Page52 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 2 December 2020
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teachers without whose wisdom and advice I could not have navigated the tough times and who have celebrated the good times with me.
I wish to take this moment to thank my extraordinary family. Brendon, thank you for being my life partner in every sense of the word. It was more than half our lifetimes ago that we came together. It is certainly true that you did not know what you were signing up for. You are my solid, steady partner who has always believed in me and enabled me to follow my dreams, take risks and dedicate all I have to my professional and volunteer life. I would also like to thank and acknowledge the three extraordinary young people who join him: Matilda, Reuben and Solomon. You are my joy, my greatest pride, and in all the craziness of life you are what is most important to me and your dad.
Madam Speaker, in concluding this speech I would just like to reiterate my deep gratitude for this opportunity to serve the voters of Kurrajong and Canberra more generally. I thank every person who has been part of my story to date and look forward to us all working together collectively over the next four years to make Canberra an even more caring, connected and livable city.
MS DAVIDSON (Murrumbidgee) (11.21), by leave: Madam Speaker, te, “hello” in the Yorta language of the Bangerang country where I grew up, and yuma, “hello” in the Ngunnawal language of our bush capital that is now my home. I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. As I come into this place where we make laws, I think about what it means that we do so on land that was never ceded and will always be Aboriginal land. I commit to listening to and learning from First Nations people.
I am very happy today to be making my first speech in this Assembly, as another small foothill in the mountain range of Greens MLAs that have come before me: Lucy Horodny, Kerrie Tucker, Deb Foskey, Amanda Bresnan, Meredith Hunter and Caroline Le Couteur. I thank Shane Rattenbury, who has shown generosity and a fair bit of patience in helping all new Greens MLAs settle into our jobs.
Since 1995 Greens MLAs have made a real and lasting positive difference in the Assembly. Thanks to the Greens, we have legislated achievable climate targets; established Australia’s first ministerial portfolio of mental health; banned outright lies from political parties in election advertising—thank you, Caroline; and increased protections for biodiversity.
But our Greens MLAs do not do this work alone. There are more of us. We could not have achieved the things we have done so far without the work of committed staff and volunteers, especially Indra Esguerra, who has been a driving force within the ACT Greens since the very beginning. I would not be in this room today if not for the ACT Greens campaign staff over the past year and our wonderful team of volunteers as we engaged with the community about how we will build a better normal together. Election campaigns are hard work, but the Murrumbidgee Greens managed to make it joyful work too.
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