Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to thank the member Moreton for moving this motion and providing me, a dedicated bookworm, this opportunity to speak on this topic. Books inspire the future generations of Australians. Books and learning to read play an important role in literacy skills and early development of children. As a paediatrician and mother of four, some of my most special moments were listen to go my children read and seeing their confidence grow, from Possum Magic through to the Harry Potter series, which I read in its entirety with my children.

Earlier this year, in May, there was a National Simultaneous Storytime. In fact, this was the 21st successive year of this event. This year's event combined literature with science—both of which are passions of mine. Children from right across Australia and New Zealand came together in libraries, schools, preschools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places. 2021 was the biggest and most successful National Simultaneous Storytime to date, with over 1.29 million participants at over 14,000 locations, including participants from New Zealand, Thailand, UK, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The book for this year was titled Give Me Some Space! and written by Philip Bunting and—quite remarkably—was read by the astronaut Dr Shannon Walker from the International Space Station. The book centres on a young child called Una, who is fascinated by space:

Una dreams of a life in Space. Life on Earth is just so so-so. But how will she get there? And will she complete her mission to discover life in Space?

Una, along with many Australian children who are also finding life 'so-so' through the COVID lockdown, will be able to dream big soon, with the recent announcement by the Morrison government that Australian technology will be sent to the moon, and the pending lifting of COVID restrictions in my home state of Victoria, where we have endured, unfortunately, the longest lockdown in the world. The agreement made between the Morrison government and NASA includes an Australian-built rover, which will be the first piece of Australian technology to be deployed on the moon.

Literacy has never been more important than it is at present. The fight against COVID has been a marathon event. With every vaccination it becomes a less deadly disease for us all, but we can't forget the shadow impacts of the COVID pandemic, including the mental health impacts, particularly on our children. In late August 2021, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute—where I used to work—released a report outlining the enormous impact COVID is having on the mental health and wellbeing of our young, particularly the most disadvantaged. The report says that prolonged school closures and lockdowns will exacerbate these impacts. Due to the lockdowns, students across Australia have been missing out. Through the pandemic, face-to-face learning has been replaced with online classes. And let's be clear: parents have been given a unique insight into the amazing work involved in educating our children.

It is not only parents but also our crucially important public libraries, such as the Stonnington libraries and the Glen Eira libraries in my electorate of Higgins, that have had to pivot and adapt their services to provide important programs for children, such as story time, baby time, children's holiday programs and literacy festivals. These have all been delivered online in my electorate of Higgins. For the most vulnerable in our society, there was also the home library service. But it is not just about the books on shelves that libraries provide. Our libraries have become a source of information during the pandemic, for example, by assisting people with finding where the nearest vaccination hub is or by assisting jobseekers with online courses for resume writing.

Statistics don't lie: reading has so many benefits. Readers are 28 per cent less likely to report feelings of depression. One in five claims that their reading habits prevent feelings of loneliness. Readers are 10 per cent more likely to report high self-esteem than non-readers, and this increases to 18 per cent if they read for at least 30 minutes a week. Readers are also more likely to report greater life satisfaction—and who can argue with losing your head in a book? I reflect on my childhood, when I discovered my passion for reading through my favourite childhood books, Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree and CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. These books ignited my passion for reading, through magic and mystery. Therefore, I encourage everyone to pick up a book, scroll through an e-book, or listen to an audio book and immerse yourself in the magic of reading, where anything is possible.

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