Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I start, please note this is not my first speech. I've learned that the hard way! I'm honoured to be here in this place as the youngest member of the Senate in the 47th Parliament. Under the previous government, young Australians were shunned and locked out from policy decisions that impacted their lives and futures. As a young Australian, I know that our voices were not heard, and as a result the policies of the previous government raided our retirement savings, made it harder to access education and training and did nothing for accessible housing.

Young Australians are diverse, they are engaged in politics and they want to be listened to. When an issue is present in society, it is often young people who are affected most. It is young people who are mostly feeling the pinch in rental markets or in trying to buy a home. It is young people who are most disadvantaged by the casualisation of the workforce. It is young people who are most acutely impacted by the previous government's attacks on higher education and TAFE. I am proud to be a young Labor senator elected to this place, because I know that this Albanese Labor government will engage the youth. We are committed to establishing a framework to engage with young Australians and establishing an Office for Youth, and we have an incredible Minister for Youth in Dr Anne Aly.

On the campaign trail, I often heard from young people who wanted change. They were sick of the rorts and wanted a national anticorruption commission with teeth. They were tired of their universities and TAFEs being attacked. They wanted to see a parliament that truly reflected their community, and they wanted a government who would end the climate wars and take action on climate change. Labor listened, and the Albanese Labor government will deliver a better future for young Australians. As the youngest member of this parliament, I'm committed to continuing to listen.

On 1 July I began my term as a senator for my home state, Western Australia. It is an honour to stand here representing WA. During the election campaign, the previous government threw out everything they could to try and hold on to power. They bought buses and trucks, they were supported by minor fringe parties and they made hundreds of promises. But Western Australians remember. We remembered the promises that were broken time and time again. We remembered that they used taxpayers' money to support Clive Palmer against our state. We remembered the political games played during the height of the pandemic. We remembered when the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison called us 'cave people'. So Western Australians made a choice for a better future, and we voted out a government which had taken us for granted for far too long. I am so lucky to be representing my home state, and I'm committed to making sure that the voice of Western Australia is heard here in Canberra.

There is a feeling in WA that we are not heard or respected enough in this place. We saw it time and time again with the last government. We are essentially, if I may, the nation's breadwinner, and yet often national discussions seem to treat the eastern states as the centre of the universe or the gold standard. As a senator for WA, I will not let this be the case. In every committee I am on, the meetings I have, the interviews I give and the speeches I make in this place, I will always be fighting for WA. I will always stand up for my beloved home state of WA, and I'll never take it for granted.