The Hon Sam Farraway has delivered his Valedictory Speech in the Legislative Council. This is what he said.
It is a bit of an odd feeling to stand here to do a valedictory speech because, for a lot of people, it is the end of their political career. They close a book, and they move on. For me, it is maybe not quite like that. The good people of Calare will determine that.
The Hon. Jeremy Buckingham: Hear, hear!
The Hon. SAM FARRAWAY: I have Jez’s support and endorsement, so look out! It is a bit odd in the sense that you are here to close part of the book—the first chapter, maybe—whilst at the same time going through what can be best described as a very rigorous job interview. That is obviously with the people of my local community and electorate. Well, ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, what a five years! It has been an absolute privilege to be able to serve as a member of the New South Wales Parliament, the oldest Parliament. From the outset, I say a big thank you to Rick for being here as the current chair, the head office secretariat who are here and, in particular, the governing body of the National Party. Like most political parties, they entrust us to represent the best interests of the people who put us here. They are our political parties but also the voters right across this great State. I am forever thankful for the trust they placed in me.
For five years I have held just about every position in our party room except leader. I do not know whether I want that. I have got enough scars to show for that. Nevertheless, what I would say is that it has been a hell of a ride, to start day one in here. As is tradition in the National Party, when you come in here, on day one you become the Whip. You get the thankless task, at times, of being the Whip or Deputy Whip, sitting in here, basically doing Chamber duty nonstop and making sure everyone is where they need to be. Going from one of the Government Whips to a Parliamentary Secretary to a Minister to a shadow minister and finishing here as a humble backbencher in opposition has been an absolute pleasure. I will talk about some of the stuff because I think it is important. Everyone has some achievements in this place. Some are better than others; some are questionable and some are not. For me, I want to highlight some of the good stuff that I have been able to do whilst here but also share some stories. Some may find then funny; some may not. But there are some good stories I think are definitely worth sharing.
I would like to start on some achievements and policy areas. Politics aside, I think there were some good things that were achieved under the previous Coalition Government, and I was happy to play my part in some of that. First has to be, on the back of the success of the regional seniors travel card, being able to go to the next step and roll out the university apprentice and trainee travel card to support university students, apprentices and trainees across this State. My sister actually inspired me to design that card. She studied physiotherapy at Charles Sturt University. She was the youngest; she had four older brothers. She was pretty street smart, but that is a different story. During the disruption of COVID, she had to travel right across New South Wales to complete her training. She came from a family where we all supported each other. She did not need the fuel money. She did not need that extra support, but it highlighted that a lot of her peers and others did. It is expensive going to TAFE. It is expensive becoming a trainee, apprentice or university student, especially in the medical field when you are sent out on prac, whether you are a physiotherapist, a doctor, a nurse or whatever it might be.
For me, I always thought, with the support of the then Deputy Premier Paul Toole, about how we could look at rolling this card out, expanding it and trying to make a difference. We were able to get it at least started. Obviously, there was an election and, without getting too political, those now sitting on Government benches have completely scrapped that program.
The Hon. Wes Fang: Shame!
The Hon. SAM FARRAWAY: Yes, shame. It is very disappointing. But I think it is important, whilst I have the floor, to try to explain a bit of context about why we designed that card. It was not about pork-barrelling; it was not about buying votes. It was purely driven by the situation that my sister shared with me about how expensive it was for some of her peers and students. It was that little bit of extra support, which is not necessarily means tested, that was there for every single student, trainee or apprentice. That is certainly where that was born.
In December 2021 I get the phone call from Dominic Perrottet and Paul Toole: “You are going to be the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads.” It was not actually the job I thought I may have been going to get, to be honest. I notice that Tooley is here. He and Dominic said to me, “It is maybe not what you want, but it is what I need you to do.” It has always stuck with me. Who would have thought roads could be interesting? And who would have imagined what followed? It was the end of February and the devastating events of Lismore hit. As a new Minister, which I am sure some of you on the Government benches have experienced, you want to get in there, set your office up and take the world on. You want to achieve everything with the click of a finger, overnight. But once that flooding event occurred in Lismore, I can only say from my experience that I never stopped. I never stopped right up until polling day in March 2023. It taught me about how you need to empower people and be there for communities, and what needed to be done very promptly to ensure that we were able to better connect communities. You needed to ensure that you were on the ground and that the support was there. That is an experience that I will never forget.
