AFTER being welcomed back into the Liberal Party room by her colleagues, newly elected upper house MP, Dr Renee Heath, delivered her maiden speech to the 60th parliament on Tuesday December 20, giving an insight into the issues she will push in the next four years.
Dr Heath is a Sale-based chiropractor whose parents lead the City Builders Church, which was embroiled in controversy in November after reports by Nine Newspapers and 60 Minutes. The Church denied allegations that it was an extremist organisation that practised gay conversion therapy. Dr Heath has said she does not support gay conversion therapy.
She had previously told the Gippsland Times her position on abortion was “safe, legal and rare”. When asked if she considered herself a moderate or conservative, she said she was “pragmatic”.
It was also revealed in parliament by Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Georgia Crozier, that Dr Heath had been appointed Secretary of the Parliamentary Liberal Party.
Dr Heath began her maiden speech by thanking the voters of the Eastern Victoria region, the Liberal Party and her friends and family.
“I was born and raised in eastern Victoria, and to now represent this region in parliament – its people, families, communities, business and industries – is the greatest privilege of my life,” she said.
“Eastern region is incredibly strategic to Victoria. It is home to a wealth of natural resources and primary industries that provide water, power and timber to our states.”
Dr Heath addressed the controversy that surrounded her campaign, which resulted in then-opposition leader, Matthew Guy, saying she would not be part of the party room after she was linked to the City Builders Church. This was reversed a week later after the Liberals lost the state election, and Dr Heath voted in the leadership contest where John Pesutto was elected party leader.
“I firstly want to say my faith does not hold anybody else to account; my faith holds me to account. The second thing I want to say is every single person has a worldview that has been developed by their experience, and I am absolutely no different to anybody else,” she said.
“I want to say unequivocally that regardless of your belief you deserve political representation. You deserve the right to engage, debate, join a party and have a voice just like everybody else. I have come to this chamber to represent the people of Eastern Victoria Region.
“If you are a Muslim, if you are a Christian or a Jew, a Buddhist or a Sikh, or whatever it is that you believe, if you are gay or if you are straight, if you are a traditionalist or if you are progressive, there is a place for you and you deserve political representation.”
Dr Heath said it concerned her that “despite record funding into education our standards are dropping”.
“We need to look at why this is occurring, and we need to correct it so that our children can have the best start in life. Schools should not be a hub of indoctrination, rather they should be a centre of education,” she said.
Asked by the Gippsland Times to clarify what she meant by “indoctrination” and to provide examples, Dr Heath declined to give specifics and referred back to the speech.
“Students should not graduate as activists but rather as individuals that are equipped to become the scientists, the entrepreneurs and the thought leaders of tomorrow. Schools should teach facts, not narratives,” Dr Heath said in the speech.
“Students should be taught how to think and not what to think. Our young people are the future, and we need to give them the freedom and the resources to create that future.”
In the last part of her speech, Dr Heath spoke about reconciliation, and paid tribute to a friend, Robert Knight, an Aboriginal man who was taken from his family during the Stolen Generations.
“There has been so much talk of reconciliation and many proposals to achieve it, but the benchmark of reconciliation is not tokenism,” she said.
Asked if she had a stance on the voice to parliament, Dr Heath said: “I asked Robert and his wife Julie Knight what they believe is the right thing to do. They said that a treaty is an insult within their communities. I will continue to have these conversations so I can be an accurate representation.
“I really believe that the benchmark for reconciliation was articulated by Rev Dr Martin Luther King. Those words spoken from the steps on the Lincoln memorial all those years ago are still sending vibrations throughout the world. That’s the benchmark,” she said.
Dr Heath clarified that the above statements refer to both a treaty and a voice to parliament.
That same day in parliament, the Greens reintroduced a bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. Premier Daniel Andrews said he was hoping that there would be a national process to raise the age, but indicated his government could do it on their own if that doesn’t happen. Dr Heath said she needs time to consider the issue before making a decision.
The Liberals added a new shadow portfolio for criminal justice reform, with the Guardian reporting that Mr Pesutto said that “all angles” would be looked at for potential change.
[Article edited to correct an error printed in the Wednesday 4 January issue of the Gippsland Times.
Renee Heath’s speech, as reported in the article, referenced the controversy in November surrounding the Nine Newspapers and 60 Minutes reports on the City Builders Church run by Dr Heath’s parents.
The original article said that Dr Heath did not have “the same views as her parents”, which she has not said. In July, then-Liberal leader Matthew Guy said “Renee is not her family, Renee is herself”, which is the actual quote.
The Gippsland Times did not intend to imply or suggest that Dr Heath, her parents, her family or the Church have extremist views. The Church has denied all allegations of wrongdoing reported by the Nine Newspapers and 60 Minutes, and denies it is an extremist organisation. Dr Heath has said she does not support gay conversion therapy. We apologise for the confusion.]
