Wednesday, 26 August 2026

 Jackson TAYLOR (Bayswater) (18:41): ‘Better luck next time’ was basically the message I took away from my name’s brief appearance in the SundayHerald Sun the day after the 2018 election. I was down by a few dozen votes the night of. Fast-forward a couple of weeks and I give you the accidental MP for Bayswater by a mere total of 296 votes. I could not believe it. After being preselected for the seat, just a month out from the poll, when I told my senior sergeant at Melbourne prosecutions, ‘I’ll see you in a month,’ I was to become the state member for Bayswater at the age of 26, and I never saw that senior sergeant again. That began what was to be a wild ride for the next eight years, leading to you lovely people listening to me here this evening. And I can proudly report to the house that serving as the member for Bayswater has been undoubtedly the greatest professional privilege of my life.

I am grateful for the chance to address you all here in what is the people’s house, a place whose ideals and what it represents will outlive each and every one of us. I intend to use this opportunity to reflect on my time here in this role and to thank a few people. I cannot promise any great lessons or advice, but I promise I will not get all prophetic on you and I will attempt to weave humility in. We could all do with a little more of that in here, I am sure.

Being first elected to state Parliament at the age of 26 was a lot to take in. There was no handbook, and for so many reasons, including my young age, I knew I had a lot to prove. In essence, I owed it to the people of the community that I have represented to do the work and to get the outcomes they deserved. Prior to entering Parliament I had worked as a police prosecutor and frontline member of Victoria Police and had been a local councillor. I had grown up in Dandenong and had a tough start to life in my childhood with my two brothers. I mention that because it is this adversity I faced which shaped who I have become and has been a guiding star for me in this role, as I have always tried to remember where I have come from and what motivates me.

I have tried to take those experiences and turn them into positives, into action, into doing the right thing, into helping others and, in my mind, hopefully making a difference around the edges. Those values were reinforced in a profound way in 2016 when my mum passed away. My mother’s passing in 2016 was a turning point in my life. It reinforced the belief that life is short and that we should not waste precious time. It was one of the reasons that motivated me to get into politics, and it has continued to shape my approach to service.

Being in politics and public office has also given me the incredible opportunities to work with our community and achieve things together that I am immensely proud of. It has given me so many opportunities to see the absolute best of people, and sometimes, yes, the worst. I have always approached the role and people with the mindset that I have never wanted to be a partisan warrior or disagree with people for the sake of it. I will have a conversation with anyone, regardless of their political leanings; in fact I believe you stand to learn a whole lot more from people who disagree with you, people who challenge you. I believe when opinions and ideas conflict, that is where you get growth.

I have always been a big believer that words carry weight, and in this place and in our roles we must always acknowledge that. There is a saying that it is ‘better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt’. It is something I have tried to live by. I did say ‘try’. Not only do our words carry weight but so too our actions that stand as examples to the communities we represent. I would love to stand here and say I would hope this was a kinder place, but the adversarial nature of Parliament I get, and it does have its place.

We all have different viewpoints and a way of doing things that at times conflict, but I believe strongly that all of us are here for the right reasons. There is no doubt there is a personal cost that comes to being in this place, but kindness to each other is free and never a bad thing. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, the most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.

There are of course times when disagreement and conflict are unavoidable, and it is a real test in that moment of who you are as to how you respond to it. Looking back, I need not look too hard to find the greatest example of that. The pandemic reached our shores in 2020. It was such a huge moment of course in modern human history, but to be just one year into a first term as a 27-year-old during a global pandemic was daunting. This was a period of serious instability and societal upheaval, and I knew however hard the day may have been that I was in a very fortunate position.

The days of COVID politics were unrelenting. I felt like I was constantly online and that a high-pressure, high-scrutiny job just went up a few notches. As a member of the government and local MP, I and all MPs became a central point of contact and of information dissemination and deciphering for thousands upon thousands of people. The decisions being made and the communication of those were having massive impacts on every single person.

I remember the thousands of conversations I had in reaching out to people to see how they were doing. I remember the stories of bravery and heroism. I remember the sacrifices made by so many. I remember my team and me doing everything we could to get back to people as quickly as we could and everything else in between that came with it. The pandemic really displayed the greatest of who we are. As silly as it may sound, it is the period I reflect on the most as a time where we showed what we are capable of, and the words and deeds of so many in our community shone brightly past all the chaos.

The pandemic also reminded us all, in case we needed it, of the nature of politics and news in the 21st ‍century. It is 24/7, and the rise of social media has changed everything. It has changed how we engage on every level. It is a demanding job and one in which you know you will never please everyone, but that is its great challenge too. I will miss that, but I will not miss the social media, if I am being frank.

Above everything else, the gift I have been given these past eight years has meant I have had incredible opportunities, I believe, to be a force for good, to be an outlet for change. As all politicians will invariably do when we decide to pull up stumps, we tend to talk about some of the things we delivered and achieved. I do this not to big-note but to acknowledge the work of many people who made it all possible. I am only one person. The credit belongs to our community for pushing for many things and keeping me honest. Before I do cover a few things off, it is worth noting that politicians often get confused about what people value most. When I first started, I recall thinking how important it was to list the dollar figure attached to the projects as if that would somehow blow people’s socks off. The longer I have been in, though, the more it has become clear that the value is much more than a dollar figure. It is about the outcomes and their impact on people’s lives.

