Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge that we are gathered here today on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri, the traditional custodians of Canberra, the ACT and surrounding areas. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging, and I look forward to being part of the parliament that finally enables voice, treaty and truth for our First Nations.

I would also like to thank the many people who have made the special effort to be here today and this afternoon. To the extraordinary Team Tink, who supported my campaign to be elected as the Independent member for North Sydney; to my family; to my friends; and to all the members of parliament who are here today: thank you. To those watching from afar: please know I feel your love and support, and I will endeavour to do you proud. I also want to acknowledge the people who are no longer here with us in body today but who have played significant roles in both my life and this campaign. These people have shaped who I am and how I approach things, and I am forever grateful for their wisdom, love and guidance. It is truly reassuring to see so many familiar faces in this room today, and it speaks volumes to the reality that getting an Independent member to Canberra is very much a reflection of the community's commitment and passion to see politics done differently.

When people first see my name, many of them find it hard to pronounce. Often they call me 'Ky-leah', but it's literally plain 'Kylie' spelt in a way that only young, optimistic parents in the seventies could ever have considered. It's not a traditional spelling, particularly not in the business circles where I've spent the majority of my career, nor here in Parliament House, but my name suits me. It's quintessentially Australian with a quirk—much like me as a current parliamentarian.

I may not be what you would traditionally expect to see in this House. I don't have party heritage and I did not aspire to be in politics as I moved through my career. But, when the community organisation North Sydney's Independent approached me to run in the recent federal election, I said yes—not because I thought we were certain to win, nor because I thought I had all the answers or any visions of grandeur; rather, I was drawn to the idea that the democratic outcome for North Sydney and our country could only be stronger if people—communities—had a genuine voice in the political debate, so their concerns and ambitions might be truly reflected in the government decisions that follow.

And so, today, I stand before you, not as a politician per se but as a proud parliamentarian elected by the people of North Sydney to ensure our community's voice is heard loud and clear. To paraphrase Sam Mostyn AO, President of Chief Executive Women:

Being a woman leader is quite different from being a male one … there are far fewer of us—and our paths tend to be different … we encounter obstacles and challenges that are often invisible to men.

Yet we are all shaped by our experiences and our values, and I wanted to share some of mine with you. In particular, there are four values that I believe have drawn me to the path I see ahead. They are community, curiosity, compassion and courage—values that have been instilled in me since my earliest days.

Reflecting on my first community: I was born and raised in the small country town of Coonabarabran in north-western New South Wales as the eldest of four children. In those days, my parents, Dell and Colin Tink, did not have much, but what they did have, and continue to have, was an extraordinary commitment to community. To many people, Coonabarabran is the place you pass through on the inland highway between Melbourne and Brisbane. But, for the first 18 years of my life, it was my world, and much of who I am today was formed in those early years—the open spaces, the clean skies, stars like you've never seen, the heat off the ground during summer and the frost that cakes your windscreen in winter. People who know me will tell you, 'You can take the girl out of the country, but you cannot take the country out of the girl.'

In a small place like this, nothing happens unless people pull together to make it so, and some of my earliest memories are of my family chipping in to help others. It was just what you did. If someone needed help, you gave what you could. If something needed fixing, you did it, never expecting anything in return. My parents raised me to have a strong sense of right and wrong and drummed into me the importance of saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Compassion, respect, reliability, personal responsibility and persistence were all things that were expected of me, and my parents modelled these behaviours daily. It wasn't about horse-trading or negotiating something better for yourself; it was about creating opportunities for everyone, and, if you happened to benefit, all the better.

When I look at the impact my parents have had on my home town from supporting everything from the local tennis club to the aero club, school canteens, pony clubs and other local community organisations, there is no doubt they have given far more than they ever looked to receive. So, today, I want to thank my mum and dad for teaching me that anything is possible, that you should never stop asking why and that being told no or, 'You can't do it that way,' is just another opportunity to find a way around a perplexing problem.

