Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my privilege to read out two speeches tonight as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign. I'm proud to support this campaign to amplify the voices of young women and gender-diverse people in parliament. Our democracy should reflect all the diversity of our streets and suburbs, and I'm so impressed by the many politically engaged young women, women of colour and gender-diverse people who articulate so powerfully the work that we must do to achieve racial, climate and social justice.

Isha Singhal, aged 22, from Reid, New South Wales, has this to say:

An equal Australia. I wish for an Australia where a woman can dream the same dreams as anyone else, where gender and racial equality isn't seen as a radical idea but rather the norm, where a woman can walk down the street and just walk, without thinking of all the things that could go wrong, an Australia where all our future generations are one and free.

I wish for an Australia where women are believed, where they are not asked about their clothes or why they did not speak up sooner. I wish for an Australia where women did not have stories to speak up about. I hope future generations do not have any stories like these to tell. I hope for an Australia where women, especially diverse women, have their talents recognised and valued.

I have seen the Matildas, a more diverse federal parliament and many strong women in my community inspire me and other women to break barriers. I hope that future generations of women can achieve all they want without needing to break barriers, and I hope that this growth and progress extends to women from all sorts of diverse backgrounds. An Australia that everyone can truly be part of is a better Australia for all of us.

Hear, hear, Isha.

Jess Travers-Wolf, from Warringah, New South Wales, says:

My name is Jess. I'm 18 years old and I was raised on Gamaraygal land. Climate change has forced a generation of Australian children to grow up too soon. We are faced with an increasingly volatile and uncertain world, which cannot offer us the same stability and comfort it once offered our parents. Levels of climate change anxiety are increasing at an alarming rate, with 26 per cent of young people extremely anxious about the effect climate will have on their world.

I was 15 when I first truly felt and understood this anxiety. The Black Summer bushfires were burning and blistering the country I loved, killing 33 people and eliminating an estimated three billion of Australia's precious natural fauna. It was impossible to look away, to not feel the pain which rippled through the nation.

I am calling on this government to acknowledge its duty of care to young people. We deserve to be considered and protected in every decision made by this parliament. Gone are the times when politicians can make unilateral decisions without considering the health and wellbeing of current and future Australian children. To make Australia the best possible place for future generations, a duty of care needs to be legislated to ensure the interests and safety of all Australian young people are at the heart of this parliament's work.

Thank you, Jess. With these amazing young people, I think the future of this country is in safe hands.