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

I want to thank the member for Fowler for moving these amendments. I think one of the things that is true of our society at the moment is that we are at a tipping point. We are going through a massive cultural change as a nation. While we proudly herald ourselves as an example of one of the strongest multinational countries in the world, all too frequently we still tend to lean towards one part of our history.

I think that what the member for Fowler has done here is provide us as a parliament with an opportunity to recognise that we need to shepherd our parliament through this cultural change. To her point, putting instructions such as these into notes in a memorandum is not strong enough in this case. In my seat of North Sydney, nearly 50 per cent of the community were not born in Australia or have a parent who was not born in Australia. Thirty per cent of my community speak a language other than English at home. I believe it is essential, as we start to develop processes and procedures like this, that we are ensuring that they are not Anglo- and English-centric and that we are enabling our entire community to be protected and participatory in the process.

The other point that I would make, as this National Anti-Corruption Commission comes into existence, is that we are actually living in a time of unprecedented mental distress across our community. People are already experiencing high degrees of stress as a result of COVID lockdowns, global tensions and climate pressure. Again, I commend the member for Fowler for identifying that this is a good safety net to bring into this process. I know that much has been made in this chamber about the fear of what would happen for people being brought in front of it. I think that this is an infinitely practical suggestion in terms of amendments that would make this legislation stronger.

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