Sue Boyce (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to bring to the Senate’s attention today an event which I believe to be a very important advance for the international cause of people with disabilities. Many senators will know that I have a deep and abiding interest in the problems and the issues facing people with a disability and that I have a daughter with Down syndrome. Earlier today in St Paul, Minnesota, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, addressed her party’s national convention.

There are quite a few issues on which I believe that Governor Palin and I might disagree, but not about the importance of greatly improving our focus on disability issues and greatly improving our treatment of people with a disability. Governor Palin recently became the mother of a son with Down syndrome. I think it is fantastic that a major party in the United States has nominated a female on its presidential ticket and that it is a great bonus for those in the disability community that she has already put the issues of disability right up front on her political and policy agenda

The very first pledge that Governor Palin made in her nomination speech today was:

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

I am sure that this short but important statement made at the very beginning of such a significant speech gave heart to millions of Americans that finally their cause is being championed. It is becoming increasingly common for social causes of all varieties to recruit high-profile people to raise awareness about their particular issue. People with Down syndrome and the disability community in general are lucky to have found such a new champion as Governor Palin. I believe that Governor Palin’s love for her son and her support for the cause have the potential to raise the profile of disability issues internationally, and for that I would like to thank her.