Page 109 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
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able to demonstrate their meaningful impact, usually in an organisation they have led or created. These people came from around the world to not only observe but also participate. One of 50 was our very own Canberran; Sophia was one of those who were chosen.
Not only that but Sophia was also invited to be part of a panel discussion—and this is a really big deal—on building a new carbon economy, where she provided valuable insights to a room of change-makers. Sophia met with the likes of Sheryl Sandberg and Dr Jane Goodall, as well as other representatives from Australia, and indeed Canberra, like Professor Brian Schmidt and Professor Genevieve Bell.
What is absolutely remarkable is that just days before Sophia arrived in Switzerland, and while appearing across Time magazine, the New York Times, and our own ABC Canberra, she was at her family’s property in New South Wales defending it from bushfires.
Just last night Sophia appeared on Q&A on a decidedly not political panel featuring other prominent Australians speaking about climate solutions. Sophia was confident and articulate, and again represented this community and the broader community that she stands for so incredibly well. It was Sophia’s statement at the end of the show which I think I can objectively say had the audience sitting up and listening, both in the physical audience right in front of her and from our couches at home. They applauded it. I would like to quote it and put it on the record, because it kind of sends shivers up my spine too. She said:
I think we have the opportunity in Australia to have our man-on-the-moon moment … when America said they’d put on a man on the moon in eight years’ time, they didn’t have the technological capability yet. They didn’t know how they were going to do it. But they set forward a vision and a leadership plan, and industry aligned behind them. This is the time that Australia can do that. 2050 is probably too far. We can make it sooner. 2040. We can achieve negative emissions. We need to be ambitious. And this is the time that we can do it.
The host described this as national leadership, and it is.
In addition to these important representations, Sophia makes an impact in other ways, including as a member of the ACT Climate Change Council, in lecturing at the University of Sydney, as curator of the Global Shapers Canberra hub, in operations for Health Horizon and as co-founder of Kingfisher Cohousing.
At just 31, Sophia has achieved so much. She is not only an important voice for Canberrans, for youth, for women and for women of colour but also a leader in the conversation, the rhetoric and the necessary actions on an issue that affects us all and should matter to us all.
Health—nurse graduates
World Cancer Day
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families, Minister for Health and
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