First day of the new 47th Parliament with more Greens than ever before. So exciting! Thank you to all of you who made this happen ✊ More from Max Chandler-Mather – Greens MP for Griffith 👇
First day of parliament with these champions!
I’m being officially sworn in to the lower house today and it’s looking like my first speech will be next Tuesday (more details on that soon!).
It was a privilege to join the Welcome to Country ceremony this morning to kick off a day of formal swearing in procedures. This parliament has an opportunity to kick-off a genuine process of truth-telling, treaty and self-determination for First Nations people across the place we now call Australia.
Walking into parliament today and taking my seat I’ll be very conscious that the only reason I’m sitting there is because of our incredible movement of volunteers and organisers, and the support and trust of tens of thousands of Griffith residents.
From the community garden in Tugulawa Park, to the public housing we’re working to save from privatisation – from the residents badly affected by aircraft noise pollution, to the residents we worked with to clean up after the floods – ultimately I think power comes from the residents and volunteers we work together with to build a better future.
So let today be a symbol of our collective power.
If the political establishment’s greatest asset is low expectations – then let today be a symbol of the power ordinary people have when they organise together for a better future.
If the political and media establishment say people will never vote for higher taxes on big corporations to fund the things we need to live a good life – then let today be a reminder that people will vote to tax billionaires to fund dental into Medicare, free childcare uni and TAFE and building a million public homes homes.
And if it seems like the power of fossil fuel corporations of the political system is insurmountable – then let today be a reminder that no matter how millions of dollars they spend trying to stop us, when we knock on peoples’ doors and talk about phasing out coal and gas and investing billions of dollars in guaranteeing jobs and an investment boom in manufacturing and publicly owned renewables they can’t stop us.
Take hope from today. Because Stephen, Libby and I (along with our amazing team of fellow Greens MPs) are only here because of your part in building our collective movement.
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