Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to give a speech on behalf of one of the candidates in Raise our Voice Australia's Youth Voice in Parliament campaign. It ran in this chamber from 7 to 10 of October, but Senate business prevented the giving of the speech during that week. Ninety MPs and senators have participated in this year's campaign. It's an important campaign that gives young Australians the opportunity to write a speech and have it read out by their representative in parliament.

My remarks today are read on behalf of Esther. Esther writes:

I dream of an Australia where all households can afford to live comfortably. Where the "forgotten" middle-income families can provide for their children, afford to pay their bills and aspire to achieve the great Australian dream of owning a home.

I dream of an Australia, whose government supports a strong small business sector, where SMEs, the backbone of the Australian economy, thrive, and where the media landscape is able to report on business success rather than industry collapse.

However, this dream is feeling increasingly out of reach. According to data …, the risk of small business failure rose by 20% in the year to March 2024. This is a national tragedy worthy of criticism and I fear that this risk is only being furthered by recent government investment—

Esther goes on:

It is for this reason that I speak on behalf of the small businesses and households struggling to pay their bills and call upon the next Australian parliament to lift the statutory ban on nuclear power. With this ban, Australia is only falling further behind other G20 countries, all of which are pursuing a nuclear energy future. It is my dream that the coming decade will see government investment in nuclear energy—a clean, efficient, baseload power supply that would provide reliable low-cost energy to all Australian households and businesses.