I will never forget standing with Steve Krieg—and Janelle Saffin was there—only two or three days after the water had receded in Lismore. It looked like a war zone. I have never seen destroyed roads like I have seen on the North Coast. Some of those roads will probably never be rebuilt. It is a broader conversation. But it was an experience having to hold the hand of and be there to support mayors, general managers, business chambers, local businesspeople, community groups and pensioners. Whoever it was, it was a huge experience to deal with for all of us in government at the time, and newer Ministers in particular. But all things considered, as a government and as a Parliament, we were able to respond. It is always good to be able to reconnect with the people who you dealt with on the ground in those really tough times, to see the improvement that has been made to date.
Another achievement in this place was actually working with Mick Veitch. I do not mind saying this: You learn things from people in Parliament. I learnt quite a lot from Mick Veitch. For all of the newbies, when you come in, if you try to take on Mick, he will school you very quickly. You will go back to your office with your tail between your legs. You will think, “I don’t really want him to do that to me again.” It was fantastic to be able to work with Mick on the rail trails reform. For a decade rail trails were fraught with danger. No-one really wanted to touch it. The reality is that it is not about ripping up all the rail corridors. It is about preserving rail corridors, making sure that those rail corridors in our State are there in case we need them but, at the same time, better utilising those corridors for sustainable projects that drive tourism in regional areas. We have seen the success of those rail trails on the North Coast and, in time, we will get the right type of rail trail offerings across regional New South Wales with the legislation that was introduced. It was only possible with good work from those across the Chamber. I acknowledge Mick, in particular, who was a driving force from the then Opposition to work with me in that space.
Someone had to deal with the old taxi package that was left by former Ministers, and it was Minister Elliott and I. Whether it was good enough or not, it was the largest assistance package in the country. As a former small business owner, it just had to be dealt with. People could not be left in limbo. At the end of the day, what was delivered hit the mark. I hope that, politics aside, the policy around wheelchair?accessible taxis, particularly in regional communities, is taken seriously by Minister Haylen and Minister Aitchison. People are sharing with me that not enough work has been done in that space. I leave it on record that it is unfinished business and I hope the new Ministers take it up and find some reform in that space to deliver.
Certainly, one of my proudest achievements was the Infrastructure Betterment Fund. That was an Australian first. Nowhere in Australia has government been able to deliver a proper betterment program that addressed the issues after natural disasters. What happened on the North Coast, in particular in Lismore, taught me that if we continue replacing a flooded Richmond River bridge, flood after flood, at some point we should stop building timber bridges over the Richmond River. At some point we should build a concrete structure. We should build a structure that can weather natural disasters so that, when the waters recede, the infrastructure is still there and we can connect communities much quicker. Day in and day out following the start of those natural disaster events, mayors, community leaders, taxpayers, constituents—whoever and everyone—said, “Please, as Government spending taxpayers’ money, deliver and drive better policy around rebuilding transport infrastructure.”
At the end of the day, it was clearly evident that the Commonwealth thought we gold-plated the infrastructure, when in fact it was about replacing timber bridges with concrete structures, replacing drainage, building culverts and raising roads. It was very practical stuff. If I ever have my say in Canberra, I will make sure that they do not think it is gold-plating. I have seen firsthand that it is not. Like him or loathe him, the then Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce helped to deliver that $300-odd million. ScoMo did not want a bar of it. Barnaby helped to push that through the Federal Expenditure Review Committee [ERC] process, as did the then Premier and Deputy Premier of New South Wales.
By the end of the flooding, in 2023, as I travelled around New South Wales, I was better known as the minister for potholes. It was only appropriate that, through the Expenditure Review Committee process, we delivered the first regional pothole fund for regional councils to start filling potholes. It was essentially a $50 million trial. We were able to distribute the money and get it out the door very quickly, and it included sealed and unsealed roads. Those who have a little bit to do with roads or who come from the bush would know that never in history have governments delivered money to councils for unsealed roads. If you lived on an unsealed road, it was always at the discretion of your local council whether the grader operators got out there or not.
One of the proudest parts of all this was being able to find a new funding model to deliver road funding. It is something that is done overseas. It is based on the size of road network, so that it is equitable for communities and equitable for local government. If you have a larger network, you get more money. It is pretty simple. There is equity for regional people. It was great to move on and deliver the half-a-billion-dollar commitment—it was delivered prior to the last State election—in new funding with Minister Ward. It was fantastic. Whilst it is important that we talk about metros and the really big stuff in the city, we needed to make sure that we kept delivering simple programs that made a difference for people across the State, particularly in regional New South Wales.
