INAUGURAL SPEECH

Member for Montgomery– Hon Casey Hiscutt MLC

Tuesday, 4 November 2025

Mr HISCUTT (Montgomery) (Inaugural) - Mr President, I move –

That the Legislative Council expresses its deep regret at the passing on 19 June 2025 of Desmond Hiscutt, Member of the Legislative Council from 1995 to 1999, and places on record its appreciation of his service to this State, and further, that this House respectfully tenders to his family its sincere sympathy in their bereavement.

Honourable members, members of the gallery and family, I rise today to speak with both an immeasurable sense of pride and a great sadness. If this House and the President will allow, I plan to speak both on a condolence motion for the loss of Desmond Hiscutt or, as I called him, Uncle Dessie, and to combine this with my inaugural speech. I do this because family is so important to me. I welcome the members of my family and my friends who are in the room today.

I will speak first on Dessie's life and commitment to public service, and then of my own journey to this auspicious and revered place.

Desmond was the third son of four children and grew up in Howth with his brother, Hugh, my grandfather, Terry, and their younger sister, Mary. He was the son of James, or JT, as he was known, and Susan Hiscutt. He passed away not far from where he had lived most of his life.

Public service has always been a hallmark of the Hiscutt family, with JT Hiscutt serving as a councillor on the Penguin Council from 1938 to 1971, including time as warden from 1954 to 1958 and 1969 to 1970. Dessie's older brother, Hugh Hiscutt, also served as a Penguin councillor between 1966 and 1987 and was warden from 1973 to 1978.

It was towards the end of his elder brother's tenure on council and movement to this House that Dessie made his mark, entering council from the years 1987 to 1993 and as warden from 1990 to 1993. This was the final year of the Penguin Council prior to its amalgamation into the Central Coast Council in 1993. Dessie then served for a further three years until 1996 on the Central Coast Council.

Dessie did not stop there. Once again, following in his elder brother's footsteps, he campaigned to become a Legislative Councillor. Hugh had been the member for West Devon from 1983 to 1995.

The following election is where my story begins. One of my very first memories was climbing the hills behind South Burnie, up near the Menai, not quite old enough for school but old enough to help out. I was dragged along to assist with door-knocking. Those were some very steep hills, which I'm sure the member for Murchison can attest to, as they now fall under her division.

Dessie was elected to the Legislative Council as an independent for the division of West Devon on 27 May 1995, succeeding his brother, Hugh, and sworn in on 20 June 1995. Dessie gave his inaugural speech on 4 July and spoke about his strong independence, hopes and wishes for the area.

The division of West Devon was abolished in 1997 and Dessie was allocated to the new division of Emu Bay. He was the only person ever to represent Emu Bay. The division of Emu Bay was later abolished in 1999. Dessie was unfortunately unallocated in the reduction and redistribution of divisions at the time and received some compensation for the reduction in his term of office following his departure on 30 June 1999. Dessie unsuccessfully contested the division of Murchison on 28 August 1999, marking his final electoral campaign.

Uncle Dessie was so much more than just a public figure: he was a family man, a farmer, a fix-it man, but more than anything, he enjoyed making people laugh. I remember a day having dinner at the Penguin Sports and Services Club only a few years ago. I believe we were celebrating an 80th or 85th birthday with all the local Hiscutts in attendance. A member of the group briefly left to use the restroom while having only just started eating his lunch. While he was away from the table, Dessie, as an 80-year-old, took his plate and hid it behind a pillar. Upon returning, the person asked where their plate had gone. Des proceeded to let them know that the waiter thought they were finished and had taken it away already. He said it with such conviction that it was believed until the rest of the group were unable to contain their laughter. This and other practical jokes amused Desmond to no end.

In March 2023, Dessie's two brothers passed away within three days of each other. It was a very sad time for the whole family. I remember meeting with Dessie a day or two later, and though obviously in grief, he still quipped, 'Swaddle me and cotton wool me, boy. I love me brothers dearly, but I don't want to follow them to where they've gone this time.' As Dessie aged, the farm property became too much to handle and he and his wife, Margaret, moved to a new unit right beside the doctor and the pharmacy at Penguin.

Unfortunately, he did not have very long to enjoy his time at the new residence. A fall occurred and his mobility deteriorated. He moved into the local aged-care residence where his needs could be more easily met. On 19 June 2025, Dessie passed away peacefully in his sleep at Coroneagh Park. I visited him often, and he always had a keen mind and a keen interest in my foray into politics. As his health declined, he would regularly say, 'I've just got to stay long alive to see you elected, me boy.' I'm very proud to have done so for Dessie, and for all the great leaders that our family has produced. I would often say that I stand on the shoulders of giants, and he was one of them.

