Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Hansard source

It's the greatest honour of my life to serve as the member for Cowan, and I want to take a moment to thank the people of Cowan for once again placing their trust in me. Every day, I carry that responsibility with both pride and humility. I stood for election way back in 2016 because I believe in fairness, in opportunity and in building a community where everyone belongs, and over the past years I've worked every single day to deliver on those values in Cowan and in Canberra.

When I was first elected in 2016, I vowed to be a strong voice for our diverse and hardworking community. Nearly a decade later, I'm still here, and that principle still guides me. From Greenwood to Ballajura, from Westminster to Landsdale, Balga, Darch, Warwick, Nollamara, Alexander Heights, Marangaroo, Wangara, Madeley, Hamersley, Koondoola, Malaga, Dianella and Stirling, the Cowan community reflects the very best of Australia: resilient families, proud business owners, generous volunteers and people from every walk of life who look out for one another.

Together we've secured investment in safer roads, new cultural facilities, school upgrades and sporting infrastructure. Together we've built stronger communities—places where young people have opportunities, where seniors can retire with dignity and where families can thrive.

As a minister, I've had the opportunity to help deliver national reforms in early childhood education, in youth engagement, and now in my new portfolios: small business, international development and multicultural affairs. As we went into the recent election, the Albanese Labor government made commitments to the constituents of Cowan—not just promises, but plans, backed by real funding, to deliver for our community. We're upgrading the Girrawheen community hub, transforming it into a modern and welcoming space for families and community groups that provides opportunities for gatherings, education, community programs and services. I take this opportunity to thank the City of Wanneroo for all they have done to get this project up and running.

We're supporting multicultural and faith communities across Cowan, including the Vaishnav Sangh of WA, to build new cultural centres that will provide a range of activities, including Gujarati language teaching; Vaishnava art, dance and music activities; the celebration of festivals; vegetarian cooking classes; and the provision of vegetarian meals for the wider community.

We're strengthening the capacity of the iconic Mirrabooka Mosque to continue serving the local Muslim community—delivering upgrades to the mosque itself and creating a new space for educational programs, social events and broader community engagement activities. I again pay heed to the mosque organising committee and to Sister Fatima and Sheikh Mohammed for their work in creating a space at the mosque for the community.

We're supporting the Macedonian community, a large part of Cowan, to mark their 40th anniversary—what a milestone—and the Perth North Tamil School, to support the community language school and to commemorate three decades of fostering cultural diversity, language learning and engagement in the community. We're also investing in the Multicultural Services Centre in Mirrabooka, providing funding for the construction of a second storey that will host a range of activities, including upskilling workshops for women from multicultural backgrounds, visual arts exhibitions for emerging artists, community storytelling, poetry and related activities. I also thank the Multicultural Services Centre, with whom I've had a long relationship, for the work they do in servicing the multicultural communities in Cowan.

We're also protecting our local environment, something I know many Cowan residents are incredibly passionate about. We're backing in the City of Wanneroo's biodiversity plan, investing in environmental upgrades in Ballajura, and supporting Native Animal Rescue so they can continue protecting and rehabilitating our most vulnerable fauna. Having visited Native Animal Rescue several times, I am in absolute awe of what they do and the contributions they make to our community through their rescue efforts. If anyone in Cowan hasn't visited them yet, I guarantee you will not regret it.

Our support for the people of Cowan extends well beyond election commitments, with a range of grants helping our community to thrive. Through the Stronger Communities Program, the Albanese government is delivering for community groups, supporting everything from sporting clubs and multicultural services to youth programs and environmental initiatives. Our Volunteer Grants program has provided funding to 17 community groups in Cowan, including family centres, sporting organisations and toy libraries—ensuring our dedicated volunteers can continue their invaluable work.

At this point, I also have to thank the members of the Cowan community who form the committees that decide on the allocation of grants based on community need. They themselves are providing a very valuable volunteer service to Cowan, in ensuring that the needs of the Cowan community are met and reflected in the way these grants are delivered. All of these investments reflect essentially who we are in Cowan. We're diverse, we're inclusive and we're committed to protecting our environment for generations to come.

But our government is not only delivering for Cowan. As much as I am proud of the fact that we're delivering for Cowan, we are also delivering for communities right across Australia so that no-one is held back and no-one is left behind. We are providing cost-of-living relief with tax cuts that mean every Australian taxpayer gets to keep more of what they earn. From 1 October this year, everyone in Cowan and across the country will be able to buy their first home with just a five per cent deposit. This is going to cut years off the time it takes to save for a deposit, helping people into their own homes sooner. I know that in places that are still growing, like Lansdale and Darch, there are still many people who are moving into those areas, building their first home, getting the keys to their first home, being able to move into their first home. It's a real milestone in people's lives, particularly in the lives of young people, so I know that this five per cent deposit scheme is going to benefit so many people. I encourage people to come and move into Cowan. Come and build in Cowan—it's a great place to live and we have a beautiful community culture there as well.

