Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm going to read a speech from Maddy Nyp, a young person from the electorate of Mayo in my home state of South Australia. It is part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign, which amplifies the voices of young people and their visions for the future. Maddy writes:

At a family gathering yesterday, I spoke to my parents about what the next generation might look like. In the back of my head, I had this nagging whisper. It told of a little girl raised in an era of climate change, tugging on my sleeve while fires race across our lucky country. In this not-quite memory, she asks me, "Mum, why didn't you stop this?"

That night, I tried to think of an answer. Do you have one? I still haven't figured it out.

I participated in Raise Our Voice two years ago. Back then I was asking politely, but now, I'm begging. The change I would make to Australia is simple: we need to start being a country of decisive and explicit climate action. Because then, in that worst-case scenario, I can tell the next generation I tried. Can you tell them the same? I hope so.

In all of this, I must remind myself that the future isn't predetermined. There is a world where my daughters celebrate the sheer determination of our country in the face of climate change. I beg you, help me to make that reality.

Act, for the sake of the next generation.