I ask that we pause for a minute of silence to reflect upon Dessie's life and to give me a moment to compose.

Mr President, where do I begin? My mum and dad were farmers on the north-west coast of Tassie. Most of you in this room know them well, but for the benefit of the record, they are down-to-earth people, well known in the community; although I always reflected on how funny it was that for the first half of my life I was known as Ben's boy in the community, but for the second half I was more often thought of as Leonie's boy.

Dad took over the farm from his father and two uncles, continuing to run it to this day. I remember learning the value of hard work and teamwork on the farm. It used to be my job to pick up the chat potatoes: those not good enough for sale but good enough to eat at home or give to friends. I also learned the fundamentals of maths, science and commerce, counting the broccoli heads, watching what grows in different seasons, and once working out the value a farmer got versus the end of sale of the chips.

Maths was a passion of mine and I would work out the value of each potato as it went in the box. In case you were wondering, in the early 2000s a large fries from Maccas was around $2, and the value of the same potato to the farmer was seven cents. Whilst writing this speech, an article came out from the ABC dated 9 September titled 'Imported potatoes threaten Tasmanian growers, as companies look for cost savings overseas'. From the article I quote:

For $5, a hungry punter can get their hands on a bucket of large fries from a fast-food outlet in north-west Tasmania.

It's a record-high price for a popular multinational.

Mere kilometres down the road, the farmer who grew those potatoes will get $0.11.

It seems that not much has changed.

We lived a simple life growing up. I never felt like we didn't have enough, but we also didn't have everything. Dad would say we were rich - we had land - and Mum would say we couldn't pay for groceries with dirt. I do remember her - I probably shouldn't say this - with pocketknife in hand, removing the stubs from the broccolis at the supermarket so that we could save money. Frugal might be the word.

I had two brothers growing up. We fought and played and cheered and supported each other like all siblings do. When I was 14, my brother returned from a school footy trip and fell ill and went downhill very fast. I went to school the next day and he stayed home sick. He had passed away by lunchtime from meningococcal. This hit our family very hard, as can be imagined. If there is ever one of us boys who would have taken over the family farm, it would have been him.

My eldest brother finished law and IT at UTAS and now successfully runs an IT business with offices across the globe. It has received many accolades, including multiple Microsoft Partner of the Year awards and being named in the AFR Best Places to Work awards. I say I might still be the favourite son as I stayed home and had the grandkids, though he does have his own kids now.

I finished school at Marist Regional College and went to complete a Bachelor of Environmental Design at UTAS in Launceston. I had planned to be an architect, which was a further two years master's degree to complete afterwards. My parents told me to look at how many people graduated and how many jobs there were. My advice: listen to your parents. After completing the first degree, I knew that I wanted to settle in the north-west of Tassie. There are very few jobs in the architectural field, so I cut my losses and started working in manufacturing, using the drafting skills that I had learnt.

I spent the remainder of my working life up until this point in manufacturing; some in a construction setting, some in a factory production setting and some in a bit-of-everything setting. Although I was never hands-on, I could manage customers, suppliers and staff, and moved into project management and quotations. Whilst working, I took every opportunity that presented itself for professional development and continued learning.

The importance of family cannot be understated in my life. I met my now wife when I was 16 and she was 17. We both worked in the old Burnie Harris Scarfe building, which is no longer there. I was working in the dock and she was working in the menswear. I was totally oblivious to this laughing girl who kept looking in on me while I was working. Thick-as-abrick, Mum calls me.

Together, we moved to Launceston for university; then we had a long-distance relationship for two years while she attended Charles Sturt University to finish her medical imaging degree. Finally, we settled down on the north-west coast, where she found a job and still proudly works as a radiographer at the Mersey Community Hospital.

Last year I celebrated a 'half my life' day with her where I calculated the exact day that I had spent half my life with her, and half my life without. We have been together for 18 years and married for over 11. We have three young children who make me proud every day: Marli, who is 10, Joel, who is 8, and Flynn, who is 4. I won't say things have always been perfect and we've had our share of challenges, but there is no-one else I would rather share this crazy journey with. The love and support she has shown me for running for this position has been nothing short of extraordinary. I will forever be in her debt.

Mr President, my journey to this sacred place began many years ago. In fact, you could say it began back in 1938 when JT Hiscutt sat on the Penguin Council, or even before that when the McKennas did. I saw from a young age what Dessie and Hughey did and the respect they earned for them from their community. The same characteristics are present in Mum and Dad too. I don't think there are many in the community that would say a bad word about the Hiscutts. I found this particularly true when doorknocking in 2008 for my first foray into local council, where a member of the public said, 'If you're half as good as your mother, you'll do okay'.

