Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to rise today and place on the parliamentary record news of the recent election of my friend Emily McMillan to the position of assistant national secretary of the mighty Transport Workers Union. A proud First Nations woman, Emily is the first woman to take on this role. I couldn't be more proud of her elevation to this position and of her contribution to the union movement and the road transport industry. After serving eight years as chief of campaigns at the national office of the TWU, Emily was recently endorsed by the national committee of management and elected unopposed to this role by the national council at its meeting in Fremantle last week.

Over two decades in the union movement, Emily has worked in a variety of public and private sector unions in industrial organising and campaigning roles. In her time as chief of campaigns at the TWU, Emily led the TWU's organising and campaign plans, which included a period of mass protected industrial action to make transport jobs more secure; the creation of the aviation campaign to rebuild jobs, pay and conditions after the pandemic; and a member-led recruitment campaign which has welcomed roughly 10,000 new members in the target areas of retail and aviation over the last two years. Most recently and most importantly, she led and won the campaign for transport reform through member-led national days of action, convoys, vigils, lobbying trips to Canberra and, of course, Senate inquiries. From my heart, and from Fiona's as well, Emily, congratulations. I look forward to continuing to work with you in your new role as the National Assistant Secretary of the mighty Transport Workers Union. We've got your back, sister.