The first thing that comes to mind is the breakfast program I helped start in Boronia. Its cost compared to so many other things is not nothing, but it is not much. Over five years now it has changed so many lives. It has served a decent meal four to five days a week to people who need it, no questions asked and no judgement given. It has helped build friendships and connections before where there were few or none. It has helped calmly and carefully get people into housing and connected into services they need and that they had never even thought of reaching out to. It has given people the dignity of simple things like a haircut, and it is something I am incredible proud of.

In the last eight years we have also upgraded every single public school across the two iterations of my electorate. Personally, knowing the difference a good public education made to my life, it has been a privilege to have been able to support education locally from a capital and policy perspective. It has unashamedly been my number one priority, as education is indeed the great leveller in society. One thing I was particularly proud of was the Baywater education plan, only the state’s eighth education plan, which I chaired in partnership with all the primary schools across Bayswater and Baywater North and Bayswater Secondary College. It has had a huge impact on outcomes across all those schools and in particular that of Bayswater Secondary, which is just kicking some serious goals – almost like a proud dad moment seeing how far that school has come.

I am heartened that we have expanded a local family violence prevention service into the City of Knox, helping support victims. I am proud that we have delivered safer roads, with new signalised intersections at McMahons Road in Ferntree Gully and Alchester Village in Boronia. I am stoked that we have supported our grassroots sporting clubs, like St Andrews Cricket Club, Boronia Hawks Football Netball Club, Bayswater Junior Football Club, Bayswater Bowls Club and so many more with new pavilions and facilities. And yes, I am super stoked that we created around 18 MCGs of new open space with the green heart of Knox along Blind Creek, which has been the largest investment in our local environment in a generation. We have also seen new facilities built at the much-loved Angliss Hospital and a new public aged care facility in Wantirna. Finally, work has kicked off on the new station for The Basin CFA, and we gave the great folk over at the Knox SES unit a new build as well.

But ,yes, the thing I am very excited about – and I will have to resist the urge to go into full members statement mode here – is the new Boronia station precinct upgrade. This took me years, and I cannot tell you how many conversations were had and how many times I heard ‘no’ or felt that I was getting laughed out of a room on this. But all of that is in the past, because ahead of us is a new central beating heart for a genuinely decent suburb for decent people deserving of a place they can be proud of.

Whilst the role of a local member is predominantly to get outcomes directly for your local community, I am also immensely honoured to be part of a team that has delivered the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System; doubled funding for disability inclusion in schools; made kinder free; delivered state-shaping infrastructure like the Metro Tunnel, the North East Link and the Suburban Rail Loop; invested tonnes more money into social housing; and led the way on climate change and investment in renewable energy. I could spend a long time on the achievements of this government, but suffice to say it has been a government of doing things, and it truly has been great to be part of it all.

The life of an MP is not just about being seen through the prism of deliverables but, critically, about how you represent your community in Parliament and how you engage on an everyday level. As a member I have spent my time being someone who has connected at every opportunity with community, particularly in the first term, given I was new and for the most part a bit of an unknown commodity. I knocked on thousands of doors, called thousands of people, held hundreds of street stalls and more. It was not a chore; it was a duty, and it made me a better member – I have no doubt about it. Listening to people was critical, as was not pretending to be someone that you were not.

Of course I would not be here if it were not for the faith shown in me by the wonderful people of Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, The Basin, Wantirna and Wantirna South and previously Bayswater North, Heathmont, Kilsyth South and a tiny little part of Ringwood. I cannot begin to thank you enough for allowing me to work in the best job in the world. I cannot tell you how many times I have been blown away by the generosity of this community. It may sound like something you just say, but truly I do not think what I have been able to do these past eight years I will ever get to do again in the sense of the kind of fulfillment one gets in their professional life. That is not created through dollars in a budget outcome or in a CCU bulletin announcement but through the kindness of people and their willingness to work with you to do decent things.

I have also had the greatest of opportunities to get to know so many fantastic community organisations, schools and local businesses right across the area. We are so lucky to have such a strong community, one that cares and one that knows just how good Knox is. Thank you for being so kind, for your support and for simply being you.

While the spotlight often falls on the elected rep, everything that has been achieved has only been possible because of the dedication, passion and support of the amazing team I have had the privilege to work with. Thank you to every single person who has helped locals day in and day out, whom I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this with. I would like to thank in particular Julie Buxton, Patrick Kelly, William Broadbent, James Gan, Adam Abramovich, Eve Cain-McAliece, Liam Pierides, Kylie Williams, Declan High, Thomas Broadbent, Jack Pallas and Kate Hallam for their significant contributions to the team, for making work fun and for their service to community – hear, hear!

