Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we gather and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge the Turrbal, Yuggera and Quandamooka people, the traditional custodians of the land and waters of Bonner, and all First Nations people across our country, including those joining us today. As the proud mother of three First Nations children and the wife of a proud Waanyi and Kalkadoon man, I carry into this place a deep responsibility to listen, to advocate and to walk alongside First Nations people in truth and justice. This was and always will be Aboriginal land.

It is a great honour to stand in this place as the member for Bonner, particularly when my electorate was named after the very first Australian to become a member of this parliament, and acknowledge the importance of having a truly representative parliament. I am so proud to look around this chamber and see a rich and diverse representation of Australia today and, for the first time in history, women and men are equally represented in this place.

To the people of Bonner: thank you. Thank you for putting your trust in me, for opening your doors and sharing your stories over driveways, dinner tables and countless phone calls. I will always advocate for you, support you and serve our community every day with humility, compassion and kindness. To my predecessor, Ross Vasta: thank you to you and your family for your service over almost 20 years to our electorate.

I've had the privilege of listening to my colleagues' journeys to this place over the past week, and, like so many of them, my story is centred around family, community and service. I grew up in Yeppoon—not Yeppen!—on the central Queensland Capricorn Coast raised by hardworking parents, Denis and Christine, who are here today and who instilled in me the value of showing up for your mates, for your community and for people doing it tough. My dad managed the local sailing club. My mum was a TAFE teacher in early childhood education. They are the truest example of hardworking Australians who have done everything they could to ensure their kids had a quality education and every opportunity to pursue their dreams, even if that meant endless pineapple festival events and fundraising for the local Rotary in pursuit of the illustrious local pineapple queen crown—for me, not them—or, in more recent times, together with my twin brothers, Adam and Henry, donning Kara Cook shirts across multiple political campaigns over the past eight years. Thank you for your endless love and support. You all mean so much to me.

To my husband, Josh, who is also here today—he's a barrister, a champion of human rights and was the former chair of Queensland's Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry before it was axed by the Queensland LNP government last year. He's the one who backs me unconditionally, calls me 'the little engine that could' and keeps me grounded. Thank you, Josh, for supporting me and our family to pursue my dreams. Josh and I have walked this life together for over two decades now, from our university days and first jobs in the law to three beautiful children and, for me, not one, not two but three melanoma diagnoses before I turned 30. Through it all, I've learned this: our resilience is collective, and our strength is in community, friends and family.

To some of my very first and best girl friends, who have travelled here to be with me today: thank you. Breanna, Giselle, Liz and Jane, I appreciate your presence, love and support over so many years and through so many seasons of life. It truly does take a village, and you have been mine. My personal experiences with melanoma also taught me that our access in this country to quality healthcare, medical research, clinical trials and support organisations like Cancer Council Queensland can never be taken for granted. I'm so proud of Labor's record investment in and protection of Medicare—ensuring all Australians have access to quality and affordable health care when they need it.

To my children, Eden, Rita and Arlo: you are my compass. You remind me every day that we must do all we can to make a difference tomorrow. I'm so proud to be your mum. It's my most important job in the world. I know that this job will take me away from you and we won't have as much time together as I would like. But I do this job to make the future better not just for you but for all kids and particularly for those who might not have the same opportunities as you will in this life. I love you with all my heart.

To my local Labor Party branch members and volunteers in Bonner and also those from a little further afar, including my good friend Kerry; my campaign team; and, in particular, Sarah and Riley, who are also here today, together with former and current Queensland Labor state secretaries Kate Flanders and Ben Driscoll: thank you. I have been so proud to stand with you and campaign side by side. Together we had thousands of one-on-one conversations on the doors, on the phones and across prepoll and election day. Your dedication to the Labor Party and to me personally has meant so much.

To my union, the Services Union, and particularly their leadership, Neil Henderson and Jenny Thomas: thank you for being such an enormous support to me over many years and for actively encouraging me to be part of the collective action that is the union movement. I am so proud of the advocacy of the Services Union on many issues but particularly in relation to domestic violence and campaigning for 10 days of paid domestic violence leave that was delivered by this Labor government in the last term. I'll never forget standing in front of Queensland parliament at a Red Rose Foundation rally following the murders of women in Queensland and looking up to see the Services Union proudly marching down George Street to join us. We are truly stronger together. I also want to thank the United Workers Union, Transport Workers Union, Together and EMILY's List—including my mentor through EMILY's list, Claire Moore—for their support during the campaign.

To my Queensland Labor parliamentarians who joined me on the trail—Joan Pease, Di Farmer, Corrine McMillan, Joe Kelly, Shannon Fentiman, Steven Miles, Cameron Dick, Councillor Lucy Collier, Councillor Emily Kim and the now senator Corrine Mulholland—I look forward to working together every day for the betterment of our community. Thank you for your mentoring and support over many years. To our prime minister, Anthony Albanese: thank you for placing your faith in me. You believed we could win this seat when few others did, and your visit to my electorate made the world of difference not just to me and my community but to the Labor faithful, who had dreamed of winning Bonner back for almost 20 years. We did it together.