I want to talk about a couple of different projects from our time. Whether it was trying to patch or fill potholes in local streets, so many legacy road infrastructure projects were delivered. But you cannot deliver legacy projects unless you start with a plan and a vision. That is what successive roads Ministers did. That is what was done under the Coalition. I am talking about the little things, like making sure that the last two State highways were fully sealed. This started with Duncan Gay, Melinda Pavey and Paul Toole. I was absolutely honoured to be out at Tibooburra, as Minister, to finish the Silver City Highway. Most people probably do not know much about it, but for communities from Tibooburra through to Warri Gate and anyone who lives on the Cobb Highway, having the highways sealed means that when they get a lot of rain, within a day or so, when the waters recede, they can get out of their farm, whereas with unsealed highways, as they were, they were stranded for weeks. I am proud to say that, under the Coalition, every highway has been sealed.
From small projects filling potholes in the street to the Silver City Highway and the really big legacy infrastructure, whether it be the Coffs bypass, the M1 to Raymond Terrace extension and upgrade or what has been done on the Pacific Highway and the Princes Highway, it all begins with a vision, which turns into a conversation, which turns into a briefing, which turns into an idea, consultation, designs and an ERC submission. You get to the end, and you have something to work with. That leads me to the Great Western Highway.
There are lots of reasons why I have decided to leave this place and put my hand up for the Federal election. One of the most important issues for me to enter public life and politics in the first place was that highway. The reality is that, politics aside, it is a piece of road infrastructure that is inadequate. It does not meet the needs of people in 2024. To this day, I am amazed that the Commonwealth cut the funding for that project and redirected it. All things considered, it is probably the most important east-west connection, road or highway in this country that needs upgrading. A few years ago, when the new Federal Government came into place, I thought, “Oh, they’ll kick the can down the road. It’ll be right.” But at the point when they cut it, I thought, “This needs change.”
The Central West—and everyone knows I am from the Central West; I talk about it every day I am in this place—will never realise its full potential anywhere over the sandstone curtain, anywhere west of the mountains, until that road is fixed. We have heavy vehicles travelling over bridges, over Mount Victoria, that were built by convicts. The convicts did a great job, but it is 2024. The reality is that we have trucks climbing a mountain in the middle of winter, with black ice, over a bridge built by convicts. It is not good enough. That certainly spurred me to say, “Well, if you’re going to whinge about it, find a solution and put your hand up.” As a former roads Minister who started this project that then was cut, I thought, “Well, here I go.” That is one of the reasons why I want to put my hand up.
There is no doubt that the cost?of?living crisis is real. The cost?of?doing?business crisis is definitely impacting everyone across this State and country. Whether it be moving the live sheep export ban or the GP shortage that we spoke about today—unfortunately, I cannot speak in reply on my own motion because of the timing, but Sarah and co. will do that for me—they are just some of the reasons. But the Great Western Highway is something that I care a lot about. It is something that needs to be addressed in my lifetime. I have learned that those in Canberra set that policy. That is where the 80-20 funding split happens. I need to get my arse to Canberra so I can get into the Treasurer’s office and get him to cut a cheque. Then I will come and maybe talk to some former colleagues in this place.
Nevertheless, it is now time for some stories. The Upper Hunter by?election was a by?election like no other. We do not need to repeat the story of a Deputy Whip—young, energetic and sitting on the backbench—and the former member for Upper Hunter, who is no longer here. But the then Nationals leader and Deputy Premier, John Barilaro, phoned and said, “Mate, you’ve got to go to Upper Hunter. We’ve got to sort this out and hold this seat.” Obviously, we were in the midst of COVID. I raise it because it was such an intense by?election. It is one I will never forget. Friends I made from that by?election I will have for the rest of my life. But in the middle of a global pandemic, with a Premier and Deputy Premier committed to winning the seat, I have never seen anything like it.
Walking down the main street of Singleton, pensioners were winding down their windows and saying to Gladys, “You go get ’em, girl. We’ll back you 100 per cent.” And miners would pull up Barra in Muswellbrook. I raise it because we defied the odds. We really did. We made history with that by?election. I do not mind giving a bit of a roast, but Labor gave a dismal performance. The Shooters were too busy undermining Latham at the time. Turnbull was backing an Independent, which cruelled her chances. I will never forget walking down John Street, the main street in Singleton, when a white Hyundai Elantra came down the street. Down comes the window, and there was this heckling. I turn around, and bloody Mark Latham is heckling me. He said, “Get out of Singleton. This is my country. Get out of here. You’re not going to win.” I will never forget him in his very humble white Hyundai Elantra. Dave Layzell is a mate. He is doing a great job as the member for the Upper Hunter. That by?election will always be embedded in my mind.
