Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2022, through a lionhearted Labor effort, I became the first Labor member for Higgins in the seat's 75-year history. My campaign was powered by the energy and commitment of Labor members who doorknocked, staffed the prepoll and polling-day booths, phone banked and supported my 2022 campaign in a multitude of other ways. Parliamentarians are the vanguard, but powering us are the people—the Labor people, young and older, regional and metro, from all walks of life.

For us, it is about 'no-one held back and no-one left behind'. We are here to roll up our sleeves and challenge the status quo that is leaving people behind or holding them back. On housing, job security, health care, education, discrimination and of course tackling climate change, we are the reformers.

It is a great source of pride to me that Higgins supported an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, when Labor people again came out in support of justice and progress. To all Labor members, but in particular those of the Malvern, Oakleigh, Prahran, Ashwood and Hawthorn Labor branches: my sincere thanks. While the electorate of Higgins may not exist from 2025, our great achievement in 2022 will stand in the history books—a legacy we own. It has been my great honour to have served and to continue to serve this community and to work with my Labor warriors and friends.

Ryan, a year 9 student from Higgins, has written about our social media age limits bill:

As a teenager who grew up in the presence of the internet his entire life, I feel that more often than not, social media has been a burden on the wellbeing of myself and many others.

Giving children unrestricted access to social media does irreparable harm. I personally accessed social media platforms such as Discord and Snapchat at an age as young as nine years old.

I have witnessed the tremendous harm that platforms like Instagram have inflicted upon many young people I know. Cultivating an unhealthy standard for one's appearance destroyed the self-image of many young people, including some of my closest friends.

This fosters unhealthy habits in young people, such as constant comparisons, the constant need for validation and a heavily skewed sense of identity.

Allowing children unrestricted access to social media platforms without any age verification at all exposes them to risks they cannot handle. Risks such as cyberbullying, exploitation and grooming have harmed too many Australian children.

Thank you, Ryan, for your heartfelt words. I agree with them wholeheartedly. You have wisdom beyond your years as a child who has been part of this grand experiment, and I believe, like you, it is failing our young people. That is why this Labor government is doing something about it.