Over the last 35 years, I've worked in a number of roles across a variety of industries with all kinds of people, and I've experienced the highs and lows of pushing for positive change. Whether it was my earliest experiences advocating for tighter controls on tobacco or the work I did for better treatments for those living with HIV/AIDS, in every case, I always finished with a great sense of hope for humanity and an enduring belief in people's capacity to do amazing things when they are united behind a common purpose. Nowhere did I see this more clearly than in my work with the McGrath Foundation, where one woman's vision—that of Jane McGrath—inspired me to fight to see every family in Australia have the support of a breast care nurse to help them navigate the devastating experience of a breast cancer diagnosis. From the seed of the McGrath family's experience, in the space of six years we grew from having four nurses working in the area to having over 100, and we saw the Sydney Cricket Ground turn pink every January for the Sydney Pink Test in what has become an iconic international sporting event.

Since then, my attention has turned largely to areas related to youth, whether that was advocating to get hundreds of children released from Australian immigration detention centres or working to provide opportunities for kids living with cancer to just be kids again at Camp Quality. More recently, my focus has been on trying to build greater support for vulnerable young Australians facing mental health challenges.

I moved to Sydney early in my career, and the community of North Sydney has been my home for the past 15 years. My children have gone to school there and still go to school there, I have built and managed businesses and not-for-profits there, and I am proud to say that North Sydney is where I belong. Traditionally under the custodianship of the Cammeraygal and Wallumedegal people, the electorate of North Sydney hugs the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. It extends from Gladesville, Woolwich and Hunters Hill in the west, to Cremorne in the east and Chatswood in the north, and includes all the incredible communities in between. It is a thriving urban centre.

On the surface, North Sydney and Coonabarabran may seem like a world apart, but look a little deeper and the reality is we have the same community at our heart. From our small businesses to our sporting clubs and community groups, to our vibrant business centres, our tertiary facilities and Royal North Shore Hospital, North Sydney is a community that recognises the value of pulling together to reach better outcomes for all.

It is by no accident that the North Sydney electorate has long been a centre for environmental advocacy. Indeed, the 1916 poem, 'The Sacrifice of Balls Head', by acclaimed Australian poet Henry Lawson, is one of the earliest articulations of a conservation ethic. Written in protest against the leasing of part of the foreshore to, of all things, a coal bunkering company, the poem reads:

And strings of grimy trucks shall run

In everlasting trains

And on the cliffs where wild trees are

Shall stand the soulless cranes

To dump their grimy loads below,

Where great brown rocks are grand;

And the deep grass and wild flowers grow—

And boating couples land.

It is not lost on me that, over a hundred years later, I stand before you today and North Sydney is still facing extraordinary loss through major infrastructure works, and what seems to be the never-ending desire to see our foreshore and green spaces sacrificed to urban sprawl. Resident groups have long argued for greater protections for our green spaces. North Sydney's parks and reserves not only enhance the beauty and liveability of our area; they are also crucially important to the local wildlife populations and air quality. For too long these concerns and others were overlooked as our community's voice took a back seat to the priorities of two-party politics. Our community's concerns and ambitions were written off as the ramblings of 'pure, enlightened, woke, capital-city greenies' or, my favourite, 'inner city raving lunatics'—criticisms that we found curious initially, but which we ultimately realised were indicative of a far greater level of disconnect and basic disdain for our community.

Hear me when I say that the people of North Sydney want politics done differently. I stand before you today as the elected representative of a vibrant and diverse community that draws in people from all backgrounds and ages. We are the thinkers, the doers, the feelers, the leaders, the believers and the achievers. We see enormous challenges facing our society, our economy and our environment. We recognise that we are at a tipping point on climate, integrity, equality and—fundamentally—in politics. And we can see the potential to do better. We want our parliamentary voice to be heard for its individuality, not because we think we have all the answers or because we think we have a greater right to be heard than any other but because we believe we have something to add to the national public discourse and that something will add value. We are an electorate that values reason and consensus. We want to look at our federal parliament and see a space that reflects everything we believe we are as a country: diverse, vibrant, resilient, responsible, responsive and optimistic, a place where people listen as often as they speak and always remain open to working together to come to a point of consensus which leaves us all the stronger.

