Anyone who knows me knows that family means everything to me
and without them I wouldn't be here.
I'm joined today by my loving parents, Karen and Dan, who instilled in me
a strong moral compass that has always been my guide.
My colleagues can blame them for my forthright manner
because they taught me from a young age
that you have a responsibility to communicate your view clearly,
no matter how difficult and no matter the cost
and that, above all else, you must be true to yourself.
I met my husband, Jon, 24 years ago at university
and I am so glad that we are on life's journey together.
I have relied on his advice, his reservoir of love and understanding,
his truth-telling, his great intellect and his selfless devotion to our family.
Jon works part time and is the primary caregiver in our family,
ferrying children to child care, kinder and all manner of other things.
He twice took extended paternity leave so that I could serve in cabinet
and parliament and breastfed our children.
Whilst Jon trained as an engineer and a lawyer, I think he now
sees his core competency as logistics.
He is, quite simply, a great man, wonderful husband and brilliant father
and I just love him to bits.
There is no doubt, though, that our greatest achievement in life
are our two beautiful, happy, confident and loving children, Olivia and Edward.
Livvy and Edward, you make my heart sing and I love you more than words can express.
There is nothing that gives me greater joy than being your mum.
As a feminist, I have always believed that girls and women deserve
an equal stake in our society and our economy.
We want women to make choices that are right for them
and right for their families.
In essence, it means helping women to build their financial security.
It also means giving men more flexibility in work
to take on caring responsibilities.
Men love their children and want to be part of their lives.
And children love their fathers.
Yet the number of men who work part-time remains well below
that of women and I call this the flexibility gap.
An issue that resonated strongly with me and my electorate
was same-sex marriage.
One of the most nerve-wracking days that I had as a new MP
was the day that I walked into the Federation Chamber
to announce my support for same-sex marriage.
Many warned me it was a career-limiting move
and maybe it was at the time but I believe it was the right thing to do.
I am proud that it will be the legacy of a Liberal government
to have legislated same-sex marriage.
This brings me to the fourth and final issue,
the quality of our democracy itself.
My time in this place has coincided with a deterioration of trust
in both this institution and, indeed, the very concept of democracy.
Social media and a proliferation of tribal echo chambers
have led to warped perceptions of Australians' views,
a failure to listen to alternative ideas and a decline in genuine policy debate
and civil discourse.
Time spent in the community is the best antidote.
However, technology has accelerated our lives and our expectations.
Complex policy issues in an increasingly complex world
don't usually have an easy answer.
The default response here should not be to immediately
outsource decision-making to unelected people.
Sometimes parliamentarians need to prosecute the case for patience
and a deeper conversation with their electorates.
Equally concerning is the transformation of the Senate.
It is now neither a house of review
nor a house to protect the state's interests.
Rather, it has become a forum to frustrate the government's agenda
and the will of the people.
This has contributed to undermining
faith in our democracy and its institutions
and long-term policy outcomes for our country.
As my final observation in this place, I think that elected governments
should be able to implement their mandates.
I support the proposition endorsed by the Senate President
for major parties to consider implementing an Australian version
of the Salisbury convention.
This would mean parties agreeing to abide by a convention
that the Senate won't obstruct the passage of legislation
to effect government policy which has been fully and fairly
disclosed to the Australian people well before voting commences in an election.
I thank the House for its indulgence.
[Applause]