About Pat

Maiden Speech to Parliament

18 February 2002

Mr Speaker, my fellow parliamentarians and members of the public gallery: my name is Patrick Farmer, and I stand before you as the recently elected representative of the people of Macarthur. In 1927 a young man in Northern Ireland by the name of Michael Lynn realised the restrictions placed upon him because of his Catholic faith. He lived fearing persecution and retribution for practising his fundamental right to his belief in the Catholic Church and all that it stood for. Because of this he was unable to secure a job. The restrictions of the government of the day meant that he found himself struggling to raise his family, and this left him with only one choice: if he was to provide care and a future for his family and for their future generations, he needed to provide them with a new life in a new land. To fulfil their dreams he needed to find a land that would accept and welcome his family without prejudice. This land was to be Australia, and this man was my grandfather.

Michael Lynn left his thatched roof, rented accommodation in Northern Ireland and travelled on the Euripides to Sydney, where he soon secured a job on the wharves as a rigger. He quickly found Australia to be a land of diverse opportunity and after a brief time, during which he was able to organise accommodation for his family, he sent money to them to pay for their fare to Australia. His wife, Mary Lynn, while sad to leave her own family in Northern Ireland, gathered her sons and daughters, all seven of them, and headed off to this new land of opportunity.

That should have been the start of a fairytale, but the journey to Australia held a great deal of disappointment and heartbreak. Mary, along with her three youngest children, Annie, Mary and Marie Therese, contracted scarlet fever and were placed in containment quarters. During their six-week voyage, somewhere near the Suez Canal, these three little girls died and had to be buried at sea. For the remainder of the passage, John, the eldest son of the family, was left to care for his mother and his remaining brothers and sisters—Michael, Daniel and Ellen. After arriving in Sydney, my grandmother was admitted to the Coast Hospital at Little Bay, where in time she recovered from the physical aspects of the fever. But nothing, not even the birth of three more children in Australia, my own mother included amongst those, would compensate her for the distressing price that she paid for a new life in a new country.

With the sacrifices of their own parents foremost in their memories, my mother and father taught me that nothing is ever impossible—a message that has been a constant inspiration to me throughout my own life. Despite the challenges that my parents faced, they never faltered in their love for, and commitment to, me and the rest of my family, a virtue which I am proud to try and emulate in my own life with my own children. While my childhood was not without hardship as my mother and father struggled to keep their seven children fed, clothed and educated, my fondest memories of my childhood are of the love and support that was always given to all of us. My grandmother and grandfather and my mother and father taught me that the destinations that are worth reaching are often those at the end of the harshest journeys.

My dear wife, Lisa, who was a pillar of support and strength to me right from our early teenage years, taught me the most important message of all: the message of love—not only love for her as my wife but love for all people, a love that was demonstrated through the many organisations we were both involved in, such as Rotary, Lions, Rotaract and ITC, and many more, through our fundraising and charitable works. Since my wife's death I have turned to our two young children, Brooke and Dillon. I turn to them each and every day of my life to teach me honesty and love in its purest form. My family has always been, and still remains, a source of inspiration in my life. It is my firm belief that a strong family unit goes to the heart of every successful society.

Today we see the family unit in Australia continuously under greater threat than ever before, and with it those values that underpin Australia's history. We must support and nurture the family in whatever form it takes in our modern world, and we must ensure that it remains the foundation of this great country that we all call home. I see in my electorate the effects of unemployment on families, and I want to do things to assist them. As a child from a generation that could roam the neighbourhood in safety, I now see the effects of crime in the community and the caution that has to guide parents whenever their children want to go out to play. We must strive to make our streets safe again and to bring peace again to all Australians, young and old.

I know that every struggle I have ever made and every ounce of energy I have ever expended are a small price to pay for the honour of living in this great country. As an apprentice motor mechanic, I lived in Granville. I learned that those who work hard in this country will be rewarded. This became very clear to me when Cliff Young, a man who, at the age of 63, raced on foot in an event that pushed him day and night for almost 1,000 kilometres. He took on the best in the world and he won. The sportsmen and sportswomen of this country have inspired me, and the lessons of sport are directly related to the lessons of life. The never say die attitude that was shown by Cliff Young embodies the principles that I have applied to my own life. I was so inspired by this great Australian that I went on to become an ultra-marathon runner as well, and I used this talent to raise funds for many charities and to promote many worthwhile causes.

