Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Much is made in public commentary of the disenchantment and disengagement of younger Australians in the political process, but I have to say that as I was campaigning for Goldstein it became clear that this was not the whole truth. Many young people may have been disenchanted with the way the major parties do politics, but they were enthused by the opportunities provided by the rise of the community Independents, of which I am one.

Young people enrolled in record numbers to vote in the postal ballot on marriage equality and they liked the result. They saw that they could have an impact and I suspect it was one of the reasons they enrolled in large numbers for the last election.

Raise Our Voice aims to increase the number of young female and non-binary voices to lead conversations in policy and politics. Its Youth Voice in Parliament campaign is a national, non-partisan initiative to increase the political literacy of all our young voters and voters-to-be by connecting them with their local member of parliament. I'd like to take the opportunity to read into the record a couple of speeches from my young constituents. This one is from Sophia Smith:

… I am a 16 year old living with type one diabetes and I am a JDRF advocate. I live in the seat of Goldstein in Victoria and I was diagnosed with type one diabetes 12 years ago, when I was four.

I am writing to you today as part of the raise your voice campaign. I believe Australia's new parliament should accomplish progress in the support of the people and the planet.

In 2022 a great movement was made towards the rights of diabetic people through the Access for all campaign. Thank You to all members who voted to support this life changing initiative. This development allows teens like me to see a wider possibility in their future as well as the 750 other members of Goldstein affected by Type One diabetes, including my uncle and my dad.

However, this generous support should not stop here. We are still fighting to push for a world without Type one diabetes. We ask the parliament to continue to back progress towards a cure by supporting medical research.

Type one Diabetes is not just an individual issue but one that is nationwide, with 125,000 Australians struggling everyday through this disease. With just your support my future can become one without needles and tubes but instead one with a taste of normality. We have started such a great movement towards bettering people's futures so let's continue to strengthen them and reach that final goal of eliminating Type one Diabetes for me, my family, Australia and the world.

To which I would say: hear, hear.

And now this, from 16-year-old Rose Pearson:

While much of the world mourns the Queen—a woman lucky enough to be born into a position of power, of wealth and privilege—Australia has people rotting in what are essentially prison cells.

As Australians, we pride ourselves on providing a 'fair go for all', but this nation is deeply flawed in deciding those worthy of humane treatment.

Current policies are upheld by xenophobia, by racism, by a fear of the other that pervades the Australian consciousness even in a land populated by migrants.

Asylum seekers are sent back out into unsafe waters, locked up in offshore detention where the processing lasts years—there are people who have been imprisoned for decades, lost years of a normal life.

They have no access to our courts of law—because our laws would recognise that they are innocent of their conviction; that they deserve freedom and have the same right to life as you and me.

Australia accepts a mere 12,500 refugees each year. Consider our participation in global conflicts, in environmental destruction. Surely, as a developed nation we have a duty to uphold—a duty acknowledged in our signing of the 1951 UN Convention.

We have obligations to an international community, yes. But more than that, we have an obligation to our country, to make the sorts of choices that align with the values we so pride ourselves on having.

I implore you to change things for the better, to put our nation, Australia, on the right side of history.

For the better—on the right side of history—I couldn't have put it better myself. Thank you to Rose and to Sophia for your contribution to the public debate in this place.