We want to see integrity restored to politics and an end to the corruption, dishonesty and discrimination that have eroded Australians' trust in democracy for over a decade. I firmly believe that, as some of the highest office holders in our land, federal parliamentarians must be held to the highest possible standard so that others may aspire to do the same. We want transparency in grant allocations and greater accountability in how our public funds are spent, including insight into how decisions about investment in major infrastructure projects like the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link in Sydney are made and how the cumulative impacts of these projects on our natural environment are being justified. According to a study undertaken by Infrastructure Australia in 2019, the four kilometres of the M1 between the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Artarmon are the most congested road in Australia. While we know we need solutions to this issue, our community does not simply want more freeways generating pollution around our schools, aged-care facilities and homes. In the 21st century, we know we are capable of better transport solutions than ones conceived in the 1970s.

Like many other forward-looking communities across Australia, North Sydney wants innovative, smart, transparent investment in sustainable and renewable energy, and we will advocate for faster access for all to cleaner fuels and more efficient vehicles. We want faster action on climate change, led by facts, not politics. We will act on our ambition and work together across all levels of government to make the electorate of North Sydney one of the first net-zero urban energy zones in the country. On a federal level, we want our government to guide our nation to the outcomes we are desire by providing clear and reliable leadership, national coordination and support. I look forward to working with this 47th Parliament to set a vision that our nation can get behind and ensure the signals that are being sent to both the domestic and international markets show that Australia is in the business of leading a sustainable and renewable energy future. Federal government is uniquely placed to see our country from a position where no other organisation can. That oversight and power must be used to move us forward, not hold us back because of fear or a lack of bold ambition.

While North Sydney is unapologetically ambitious, we are also deeply concerned about who we are to become as a nation and believe that we must always act compassionately. The North Sydney and Lane Cove local government areas are both refugee welcome zones, and across the wider electorate there is a great deal of community support for greater equality for women, First Nations Australians and those who have sought refuge on our shores in times of immense distress. You see, we believe everyone deserves a fair go, no matter their background, and we're prepared to work hard to ensure that people have the support they need.

It is not enough to continue to spruik the idea of Australia as the lucky country—not when 30,000 people continue to reside here as part of an appalling illegal immigration legacy case load. Our current laws are preventing these people from planning beyond five- or three-year intervals. They cannot be reunited with the families they may have left behind, and yet the children who came with them know nothing of life in any other country. Indeed, they are Australian in every way, yet, because of the decisions of past governments, they are currently told they will never qualify for Australian citizenship. We've heard so much talk about the extraordinary gift that is Australia's multicultural reality and about the courage it takes to run with your family from imminent threats. I would challenge us as a parliament to strive to truly do better in the area of human rights. True refugees deserve our compassion, not our disdain.

With over 42,000 families, 185 childcare centres and schools and 25 aged-care facilities in the North Sydney area, we are also deeply aware of the need for a holistic and coordinated vision for Australian families and communities, particularly in the wake of the past two years. We need to reform and recharge our health services so that we are better equipped to adapt and respond to challenges like COVID-19 in the future.

We must look beyond what has been done to date to identify the underlying systemic issues driving phenomena like the unprecedented levels of mental distress across our country. Recent studies indicate that approximately one in five teens suffers from at least one diagnosable mental health disorder and that the teen mental health crisis continues to grow. I've spoken with experts like Professor Pat McGorry AO, Professor Ian Hickie AM, Amanda Riedel and Stephen Lewin. And I say to our parliament that this is an issue that cannot be solved by simply throwing money at it from the top down. We must do everything we can to build resilience in our children from their earliest ages and teach them how to ask tor help.

At the same time, we must build up support for those who are currently seen as the missing middle, perhaps struggling but not acute We can and must do better. I look forward to engaging further with North Sydney's young Australians, as well as the organisations that support them, to ensure that they have the building blocks they need to thrive as individuals and as community members so that they, too, may participate in working towards a better future for all.

