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

This parliamentary sitting fortnight has been both empowering and burdensome. One week ago today I stood up in parliament to call out unacceptable behaviour and to challenge all of us in this place to do better on that day and every day to come.

Then, four days ago, I moved a private member's motion calling on the Attorney-General to stop the prosecutions of David McBride and Richard Boyle. To do anything less is to continue to send a message to those who would speak truth to power that they should not as, rather than stand with them, power will work to shut them down.

Two days ago, with the parliamentary friends of youth mental health group, I hosted a youth mental health showcase in parliament to hear from those working in the sector. It was an inspiring morning, yet the needs among young people have never been greater and we have a responsibility to do more.

On the same day, the Parliamentary Friends of Hazaras hosted a community vigil to mark the two-year anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan remains volatile and the ongoing fight for freedoms and human rights deserves our respect and support.

Closer to home, in response to the news that one woman is dying of violence every five days in Australia, yesterday I and other parliamentary colleagues had the privilege of hosting a women's safety roundtable. With our federal and state women's safety commissioners, our nation's leading advocates for women's safety and a room full of frontline workers, legal bodies, social and economic support services, health representatives and government representatives, we discussed the legal, economic and government response needed to achieve the goal of ending violence within a generation. In the end, we all agreed that for too long discussions have been siloed and it is time for us to unite across sector and function to address this systemic crisis.

It was at this same roundtable that a women's safety crisis centre spoke out about the masculine cultural and attitudinal shifts needed to better protect women in this country and the role the behaviour in this place plays in slowing change. They said:

It terrifies us to see the behaviour of male leaders in parliament towards fellow female parliamentarians. We find it distressing these are the same leaders in charge of the National Plan to end Violence against Women and Children.

Then, as we all witnessed the unbearable news of the Libyan floods, with 10,000 people missing or dead, I attended briefings with the Climate Council, the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action and the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group. Through these I learned that climate change has altered our landscape so significantly the type and severity of bushfires being forecast will no longer be able to be fought by firefighters on the ground and that global forecasts indicate the world is dangerously off track to meet the Paris Agreement goals and that, while the only number that should matter is 1.5 Celsius, current conservative projections have the planet warming by 2.5 degrees. As a consequence, our world will see state failures, political instability, greater national insecurity, forced migration and fuel conflict, and yet climate action progresses slowly and average Australians remain in the dark as to any risks that may have been identified in the recent Office of National Intelligence report that has now been with the PM for 10 months.

Then, just yesterday, closer to home, I listened to those from the Northern Territory communities who are most affected by shale gas fracking in the Beetaloo basin. Their message was simple:

We know this fracking goes ahead we may not be able to live on country like we have for thousands and thousands of years. We need your help to keep our culture, water, our climate and our children's future safe.

So I find myself reflecting on everything I've seen, heard, and learned this sitting fortnight and I am struck by a common gaping hole, with that ultimately being the fundamental lack of respect that seems to be pervading our society. 'Respect' is such a simple word, yet living it, giving it and standing up for it would appear to be something we all need to fight harder for—respect for country, climate and culture, respect for women and youth, respect for health, respect for whistleblowers and respect for our communities, both here in Australia and globally. As I return home to my electorate of North Sydney this week, I will hold this reflection close and do everything I can to ensure that experiencing respect becomes the norm within our community as only then will it be possible for us to listen deeply and learn together to determine how to best respond to the level of need we are all currently confronted by.