to be fair and also to protect human lives is promoted by the Minister as positive strategy of handling this area. Nothing that is not heard of by the Australian public through the media is seen here, perhaps as an attempt by the government to move away from this matter in the upcoming elections.
The question of why Australia continues the tradition of defence arrangements with the United States and United Kingdom is addressed by the Prime Minister through her comment that she strongly believes in such agreements. Defence as the Prime Minister notes is one of the areas that is wide ranging and especially important in the reduction of global terrorism. It should be noted again that this is the repetition of traditional lines of rhetoric perhaps as an attempt to prevent any speculation of differences between Australia's relationships with its allies.
The topic of family and relations is brought up in the next two questions addressed to the Prime Minister. A woman raises the matter that she has been constantly blocked in her attempts to gain access for her family to come to Australia. Gillard responds by acknowledging the importance of families and suggests that the Immigration Minister take further action upon this case. The National Housing Affordability Scheme is cited by the Prime Minister as being one of the initiatives undertaken by the government to improve social housing in Australia and also in the local region.
The issue of equality and same-sex marriage is raised to some agitation from the audience. Gillard replies with that the forum is not about same-sex marriage but rather notes that everyone is strongly passionate about their views. The Prime Minister seeks to affirm that everyone is entitled to their opinions and that political leaders should not impose their views but rather permit debates in regards to this matter. Same-sex marriage is labelled a matter of conscience by the Prime Minister. In trying not to marginalise voters, Gillard attempts to take a neutral position in regards to the issue of the definition of marriage.
"Elections should be about a choice [and] ...we often forget that people die for the right to vote... between two visions of the future" - Julia Gillard
Gillard takes the opportunity to emphasis the importance of publicising policies as being part of the democratic system that Australia has as indirect criticism of the opposition's 'slowness' to reveal its policies.
The Budget environment is cited as an important issue surrounding the funding of investments. Health Minister Plibersek responds to the question of why the government is not matching Tony Abott's $35 million commitment to fighting Type 1 diabetes by noting that the government has already invested heavily in health and is committed to funding these areas as a whole. The government has currently found itself in a difficult position due to many fiscal constraints and the Budget which was delivered a few weeks ago sets to make the most of the available revenue that the government can operate with.
The next question challenges Julia Gillard's non-religious affiliations and seeks to understand how the Prime Minister makes her decisions based on her ethical conscience. The Prime Minister stress the impact that the Baptist church has influenced her Welsh heritage and that such religious beliefs still influence her decisions today. Gillard comments that some Christian values are actually universal in regards to how we treat people today. In trying to play the neutral card again, Gillard produces a good political response to this question in an attempt to not estrange the Australian public which is of many backgrounds and faiths.
Gillard in response to the compliment of the government's decision to hold the Royal Commission into abuse mentions that it is an important reminder for all Australians of the "journey of healing" that is taking place. The final question is from a local mother whose child has been suffering from a disability. The mother asks the Prime Minister for help as she is struggling to care for her family and also raises the need for disability support in schools. Gillard replies that the government has already invested heavily in school funding and also with the NDIS.