In years 10, 11 and 12, I attended Youth Parliament after my eldest brother had previously been a participant. In the first two years, I was the only member of my school to attend, so I had to make new friends. They provided a welcoming environment that encouraged this. In my third and final year, the House of Assembly - which is where Youth Parliament is normally held - was undergoing renovations, so the entire session was held in this House. I attended with the member for Murchison's son Edward, among others from my school. As this was the only Youth Parliament held in the Legislative Council, a historical picture was taken. If anyone wants to see my 17-year-old sideburns and spot of bleached hair on my head - which was the trend at the time - the picture hangs proudly just outside the President's Lounge and has been on these walls for close to 20 years. It does, at times, feel full circle to be back here again.

I was fortunate enough to be in Hobart for Youth Parliament this year, and it filled my heart to sit in front of those kids who, just like me, may one day grow up to be our future leaders.

I first ran for the council in 2018 and was successful - just. It was at this election that I was able to understand the power of one vote. I was 1.84 votes away from being excluded. This meant that, with nine councillors to be elected, if one voter had put me ninth and the other person eighth, it would have changed the trajectory of my life for years to come. I am grateful to all those people who voted for me.

I have enjoyed my time on the council and have always been a very active member in the community. I would like to take a moment to thank the Mayor of Central Coast Council - Cheryl Fuller, who is here with us today - for her support and assistance, and all the councillors who have supported me on my journey to this place.

I have always felt that you need to meet and talk with the people where they are, not expect them to come to you. What I felt most proud of was the community generation you got to see. Every event had a raffle of donated prizes. It made me realise what a lucky community we grow up in.

I was re-elected to council in 2022 - this time with a much improved position. In this election I put myself forward for the role of Deputy Mayor. I was narrowly defeated by only 42 votes. The position was taken by Councillor John Beswick, who had become a close friend of mine on council during the preceding term. He first learned about his victory when I called him to congratulate him. Understandably, I was upset at the time, but my dad said to me, 'Be proud of yourself. You've gone up against a quality candidate, well known in the region, and you almost got there at 32'. I needed that.

The loss, however, gave me the drive and determination to do whatever it took at the next election, the one that got me into this House. The rest, as they say, is history.

I had various achievements on the council, some big and some small. From removing the fee for traffic management, allowing shop owners to clean their awnings more easily, to providing disability parking near the dog park, to the soon-reopening of the famous rocket ship at Anzac Park. However, my proudest achievement was a notice of motion which radically changed how the council approached town planning and development applications. The simple wording of the motion belies the change in momentum that has swung within the council: from trying to find a problem to trying to find a solution.

This gave the impetus for the Director of Strategic Growth, Daryl Connelly, who I must thank for his support and friendship, to apply and receive a $1.6 million grant from the federal government to strategically work out where, why or how the housing of our future would look under the Our Homes Our Future initiative. This motion has also brought about a development application pre-approval mediation policy, which allows developers and representors to discuss their issues early before they become a point of contention. As I understand it, this is the first council in Tasmania to do this, and it should be a role model for other councils.

The election of 2025 was an extended affair, firstly with me announcing my intention to run almost a year early, and, secondly, having been extended further with the federal election. In fact, it wasn't until mid-June that I realised I had not had time to cut enough firewood for the winter. I will take a moment to congratulate all the people who ran for the election: Stephen Parry, Darren Briggs, Adrian Pickin and Gatty Burnett. It takes a lot of courage to put your hand up and, even if unsuccessful, it says a lot about people for having a go.

Outside of politics I have represented my community in various other ways: some simple, like coaching my daughter's basketball and helping at my son's Auskick, but also some much more complex roles. I'm on the board of Devonport Child Care Centres Inc, a not-for-profit childcare organisation which offers two full-service daycare clinics as well as servicing six outside-school-hour services for many of the local schools. I assisted in navigating a tumultuous time when our primary centre, Malangenna, had a massive flood and we needed to pivot to provide care to all of the displaced children at other venues.

This was all whilst in the process of organising a new CEO, meaning heavy involvement from the board on decision-making. Through you, Mr President, I would like to take a moment to thank the honourable member for Rosevears, in her capacity as Minister for Education, for her assistance in this matter. I was also successful in approaching the Labor federal member for Braddon, Anne Urquhart, for a federal government grant of $4 million which will be used to address the childcare crisis in the north-west by developing a new facility on the current Malangenna site. The situation in child care is dire indeed, and although my youngest child moves to kindergarten next year, I feel for new parents trying to return to the workforce.

