I wish to honour the everyday men of Australia – the many males who go about their lives

working hard to provide for their families, putting food on the table, without any fuss and
without expecting any fanfare or huge accolades. You men help make Australia what it is
today. It’s not often that the dedicated and hardworking men in this country collectively get a
pat on the back as they deserve, so I’d like to do that now. Well done, men. You deserve to be
honoured. I thank you.
It is more often that we uplift women in this country and men are widely regarded as toxic
and that is wrong. The extreme majority of men are not toxic, they are good, they are caring.
The issue has come to the fore in the recent month with the bush fires around the country,
particularly Queensland and New South Wales and also the south Australia.
While the firefighters, who are mostly males, were battling the blazes, we had feminists
telling us that after they fight the fires – no doubt exhausted, dehydrated, covered with ash
and soot and with their skin singed from the heat – they go home and beat their partners.
What an idiotic suggestion. There is zero research to back up that claim. It is perhaps no
surprise that the comments were made by a good friend of the Greens. At the time, I stood
firm and described the comments as disgusting and male bashing. It was not good enough for
the Greens to promote and sport such comments. I also made it clear that I have had a gutful
of hearing from man-hating feminists. I believe in what is fair and just and I’m sick and tired
of this constant criticism of men in Australia, especially if they’re white. I think the property
owners who watch their homes go and file complaints are not too worried about a pile of
paperwork that has to be filled out.
Why is there such an ongoing attack on the men of this country, particularly those who are
showing strength and masculinity and who risk their lives to protect property, lives, pets and
animals?
Well, I’m not going to man-bash. There is no reason to do it. The vast majority of men are
not toxic; they are loving, caring, respectful and hardworking.
And it is mostly men who face up the flames, extreme heat, rough terrain and tinder (?) dry
fuel to fight the bush fires. In August 2019 there were 15,305 firefighters in Australia, 9,6%
were female. Why aren’t the feminist who demand equality in boardrooms and politics not
rushing to sign up as volunteer firefighters? Where is the feminist campaign for equality in
this difficult physically demanding and also a thankless profession?
In August 2019, there were 208,900 truckies in Australia, and 4.3% were female. Well, the
feminists should be ashamed at letting themselves down in this field – I have never seen a
feminist recruiting campaign to get more women behind the wheels of a truck. Maybe it’s too
demanding and not glamorous enough, so they’re happy for the men to do it. Trucking is a
tough life, they spend days away from the loved ones, they sleep uncomfortably, they are
under the pressure to meet delivery deadlines and for earnest drivers it is a cut-throat
industry. They struggle to make a decent profit. It is worth noting that without trucks,
Australia stops! So, I guess with 95,7% of truckies being men, we can thank the men that
Australia hasn’t stopped. And I say thank you for the truckies for what they do for Australia.
In August 2019, there were 51,300 coal mining workers in Australia, and 13.9% were women
– no doubt less down in the mines. Why aren’t the feminists demanding that more women be
given jobs several kilometres underground in the darkness, the heat and the danger on the
machinery drilling for coal?
And I can go on with coach drivers, 45,300, 11% of them were women.
And I suppose that what I’m getting to hear in this chamber, the fact is, that I hear day in and
day out, that the Greens are getting up and having a go about the domestic violence against
women. Yes, it is happening, but I just cannot stan here and see the bashing of men going on
in this country all the time, because what we are seeing here is that each day in Australia 6
men take their lives, and 82 men call an ambulance due to suicidal thoughts or attempts.
Prostrate cancer kills more men than breast cancer kills women, 2/3 of homeless who sleep
rough are men. 95% of work fatalities are men. One in three domestic violence victims are
men. These figures are backed up by the New South Wales bureau of crime statistics and
research we confirm that in 2018, 29,2% of domestic violence victims were men.
I would like to say thank you to men; you help make Australia the great nation it is today.
And to my colleagues in this chamber- thank you very much.