I also want to thank all of the federal ministers who took the time to join me on the campaign, the Hon. Jim Chalmers, Richard Marles, Tanya Plibersek, Anika Wells, Chris Bowen, Senator Penny Wong and Senator Murray Watt. Thank you for your support. I won't forget your generosity of time and advice both during the campaign and also following my election.

I want to share the story of a woman who I met doorknocking during the campaign. She was retired and during our conversation disclosed that she had been in a domestic violence relationship for over 30 years. It was only in the last few years that she was free of that violence and now lived as a carer for her adult son, who had significant mental health concerns that prevented him from working. She had challenges. She had always voted for the Liberal Party. She told me that a significant barrier to her leaving the violence was access to somewhere safe to go. I was able to tell her that Labor was building transitional domestic violence housing for women just a few suburbs over. She told me one of the ongoing challenges she faced was health care for herself and her son, which sometimes required care outside normal hours. I was able to tell her Labor would be building a new Medicare urgent care clinic just down the road and expanding mental health clinics so she could access health care for herself and her son when they needed it, for free.

When she asked about my background, I told her I was a former domestic violence lawyer and had helped women just like her safely leave relationships. She cried. She cried on my shoulder and told me she would be voting Labor for the very first time in her life. I have put my hand up for this job to help people like her. Before this place I was a lawyer. I have spent my professional working life advocating for vulnerable people in our community, including women escaping domestic violence. I founded the very first expert domestic violence law firm in Australia because no woman fleeing violence should be navigating the legal system alone. I have worked and volunteered in the community legal sector as the principal lawyer at Women's Legal Service Queensland and, most recently, as the CEO of Basic Rights Queensland. These free legal services advocate for women's rights, workers' rights and some of the most vulnerable Queenslanders, including those who have experienced domestic violence, workplace discrimination and disability discrimination.

I also served as a Brisbane city councillor on the largest council in Australia, with a budget of over $4 billion, where roads, rates and rubbish were core business but I also managed to fight for the big picture—for the first domestic violence strategy for the City of Brisbane and for the right for those who couldn't physically appear in the chamber to be heard remotely—and created a strong local community where inclusion and diversity were celebrated, not torn down with hate and division.

These roles taught me that politics isn't about ego or headlines. It's about impact, it's about community and it's about staying true to your authentic self and values, which for me means ensuring you work hard every single day to make a genuine difference in the lives of the communities we serve and that we stand up and we speak out when we see injustice and marginalisation.

Bonner is one of the most beautiful, diverse and community minded electorates in the country. From the waters of Wynnum and Manly to the leafy streets of Carindale and Mount Gravatt, from Rochedale to Chandler and Belmont to Wakerley, Bonner is a place where people pitch in at the local footy club, the P&C, the men's sheds—I have multiple sheds—and Meals on Wheels. It's home to nurses, teachers, tradies, small business owners and young families trying to build a future. It's also home to older Australians who have seen this country change and new migrants who are helping shape its future. It's also home to struggle, to people working two or three jobs just to get by, to renters who fear a rent hike will push them into homelessness, to parents waiting for mental health support for their kids and to women and children who still face violence behind closed doors. My job here is to make sure those voices are heard. My job is to ensure that the marginalised and voiceless are not forgotten or ignored.

I am a proud member of the Labor Party because I believe in a country where no-one is left behind; where your postcode doesn't determine your prospects; where women and children are safe in their homes; where workers have rights and families have time to care for one another and are supported with quality and safe early childhood education; where First Nations justice is not symbolic but systemic; where truth-telling is championed in every corner of the country, including here in our nation's capital, as a pathway towards reconciliation; and where everyone has a safe place to call home. We are a wealthy country. We need to ensure our most vulnerable are housed and well supported by wraparound services.

I will always fight for more access to bulk-billing and Medicare urgent care clinics, more mental health support, support for domestic violence organisations and access to justice for all. I want to see an Australia where women and children live free from violence, with systems that support, not retraumatise, survivors. I have sat in court with 90 domestic violence matters a day. I have seen firsthand the impact of that violence on generations. Generational trauma requires extensive and ongoing support. There are no quick fixes.

I will always push for policies that ease the pressure on families like cheaper child care, energy bill relief and for people to earn more and keep more of what they earn. I believe in a country honest about its past and united in its future. I will walk with First Nations people towards truth and healing.

I didn't come here to play politics. I came here because I believe in the quiet power of local action and the loud power of collective purpose. When I walk through the schools in Bonner, when I sit with women at our local community legal centre or domestic violence support services or when I speak to our local multicultural groups about their hopes for their kids, it reminds me that people haven't given up, that they want politics to be better—less performance and more purpose, less shouting and more solutions. To the people of Bonner, I will be your strong, present and passionate voice. I will fight for fairness, I will show up, and I will never ever take your trust for granted. Let's get to work together.

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