North Sydney has long been a hub for technology, and innovation and we will work with other communities across our country to help build a strong, diversified economy for Australia, powered by well-educated and highly trained Australians. To do all this we must have courage. As a nation we need to be smart and to move beyond the dig-and-ship mentality towards one that sees us take our place as a smart and efficient manufacturing hub and a sovereign power, not only within our region but in the world.

We are living through a period of immense geopolitical turbulence, and our region needs us to focus on forming healthy relationships with those around us, based on the recognition that, while we may not always agree, we must seek to foster mutual respect and constructive dialogue with those who occupy this planet with us. This might seem like a lot of work to do, but it's the least that the people of North Sydney are looking for this federal parliament and myself as their representative to deliver.

During the last election, people working within the traditional two-party political system touted the rise of community independents as a risk to stability and predictability. They argued that we lacked ideology and that without a party structure we would descend into chaos. But that's simply not true. I don't lack ideology. The ideology that drives me now is, in fact, what fundamentally led to the creation of our Constitution. When the Australian Constitution was written, its creators were people from disparate communities spread across a vast continent who recognised that for our nation to grow and evolve we needed a framework and a common meeting place, where representatives from each community could negotiate and, by consensus, come to an agreement on the best way for us to move forward. It took eight years for our Constitution to be drafted and two more for it to be ratified, on 6 July 1900. And as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act came into effect on 1 January 1901, what was notable at the time was that nowhere in that document was there any use of the word 'party'. Our Constitution was written by the people for the people.

As North Sydney's Independent member of the 47th Parliament of Australia, I am driven by the beliefs espoused by the strong and capable people who have come before me—people like Ted Mack and Genia McCaffrey in North Sydney, whose work and advocacy we all continue to benefit from today. I'm also grateful to Cathy McGowan for reinvigorating the independent movement and, closer to me, the member for Warringah, Zali Steggall. Both have been eternally generous with their experience and advice. Only yesterday, at the opening of the parliament, the table that sits at the heart of this chamber was encircled by a formidable group of strong female Independents, each of us being sworn in as MPs and vowing to take this work forward for our communities. While we were unknown to each other prior to this experience, I cannot be prouder to be counted among you today as part of a history-making crossbench.

Ted Mack, arguably the father of Independents, said:

… government should be open to public scrutiny. That elected representatives should enable people to not only participate in all decisions that affect them but ultimately find ways to have people make decisions for themselves. That the very basis of democracy is that a decision taken by the public as a whole will be right more often than decisions taken by an elite group …

As North Sydney's Independent, I will have just two masters: my community and my conscience. My presence in Canberra will ensure our community's true voice is heard. I commit to standing for integrity, accountability and transparency, because that's what the people of North Sydney want. As I said earlier, I did not enter politics because I believe I have all the answers; I'm here for everyone who believes we can and must do better for our children and their children. I am confident that, in reclaiming our voice, North Sydney can make a compelling case for the changes and progress we want to see.

I'd like to acknowledge the members who came before me in the seat of North Sydney, including my predecessor, Trent Zimmerman, who served our community in the last two terms of government. To the amazing team who truly were the driving force behind our campaign, my ride or die: Katrina Barter, Suzy Bessell, Eleanor Docherty, Bridget O'Brien, Denise Shrivell, Kristen Lock, Jonnie Kennedy, Ann Sloan, Mary Moss, Aneka Henshaw, Dr Katherine Woodthorpe, Anthony Reed and Andrew and Renata Kaldor, you are the people I turned to almost on a daily basis for advice, support and courage when I thought I was flagging, so thank you.

I would like to especially acknowledge my children, James, Kate and Maeve, who have taught me more of this world than any other life experience. Please know that it is the thought of you, your friends and all future children that has driven me to step into this arena. I could never ask you to face into something that I was not prepared to accept responsibility for for myself. So, while I apologise in advance for what I know may sometimes be torrid times in the coming years, I want you to know I will always face you with the knowledge that I have done and will continue to do everything I can to leave this world a better place than I found it.

Margaret Mead famously said:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

It is my great honour to be the first woman to represent the people of North Sydney within our federal parliament. To the people of North Sydney: thank you. I look forward to working with and for you in the 47th parliament of Australia. Thank you.

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