Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, I congratulate you on your appointment. I know you're a person of the highest integrity and perfect for this role. For this my first speech in the 47th Parliament I want to refer to a coffee catch-up I had with some locals in a couple of my suburbs of Annerley and Tarragindi. I do this every month. I was expecting just a few people to turn up, but there were 30 or more at each of the posts. That took me and the cafe staff by surprise. I thought that people had had enough of politicians and politics, but it was actually the complete opposite. They were excited and they were full of hope. They were motivated and they were buoyed by the possibility of change that comes with the election of an Albanese Labor government. People came because they were excited that finally there was a government that not only believed in climate change but was actually getting on with the job of doing something about it. With nine years of policy vacuum behind us, there was a government in town that had real ideas and that were committed to implementing the promises we made to the people of Moreton and beyond.

This is a government that will deliver on aged-care reform, reducing emissions, protecting the environment, fixing visa processing delays, fixing the NDIS and so much more. I want to end by reflecting on what the Prime Minister said yesterday. He said that there's no middle ground when you're here in parliament. You're either going to look back with a source of pride or a source of regret. I don't want to look back with anger. I want to look back with pride in what I have achieved for the people of Moreton and for this nation