I would like to further acknowledge Will, who was on the team for around five years and made me look presentable on social media, helped countless locals and has now gone onto great things – very proud of you, man. To Liam Pierides, who made the office a meme competition at times, thanks for your dedication and hard work in the crew. Thomas, Will’s brother – what a guy – continued the trend of making me presentable on social media and is super talented in so many ways. You are going to achieve so much in life, mate. To Jack Pallas, the quiet achiever, thank you for everything these past three years and for your service to helping people when they need it.

And, yes, to Patrick Kelly. Nearly eight years we worked together, and with six months left you decided you could not take it anymore – no, mate; I am very proud of you. You have become one of my dearest friends. I simply would not be here without you, my man. You are genuinely in my view the best electorate officer, and the pleasure has been all mine. Thanks also for driving into the city with your partner Steff to watch George sleep in the car so I could race off and see Thomas be born late on New Year’s Day. That is one for the ages.

I want to thank all of my colleagues in Parliament and your teams, and I wish you all the best into the future, some more than others – no, just kidding. To all the often-unsung heroes across this Parliament and the Department of Parliamentary Services: thank you a hundred times. I am looking at you, clerks. To the Hansard team, to the HR crew, to payroll, to property services, to the customer service team, to the legends in security, to the IT outfit, to member services, to the library, to the cleaners, to the maintenance team, to our wonderful catering team and to anyone I might have missed: thank you for making life easy for a somewhat difficult group of people – it is true. I want to thank all of the advisers past and present across ministerial offices and the Premier’s office. You have been marvellous, and I simply could not have done my job without your patience and assistance these past years.

I want to take this moment to also thank the Premiers I have served under. First to Dan Andrews: thank you so much for believing in me, mate. To Jacinta Allan, a decent human and a wonderful Premier: thank you for supporting me and for your guidance. And of course to Ben Carroll, a great guy, a deep thinker and someone who has always given me his time: Victorians are lucky to have you as their Premier. And I of course want to wish Julie Buxton, the new Labor candidate for Bayswater, all the very best. She would make a superb member of Parliament if given the chance. And it goes without saying that I will of course be there working alongside Julie to see a re-elected Carroll Labor government in 2026.

Being a member of Parliament was admittedly a dream of mine, and I do feel like I am in the only room in Victoria where I will get a majority of the room judging me less for saying as such. It has been such a whirlwind, and at times it has felt like it has taken over my life. As time and life have gone on, it is clearer to me though that family is everything. I cannot tell you how lucky I am to have Natasha Russo as my wife and I, her husband. She is the smartest, funniest, kindest person I have ever known, and she is just as stubborn and opinionated as me, so it works perfectly. In all seriousness, she has never once questioned my life in politics, never tried to hold me back and always encouraged my passions because that is who she is. She is an incredible mother to our boys and the most supportive person I know and, luckily for me, I married her – great wedding, by the way – and life really changed. And it changed my perspective on the value of things when our little George came along. George had a bit of a bumpy journey into the world. Now nearly three, he has grown into the most beautiful little guy. He has the happiest disposition in life you have ever seen and has made us happy beyond words, and he has made us watch Coco and The Grinch at least 200 times apiece. Then our little Thomas was born on New Year’s Day this year, a beautiful little rambunctious guy who sleeps like an angel. I count myself incredibly lucky, and not once have I regretted my decision to step away from politics to put my family front and centre in my life. So to my wife Natasha and my boys Thomas and George Taylor: if you guys are ever looking back at this – or now – I love you.

I want to now briefly reflect on a few things I will miss in this job. I will miss the key CCU lines in the morning. I will miss the free character assessments. I will miss the shouts of ‘Hear, hear’ and the confected outrage in this place that of course is just in my head. I will miss the pictures of the Parliament TVs with my bald spot showing that my staff have texted me numerous times – I am going to get more of those now, in the next couple of months. I will miss being able to call 22 999 and speaking to someone in IT who is almost certainly going to fix your problem on the spot. I will miss referring to people as ‘my good friend and colleague’, knowing the former was not always exactly true. I will miss the Speaker saying ‘it has been a wideranging debate’. And I know you all will not miss me talking about Boronia station for, without a joke, probably the 800th time since I was elected.

But seriously, what I will actually miss is seeing the best of people using politics and policy to change our corner of the world. I will miss working with people in our community, like Penny Robinson, Denise Budge, Michael Smith, Brooke Cross, Liz Swan, Wayne Preston, Greg Hannon, Dwayne Paisley, Matt Millar and Shan Pillai, almost all of whom have joined us here this evening – hear, hear! You are not supposed to ‘Hear, hear’ yourself. I could list so many more. Thank you to each of you for being great people to work with. Gandalf the Grey once said, ‘All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.’ In my first speech in Parliament I said that I would not let you down and that I would work hard every day. And I said:

I am also aware of the reality that there are many who did not vote for me nor Labor. Be assured that I will be a member of Parliament who works for all of you. And I promise this: even if we cannot agree, I will listen.

I hope I have lived up to those words and those ideals. When all is said and done, I believe I have played my part and done so with conviction. Thank you, and go well, all.

Members applauded.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.