CQ Today – Building stronger futures

Michelle Landry has been an excellent Member for Capricornia for the past 13 years. She has delivered the Rocky Ring Road, the hospital car park, the Yeppoon Lagoon, Rookwood Weir, the Adani mine and a maintenance hub at the airport. And much more too. Michelle is also the first female Member for Capricornia from the Liberal and National Parties. Michelle got there on her own merits. She is a good Member because of what she has done, not because of who she is. This week, at a Men and Boys’ Forum in Rockhampton, someone asked what we thought of gender quotas. I said that the LNP has always opposed them in the selection of our candidates. We want the best person for the job. Michelle has clearly been the best person for the past decade. We should encourage women to enter politics, the corporate sector and mining. Women bring unique perspectives and face unique challenges. We should try to remove barriers to help women advance. We should seek to maximise the number of women who put themselves forward for senior roles, but the selection of a senior executive or leader should be based on merit and nothing else. It is not just women for whom this is important. We should also encourage more men to become involved in teaching. We used to discuss how we could do this, but there seems to be little discussion of it now, even as fewer and fewer young boys have a strong male role model in their lives. I would not be here but for a great male history teacher, Mr Gruelich. He got me interested in history and politics at a time when I was struggling to stay motivated in my schoolwork. Perhaps a female teacher could have done this, but many young boys look up to men for leadership and guidance. Yet, for all the good work that is done to promote women in our society, scant attention is paid to the promotion of men, including in professions such as teaching. This imbalance should be corrected. That is why one of my first acts as Leader was to ask the Liberal Leader, Angus Taylor, to appoint a Liberal and Nationals special envoy for men and boys. We have since appointed Llew O’Brien, the Member for Wide Bay, to that role. This week, Llew travelled from Gympie to Rocky to hear from locals about what can be done to support men and boys. It was great to hear from so many local groups working with men and boys at a grassroots level. Reg from the Dads Group discussed how his group provides training to expectant dads during prenatal, hospital-run classes. While the mums learn about breastfeeding, the dads attend a session about what to expect when the responsibility of fatherhood becomes real. Brandt from Warriors Way uses his experience in martial arts to run retreats and help young men find meaning in their lives. Bradey and Charlene have turned their new cafe on East Street – the Blank Cheque Trading Co – into a meeting place for veterans. The Men’s Shed movement has, for many years, provided purpose to men, especially those of an older age. These are just some of the grassroots organisations responding to a real hunger in our community to help boys and men. Women also want to see boys develop because they are sometimes hurt the most by boys who never grow up. I have asked Llew, as special envoy, to develop a comprehensive plan to help men and boys before the next election. Llew is conducting discussions right around the country as he develops these plans. No doubt, our plans will seek to build on and support the great work that is already happening on the ground. Canberra cannot solve all the issues facing our young men, but we can support the people who can.