However, none of these was more worth while than uniting all Australians during my Centenary of Federation run around this country. During my run, I experienced all the elements that this land has to offer. The majestic beauty also brings with it the harshness of the extreme heat and cold. I had my skin burned black from the sun, my lips were split open and my ears were bleeding. During all this, I pushed on towards my goal of uniting all Australians by simply putting one foot in front of the other and never, ever giving up on my dream. That goal stays with me today, and it is one that I intend to continue pursuing here in this very place over the coming years.

As I ran into Broome, I was welcomed by Aboriginal leaders and I was called `brother'. The Aboriginal people are part of this land and it is a part of them; it flows in their veins. Through the experiences of thunder, lightning, floods and drought and through the unbearable heat and freezing cold, they learnt that to survive the elements of this land they needed to be at one with the land and for it to be one with them. During my Centenary of Federation run around Australia, I had one message for every person in this country—a message that is equally important regardless of which corner of the globe any of us come from or whether we are the original inhabitants of this country, the Aboriginals. My message was simple: it does not matter whether or not we are the original inhabitants, we are all united, we are all in this together and we are all Australians.

In my travels over the years I have listened to, and spoken with, hundreds of thousands of Australians of all colours and creeds—young and old and rich and poor; Australians living in areas as diverse and as stifling as the heat of the Simpson Desert to the beautiful green pastures of Macarthur. When I stood for election before the people of Macarthur, I stood before them as one of them. I was not able to offer the people of Macarthur a pedigree from a renowned educational institution or the political experience that many of my colleagues here today have brought to this House. I did not grow up in the arena of politics but in the arena of life. I am not a graduate of any learned school, other than the school of hard knocks. But when I was elected to this House, what I had to offer was a commitment to work hard and to work with the people of Macarthur to improve the area in which we all live. It is from this foundation that I draw my credentials as their member of parliament. I bring to this parliament integrity, honesty and a willingness to work hard. For all my constituents, regardless of their political or religious beliefs, I promise to work hard. To the people of Macarthur, you elected me as your voice in Canberra, and you have bestowed on me a great honour. It is an honour that I will never, ever take for granted.

The people of Macarthur believe me to be a representative with a vision for the future, someone with the determination to work with the community and, indeed, all levels of government to improve the available transport options, the employment opportunities and the general welfare of all. My aim will not be to find bandaid solutions, but, instead, long-term solutions for the betterment of all Australians.

I wish to welcome to the Macarthur electorate, due to the redistribution of the boundaries, the people from the suburbs of Eagle Vale, Eschol Park, Kearns, Blairmount, Claymore, Airds, Blair Athol, Englorie Park, Kentlyn, Leumeah, Ruse, St Helens Park, Wedderburn, Woodbine, Greendale, Luddenham, Wallacia, the City of Campbelltown and the Aboriginal people of Tharawal. I would like to thank everyone who gave me their support and voted for me for showing their confidence in me that I could do this job.

Many people told me that, if I were elected, I would not be able to get things done. They told me that I would change from being a grassroots family man to being someone who is out of touch with reality. They told me that I would be only one voice amongst many. To my fellow colleagues, to the Australian people and most especially to the people of Macarthur, I say to all of you that being only one voice and being only one man has never stopped me before.

I would like to express at this point in time my sincere gratitude to my colleagues in the Liberal Party for the support that they have given to me. They have provided me with the strength and confidence to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead to enable me to be all that I am. I am proud to be part of the Liberal Party team led by John Howard. I am proud to be part of a team that encourages all members to stay true to their beliefs and to their electorate.

I have spent time over the last few weeks—and a great deal of time before that as well—walking through cemeteries, and I have noticed that there is a mark on our headstones that goes between the dates of our life. That mark looks the same regardless of who we are or where we come from, but that little mark represents the blood and sweat in the form of effort—the effort that we all put into our lives to make our lives worth living. I intend to make my mark in this, the 40th Parliament of Australia.