I became a Parliamentary Secretary, which, let’s face it, was probably a promotion for the work I did in the Upper Hunter by?election—thank you, Barra. I will tell a story about one of my staff members in the office. Here I am, a Parliamentary Secretary, thinking, “How good is this? I’m going to take the world on. This is great.” Lachie in the office drafts a media release. He was new. He was having a go. Grammar is not his strong suit. Poor old Lachie. I was sitting in the corner of the Chamber and he sent me the draft, which was riddled with errors. I think, “That’s cool.” I fix them and send it back to him. He sends out the media release, but he had sent out the first version. Oh, no. I went up to the office and this poor kid was trying to retrieve emails, and I said, “It’s done, mate. It’s done.” Luckily, Adam Marshall saved me because he gave COVID to everyone in the Strangers’ Room the next night. I think one of the Forbes newspapers ran the media release with all the errors in it. I said to Lachie, “Well, it just proves that people don’t really read them, do they?”
The next funny story is when I sat in question time today and watched the Hon. John Graham with the old RTBU train disputes. I watched him and thought, “Been there, done that.” All I can say to him is if the phone rings, answer it, and do not sleep through the alarm. I will never forget him hauling me before this place to explain why I did not take a phone call that I never got. I had to explain myself. It was all done in the heat of politics and all I can say is been there, done that. Good luck, John. I think Tanya Thompson is in the gallery. We were in Taree doing an announcement around regional seniors travel card rail services. When I pulled up at the Taree train station, it was a bit of a gloomy day. People were everywhere. There were people dressed up as koalas and people were running around. I thought, “What’s going on here?” As soon as I got out of the car, a man who was later proved to be a professional protester from Melbourne made some very derogatory remarks about R. M. Williams and the National Party. I headed to the platform.
Just about the entire National Party branch from Forster and Taree and all their supporters were there. The protesters just went off their brains. They were yelling and screaming in front of the camera, literally in my ear. It got to the point where we thought, “There are oldies here, and we don’t want someone falling on the platform. This is all too much. We’ll go into the terminal.” We went into the terminal, but the protesters grew in numbers really quickly and they were pretty good at what they were doing. They barricaded us in the terminal at the Taree train station. I have never really told that story, but it became so severe that the oldies from The Nationals branch in Taree and the local pensioners alliance group were using their umbrellas in a brawl with the environmental activists, and the police had to be called. The assistant commissioner got involved and it all got out of hand very quickly. I will never forget that.
The Hon. Taylor Martin: Who won?
The Hon. SAM FARRAWAY: The oldies won with the umbrellas. They were into it. I will make a couple of quick Labor acknowledgements. To Premier Minnsy, I appreciate your pursuit of me on behalf of certain people in the Central West. Thank you, Premier, because you lifted my name. When I am no longer in this place, I just do not know what Stephen Lawrence will do with his spare time. I acknowledge Jenny Aitchison, who is now a Minister. I thank Jenny because she has filled my media monitoring every day for the past 19 months in opposition. I do not know what she will talk about once I am gone from this place. I have a spare campaign hat—apparently, she did not want it earlier—but she can help me doorknock. She has been out in the Central West a bit so we will see if she will take the offer. I am sure Minister Moriarty will miss me heaps in estimates.
Now to the serious part and some real thank you remarks. There is not a lot of grandeur about today. I invited only a few people. My family members are at home replacing batteries in our campaign bus, apparently, because it stopped, so they are all watching online. First, I thank the NSW Nationals central council, some of whose members are here today. Thank you for trusting me to be a representative of the National Party and to have a role as an MP in this place. To the members of the Central West branches in Lithgow, Bathurst, Orange, Mudgee and Wellington, thank you for your unwavering support over the past five years and for everything you do on the ground throughout the region.
To all my National Party colleagues in the party room, we mostly all like each other! But in all seriousness, we are a group of good people and everyone in the party room fights for their community, whether they are a lower House member or an upper House member, or upper House members supporting lower House members. They are all connected to their communities. We have some very robust debates in the party room, and that is the way it should be. I hope it continues. To the Leaders of the National Party I have served, firstly to Barra, thank you. You were such a passionate individual, and no wonder your passion got you into trouble sometimes. But you are a really good guy. Throughout the early years after the 2019 election win, we did a lot of stuff. Good on you because you changed the way a lot of infrastructure was funded, and things just got done in the regions because of your optimism and planning.
To Tooley, who is also my local State member, the work you did for the Great Western Highway should never ever go unnoticed because you did the hard yards in the early years pushing the bureaucrats to come up with a design. You pushed hard in the Expenditure Review Committee and in your negotiations with the Commonwealth to make that happen, and you brought the communities of the Blue Mountains on board. To this day, I still do not know how you did that, but good on you for that. To Dugald, you are doing a great job. It is bloody tough to be an Opposition leader or to be in opposition as a leader of any political party after 12 years in government. It is tough and you are doing a great job. You just need to keep doing what you are doing. You can definitely tell that every time you speak you seem to irritate quite a few Government Ministers. That means you are doing your job, so keep doing that.