We're investing in education, ensuring that every child has the absolute best start in life. We're creating jobs and building skills for the future with more apprentices and apprenticeships, free TAFE places. I know at the Balga TAFE that's situated in Cowin it has been an absolutely positive experience for those who have chosen to undertake a free TAFE course and who have developed their education and their skills through that initiative.

We're investing in clean energy and healthcare jobs, strengthening Medicare, making medicines even cheaper and expanding access to medicines through the PBS, while opening more urgent care clinics. We already have one in Morley—the Ruddock Road urgent care clinic. I must tell the House that during the election, when I was out doorknocking about our commitment to also open a new urgent care clinic in Mirrabooka, every single person I spoke to had a positive experience to relate to me about the urgent care clinic in Morley, and was over the moon to know that this Albanese Labor government would deliver another urgent care clinic for them in Mirrabooka. We're also improving access to GPs and restoring our health system after a decade of cuts.

These are not just abstract policies. I hear the member opposite let out a deep sigh—they're not just abstract policies. Each and every one of us in this place can tell you the stories that are relayed to them through their offices when they are out doorknocking, or doing meet-your-member events or having coffee catch up with their local communities about the positive impact that Albanese Labor government policies have had on them. Whether through access to cheaper medicines, being able to visit an urgent care clinic and get the care they need when they need it, or in the tax cuts and getting wages moving again, these are things that are actually making a real difference to the everyday lives of individuals and families in Cowan. They make a difference. They make a difference when a single mum manages to fill a script at the pharmacy. They make a difference when a young couple can finally buy their first home and celebrate getting those keys in their hands. They make a difference when a small business can take on an apprentice.

As I look ahead, my vision for Cowan is clear. I want our community to be a place where families feel secure and supported. I want our community to be a place where every child gets the very best start in life, no matter their background, where they were born or where their parents were born. I want our committee to be a place where small businesses and job creators have the backing that they need to succeed.

At this point, if I may, I'll just take a moment of indulgence to mention some of the great new small businesses that are opening up in the very heart of Cowan, in Westminster at the Stirling Central Shopping Centre, where my office is located. We already have the wonderful Fariha Beauty, which looks after not just my hair but the hair of everyone in my office as well. I'll just give a shoutout to Fariha and Ibrahim—congratulations on the birth of your second son, Noor. We have the new banh mi place that's opened. We have a kebab shop that sells, I have to say, probably the best kebabs in Western Australia. We have an award-winning bakery, and we have several new hawkers, markets and shops that have opened up in the shopping centre.

Having moved into the shopping centre before all of these new businesses came on board, I have to say that bringing the new businesses into the shopping centre has created an entirely different feel for the community. We now have people coming in to the shopping centre, occupying the spaces and getting together. When I walk through the shopping centre, I see people sitting down, like mums having a cup of coffee with their kids and older Cowan residents who have just finished their shopping sitting down to morning tea with friends. These are the social connections that are ever so important, but it feels like, in the age of digital connection, smartphones and social media are tearing away at the social fabric of who we are. The importance of small business cannot be underestimated and cannot be understated not just in the economic benefits that they bring but in the social benefits that they bring to the Cowan community as well.

I want Cowan and, indeed, Australia to strengthen and ground our identity as a country that embraces inclusivity and that upholds the values that unite us—the values of respect, equality, compassion and fairness. I don't think you can deny that they are what every parent wants for their child, every family wants for themselves and every individual aspires to. They aspire to fairness, equality, compassion and mutual respect.

When I think about the Australia that I know, I think about growing up playing cricket on the streets of the suburbs of Western Sydney. I think about those days when nobody cared where you were from and nobody cared that my skin gradually got darker and darker and blacker and blacker over summer as we stood out there on the hot tarmac—legends of Aussie driveway cricket. As the sun went down, each of our mums would come out and yell out our names for dinner. They each had a different accent, whether Greek, Italian, English, Irish, New Zealand or Egyptian. None of us kids cared. As long as you could chuck a ball, stand with your legs hip width apart and yell out, 'Howzat?' you were one of us. That's the Australia that I know, that's the Australia that I remember and that's the Australia that we can be—an Australia where we all belong because we know that we all share the same values.

I want to take these last few moments to once again thank the people of Cowan. I remember my very first election campaign when I first got elected to this place. As a newbie to politics, I had no idea what running an election campaign meant. I had absolutely no idea. I remember on the day before the election sitting around with these volunteers who to me were strangers. I'd never met them before running for office. I was in absolute awe that these were people that didn't know me but had given up so much of their time, put their faith in me and believed in me even at times when I didn't believe in myself. And so I stand here, almost a decade later—trust me; I didn't think I was going to be here that long—and I'm still in awe of the people of Cowan and how they continue to put their faith in me. It is not something that I take lightly, and it is not something that I take for granted. Every day that I have been here, I have raised the issues that matter the most to the people who have sent me here, the people of Cowan.

And every day that I am here I'll continue to do so because—as I began my speech so I end my speech here today—there is no higher honour than representing Cowan in this federal parliament.

Debate adjourned.

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