I am also currently the chair of the Penguin 150 committee, a group of locals who are celebrating the sesquicentenary of the proclamation of Penguin: its 150th anniversary. We decided to hold a yearlong series of events, including a Penguin Waddle, which had me dressed up as a penguin leading up to 500 kids along the Penguin foreshore, to an Easter Eggstravaganza, a Frost and Fire Gala, a cemetery walk, a celebration of the Dutch history and, finally, a street party, which only happened last week.

Almost all these events were free and family friendly. The committee raised over $100,000 to show off Penguin to the state and the country, and we had many expats living abroad who returned for the main event last week. I take a moment to thank the chairman of the Penguin History Group, Craig Dunham, for asking me to chair this committee about two years ago when we first met.

I also recognise the contributions to the committee from Gary and Penny Hall, who are here today, especially their contributions in bringing a worldwide focus to the celebration, with their efforts resulting in the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to Australia contributing and attending the Frost and Fire event alongside the Honorary Consul of Thailand, Wimalin Beattie. We also had contributions from the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands at our celebration of the Dutch event, broadly thanks to the efforts of Jeanne Koetsier, who I also thank. At our street party last week, we had visits from the Consular Corps including the Honorary Consuls of Thailand, Latvia, Israel, the UK, Switzerland, Timor Leste and the Netherlands, and the Governor presided over the event as well.

It has been a privilege to chair this committee and I hope that we have done our town proud. A special thanks must be made to Leigh Gracie, the Central Coast Council's Community Development Officer, whose tremendous efforts helped facilitate these events; they would not have been the events they were without her, and the Central Coast Council also, in general, for its support. As part of the celebrations, the committee gave out nearly 1000 pins to all the schoolchildren in the area. This was paying homage to the medallions that were given out to all the schoolchildren for the 100-year celebrations. I proudly wear my uncle Hugh's 100-year celebration pin alongside my new pin on my chest today.

I look forward to representing the people of Montgomery. From the bustling townships and cities of Burnie, Ulverstone, Penguin and Sheffield, to the villages and small towns of Riana, Turners Beach and Ridgley, to the rugged heartlands like Paradise, Cradle Mountain, Loongana and Tewkesbury, all of it is beautiful, from the sea to the mountain, and its people come from all walks of life as well.

I campaigned strongly on the independence of the upper House. We are here to review the legislation put forth by the government of the day. Our role is not necessarily to block legislation that has a mandate to proceed and is for the good of the community; our role is to ensure the legislation is accurate, and if it can be amended to be even better, to change it. That is why we go through it line by line. There are 14 other heads in this Chamber, each of whom has a wealth of knowledge, and thankfully the collective wisdom will, I'm sure, prevail.

One lens that I would like to particularly apply over future legislation will be the concerning movement of young people out of Tasmania, and if there is an opportunity I see to amend legislation to benefit retaining young people in Tasmania, I will pursue that lead. This does not mean that people shouldn't be allowed to go out and see the world, but they shouldn't need to leave Tasmania to get a job in their preferred positions.

Mr President, members, guests, friends and especially family, I feel privileged to sit in these halls but also feel the weight of responsibility heavily around my shoulders. I will serve to the absolute best of my abilities the people of Montgomery and the people of Tasmania. I would like to thank a few people if the Chamber will allow: I thank those who came before me, both family and others. I thank the other members of this House for making me feel most welcome. I thank Meg Windram, who was Mum's executive officer for 10 years and has continued her services to me. I think she is watching. I thank my Dad, not only for helping raise me but for his assistance in my campaign and always being by my side or a phone call away.

Sometimes people say that you shouldn't meet your heroes, but for me, I met my hero 35 years ago on the day that I was born. Mum, Leonie Hiscutt, or 'fearless leader', as those in the Chamber may have known her; I have always looked up to her, and now following in her footsteps is the greatest honour I have achieved. I said during the campaign that she had very little shoes, but they would be big to fill; but I also intend to walk my own path. I thank her from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support she has shown me throughout my life. I couldn't have asked for a better mum.

Importantly, I want to thank my immediate family: my wife and kids. They are amazing people and the reason I am doing what I do. I couldn't be here without their understanding and support. To my kids, I know that you will grow to be future leaders in your community and I hope that I can be a role model for you. To my wife, I love you and I thank you.

Just being a member of parliament was not a goal for me, but being the member for Montgomery has been, and I am so happy to have been given this opportunity. I hope to serve with conviction and be remembered alongside those who have come before me as a gentleman, a statesman and, most importantly, as a good and kind person. I thank you all for listening and look forward to the following term and all the challenges that it may face. Thank you.

I commend the condolence motion to the House.

Mr PRESIDENT - I congratulate the member on his first contribution, and I know that we all look forward to contributions in the future. I must also compliment you on that great tie that you have worn with the penguins.