Emma Comer (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I have the pleasure of reading visions of the future from 21-year-old Mia, as part of our Raise Our Voice campaign:

As a child, I saw the government making true progress. It was progressive policy, people-focused policy that allowed a kid born into an abusive and uncertain living situation to dream of bigger and better things.

I was proud of my country because I knew as a whole, we were progressing towards a greater and brighter future for everyone.

However, as I got older, I suppose my rose-tinted glasses were cracked slightly. When I was in high school, particularly in the pandemic period, the progressive policy appeared to falter.

Decisions to increase the fees of certain degrees had me questioning my future. Perhaps attending a tertiary institution isn't a key step in breaking generational burdens for everyone- but for me, and many more it is.

That is only one example of backwards policy changing my perspective, as a young person, of what my future will look like.

Parties making shameful statements about my rights as a women, division over the rights of First Nations people, over the correct way to handle children who have turned to crime.

It isn't the progressive Australia that lifted me up as a child.

So, to the Government, I put this to you: please do not shy away from progressive policy.

Do not go backwards in the ways we have seen our foreign neighbours regress. Australia was built on progress, innovation, and lifting up those who need it most.

You never know, there just might be a little kid watching Question Time the way same I used to, dreaming up her future. And trust me. Her perception of her government's progression is everything. It is our future.

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