I thank my upper House staff, firstly Bec Treloar, who is here with little Annabelle. I would not have ever done much in this place without Bec, who set me up from the beginning. I give a big thank you to Bec because I remember walking in here and thinking, “It is all well and good to win a preselection or an election, but now I am here, what do I do?” You set me on the straight and narrow and you sorted me out. You really set us up for success and you were absolutely instrumental in all of that duty MLC work that we did in the regions. Half the mayors of western New South Wales, and Swiftie out at Eugowra, are still asking if you still work for me and how you are going.
To Lachie Barnsley, thanks mate. Even after that media release, I kept you on. You have done a fantastic job. You are an absolute political warrior. You are fantastic and you have done a great job. You have got a very bright future ahead of you. Onwards and upwards! To the ministerial staff Nat Openshaw, Larissa Mallinson, Michelle Perry, Lachie, Simon Hanna, Charlie Crawford, Pav Pfitzner, Ash, Mila Dilly and Angus Olsen—most of whom are here today—you were an absolute great bunch to work with. You have so much potential. My goodness. In 15 months, we did some work. We got some stuff done. I am so very proud of all of you but I would not have been able to do any of that without your support throughout that time.
To my Labor and crossbench colleagues, I tell people at home that question time is theatre. They go, “Oh, do you all really hate each other that much?” and I go, “No, it’s just all a bit of theatre.” It is good to have relationships across the aisle. It is good to see each other sometimes outside of this setting and have real, human conversations. We are just people, like everyone else out there. Thank you to everyone. Mark, you are the most entertaining part. I said to someone yesterday that I will miss your entertainment from this dispatch box. It is quite interesting; you still have all the old Labor skeletons upstairs. When they get a bit cocky over there, up comes Mark Latham and the Labor Party shuts up. Keep doing what you are doing.
To all my Liberal colleagues—especially Damien and Natalie—and, in particular, to the new Liberal MLCs who came in at the last election, you are doing an absolutely fantastic job. You have picked it up quickly and you are contributing. You are team players—well done to all of you. It has been impressive and an absolute pleasure to have worked with you, even if only for the past 19 months. To the Clerks—David, Steven and the entire team—one thing that has really amazed me from day one is the level of professionalism from you and your team, the committee staff, the entire Legislative Council staff and the Hansard staff. It is quite amazing, to be honest, that no matter how heated a committee hearing gets or how dysfunctional this place can get at times, if we look to you, you offer some stability and professionalism. Thank you. I think it is important for you and your team to know that it does not go unnoticed by any of us, to be honest.
To my Nats team and to Sarah, it has been absolute pleasure to work with you. Sarah, you are like a big sister in some ways. Thank you for leading the Nats in opposition and for motivating us in the Legislative Council to keep those questions without notice going and to get our estimates prep done. We have been a great little team and I think that we have performed well in opposition so far. I am sure that whoever replaces me will pick up the mantle and keep going. Tara, there will a replacement unfortunately. Wes, honestly some of the stuff you say—mostly it’s good—just makes me laugh. We all get a bit heated in here and all a bit tired towards the end of the week but then you will come out with something and start laughing, and then that sets me off in a fit of laughter. We have been doing that on the backbench for the past few months. It is only a matter of time until we get into trouble. You are a real mate and thank you for all your support.
Scotty, it is great to have you here. I just love that we will have an upper House MP from the Central West. You can pick up where I have left off. A lot of people will be in touch so well done with what you are doing and keep the fight going. You have got to keep the community-based notices of motion going. I set a bit of a KPI here from the Central West so just keep them rolling. To Aunty Bronnie, who is in the gallery today, we have noticed you are not here. I walked past your office and I see Scotty. I have still got your chair on my balcony. We miss you already; we do. You were the glue that kept a lot of us together.
Finally, to a lot of my mates who texted me earlier—I told them not to come because they are busy and they have got stuff on—if I get my backside to Canberra, come to my inaugural speech. In particular, to my family, who are watching, you are very supportive. You are out there doing all the odd jobs in the campaign whilst I am here, including replacing batteries in my van. Mum, Toby, Ben, Liam and Sarah, I could not do it without you. Thank you. Finally, a big thank you to my partner, Tara. As they say, one door closes, so let’s see if another opens. Thank you.
