Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, could I begin by congratulating you on again being the Deputy Speaker of this House, for this term. I rise, newly re-elected, with deep gratitude and a renewed sense of purpose to represent the people of Lalor for another term in this place. I want to begin by thanking the people of Lalor for placing their trust in me once again and assuring them that, again, I feel the weight of responsibility and the privilege of service.

I will obviously be called shortly to make way, to cede, for my good friend the new member for Gorton in her first speech. But, before that, I want to pay tribute to the volunteers, supporters and campaign workers who worked tirelessly to support my re-election and the return of the Albanese Labor government. I want to thank them and those who join us today to hear from the member for Gorton, who helped on that campaign. I want to thank the people who worked across the country to see the re-election of the Albanese Labor government. I offer my deepest gratitude and, I know, the gratitude of all who sit on this side of the House. Thank you for the early mornings, the late nights, the phone banking, the doorknocking, the letterboxing and for standing with me in the typical Melbourne elements of the rain, the wind and the sunshine—often in the same hour—at prepoll. To all of those across the country who worked so hard: your belief in our collective mission not just keeps my drive alive but drives all of us on this side of the House to be the responsible second-term Labor government set to deliver on our commitments to support people in this cost-of-living crisis and support them to ensure that they can keep the roofs over the heads of their families, keep food on the table and, more importantly, keep themselves healthy through our commitments to Medicare.

It is an absolute pleasure to be in a chamber full of some recently elected Labor MPs who believe in this collective mission as well. I know that people in my community at home, when they see this speech, will be warmed by the numbers in this chamber—not just by the numbers but by the diversity that's reflected in this chamber—because this chamber is starting look a lot like my electorate, just quietly. And I know it's looking a lot like the member for Gellibrand's electorate and a lot like the member for Gorton's electorate. In fact, it's starting to look like electorates across our country. Obviously we've got more work to do, but we're really pleased—and I know that there's a minister behind me who's really pleased—to see us as a majority government with a majority of women members. I know that's something that 30 years ago, when we passed affirmative action laws at a national conference, those women who were on the floor that day fighting so hard for gender equality would be so, so proud to see us all take our places in this chamber today.

To continue, I know that in my electorate, from the Werribee South farms to the burgeoning new housing estates in Manor Lakes and Mambourin, from the long-established communities of Werribee and Hoppers Crossing to the communities growing around our newest schools in Tarneit, we are a community of consolidating and deepening connections, finding our collective voice. We're a thriving snapshot of modern Australia, with multiple languages spoken. Our vibrant places of worship, sport, education, food and businesses, our schools and our shopping centres, our sporting fields and our recreation areas, and our workplaces and our growing restaurant scene all reflect the broader world. We in Lalor are truly a global community. With that comes extraordinary opportunity and, yes, some challenges, but nothing that will ultimately impede us from making the most of our promising future.

I know that those words can be shared in every electorate across this country because we are building a new, modern Australia reflective of the globe and everything that that means. I walk into classrooms in my electorate, and I'm so proud to see the multiculturalism reflected back at me. But that's not just because of it's difference or it's diversity; it's because at the core of it there's an aspiration—an aspiration about what this country can be, an aspiration about where we might end this journey with a truly, truly global country in the South Pacific and what that will mean for the world. We will be a beacon for how we can live together, for how we can plan together, for how we can create communities across our country and across the world where people's race, ethnicity, colour, gender—where diversity is celebrated everywhere, not just in the schools in my electorate but across our great country and across the globe.

Deputy Speaker, I believe you're about to call time on my contribution at the moment. I will give that time and look forward to returning to my address-in-reply speech at a later hour.

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