Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The change is made by those who show up and today around the country thousands of women and men showed up. They showed up to express their anger, their frustration and their sadness at what has happened in the past and demanded what needs to happen in the future. I acknowledge that there people on all sides of this place who did show up. I was in awe of the thousands who did, as I joined them today outside this place, but, unfortunately, the Prime Minister did not show up. One person who did was Brittany Higgins. As she spoke so eloquently and powerfully to address the crowd, I couldn't help but be reminded of the choice that confronted her those few years ago. That choice between her career and reaching for justice. Brittany Higgins, unfortunately, felt that reaching for justice was too far away—an impossible choice. But no more is she hesitant, no more is she reluctant. As we saw today, she was powerful, present and absolutely fierce in her pursuit of justice. We wish her well. Change needs to happen. We all need to be a part of that change—not just on this side of the House but all of us.