Hansard debates

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:12): I would like to begin by acknowledging that I am speaking on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to their future leaders and the generations yet to come on this continent. There is no social or environmental justice without First Nations justice.

I walk into this building with a constant urge to pinch myself – that this is a place that the people of North-Eastern Metro have put me to represent them. I never set out to be a member of Parliament. This time two years ago I was an artist and composer, pretty much straight out of university. But then my cohort walked into an industry that closed overnight. The impacts of COVID on the arts and cultural sector cannot be overstated. We all lost work, and almost none of us were eligible for JobKeeper. Our federal government sent us the message that our jobs did not matter. I will not tell you how many hours I spent combing through the meagre state and local funding, competing with other artists for any government support, but what I will say is many of us were pushed directly into rental and housing stress. Many of my colleagues were forced to leave the industry and have not since returned. As a result, we are losing a generation of our storytellers sharing what it means to live in communities like those of Victoria.

I know what it means to have a government tell you you do not matter. That is why I ran – to make sure this does not happen again. There are so many communities marginalised by the decisions our governments make. As a queer person, I have seen my LGBTIQA+ community be used as a perennial political football. We are championed for cynical political gain when it is electorally advantageous, but we are cast aside when it is politically expedient. Only six years ago our human rights were the subject of public, often vitriolic debate in the marriage equality plebiscite. I know what it is like to have my rights and my way of life on public trial. To this community I promise that I will work hard every day to make this Parliament more inclusive and compassionate. This institution needs more queer voices. It needs more trans and gender-diverse voices. It needs more voices from people still sunburnt from Sunday’s Pride March.

But maybe what compels me most to be a voice in this Parliament is seeing how young people are getting left behind. It is getting harder and harder for young people to get a rental or access affordable housing. We are dealing with more frequent natural disasters and damaging weather events, and most frustratingly, we are being shut out from decision-making on these issues that will impact us most of all. We are living through a climate crisis, a housing affordability crisis and an inequality crisis, but how many people from my generation are in this room? As the youngest MP in the new Parliament, it is important to me that we see these issues addressed and that young people have a seat at the table, speaking up for ourselves and generations yet to come, and represent our broader community. Our Parliament should reflect the Victorian population.

I never set out to be a member of Parliament, but these experiences drove me to get out in my community, push for change and give my generation a seat at the table. I would like to see in coming years more diverse voices enter this place and for more young people to have their voices heard. We are going to be living with the decisions made in this chamber in the long term. It is important that our interests and experiences are taken into account to ensure the world of the future is one we want to live in. That is what I and my Greens colleagues are here fighting for.

Only the Greens are speaking to me and my values, representing me without compromise on the issues that affect me and my community. We are a grassroots political operation. We do not take donations from vested corporate interests, and consequently we really rely on the hard work of our team of volunteers. Throughout the campaign they were getting out there, speaking to community members and sharing what a progressive vision for North-Eastern Metro and Victoria could look like with more Greens in Parliament. I would like to thank Deepak, Alex, Emily, Reuben, Joanne, Kellie, Steph, Julie, Chris, Brendan, Nadia, Sophia, Liz, Asher and Sarah for backing me as candidates in running this race. A shout-out to the big crew of supporters who stood for hours in the elements, including names like Liezl, Cass, Rosemary, Maurice, Dana, Mallika, Kate and many, many more in support of me running. When we went into this campaign we knew that we were up against a system that was hell-bent on locking us out. Between the money from corporate interests and dodgy group voting tickets, we knew that we would have to work like stink to get into this place – but we did it. I am so grateful to my community for trusting me, and I look forward to serving them and getting tangible outcomes for them.

The people of North-Eastern Metro have put me in this place. I am proud to call myself one of them, having grown up in Eltham and lived in the region my whole life. We are hardworking, community-minded people who want to be a part of the solution to the struggles facing our state. We are politically engaged. We listen to local radio. We watch the news. We take personal action to reduce our own emissions. Growing up, reducing our waste and recycling was always a part of daily life. We all collectively lost our minds when we could not find a home for our soft plastics. My mum still has a giant bag of old wrappers waiting for its time to shine in the middle of the lounge room. Let it go, Michelle!

The suburbs of North-Eastern Metro are vibrant and green, with large pockets of protected green space and nature which support and sustain us. Many will have distinct memories of this during the lockdown era, when we spent time walking our streets and parklands, finding peace and taking care of ourselves and each other. It is because of this abundance that we can appreciate why we must take care of the land that we are on, and we know it in turn is taking care of us. We must show it respect and live in harmony with it for our own sake and that of future generations. For North-Eastern Metro that means protecting local biodiversity, looking after our creeks and waterways and creating nature corridors for our wildlife to coexist with us for years to come.

That also means having an honest, open conversation about housing, ensuring that demand for social, public and affordable housing is met. We cannot allow the current state of affairs to continue, with unaffordable and inadequate housing as purely an investment asset rather than treating our homes as a human right which is integral to our own health, safety and wellbeing. And we also cannot forsake our local green spaces and protected environments in the name of property developer profits. We need a commonsense approach. I am not the first person to call for this, and I would like to pay my respect to the community leaders and activists in my electorate who have been tirelessly pursuing these issues for years, be it in landcare groups, community actions, campaigns to VCAT, waterway clean-ups and revegetation. I hear you. I will fight for you. I even know I have no say in the matter, because either way I know you will be pulling me up at the local supermarket, holding me to account in the middle of aisle six next to the toilet paper – Quilton three-ply, recycled.

I find it well put by Greta Thunberg:

We live in a strange world where children must sacrifice their education in order to protest against the destruction of their future, where the people who have contributed the least to this crisis are the ones who are going to be affected the most.

I believe that too often in the state of Victoria, under successive governments and political cycles, it is the voices of the community, particularly the young and the diverse members of our community, that are not the priority of the political class. I think if the interests of our truly broad community and the planet itself were central to our decision-making and discussion in this state, then we would see a ban on new fossil fuel projects.

I want us to stop pouring fuel on the fire while we are trying to put it out. I want to see affordable housing made available to all, as housing is a human right. I believe in our capacity to live in harmony with our surroundings and live with the land that was here long before us. I will fight to see better investment in public education, of which I myself have benefitted directly, which gives all our young people a strong start in life irrespective of household income. I further note that in the historic composition of this new chamber I want us to acknowledge the reality that members of our community do take drugs, and I will push for a health-first harm minimisation approach to this reality rather than a punitive mindset which criminalises people.

And when community members express their views on the imbalances and injustices occurring in our state through organised protest and political activism, I want to see a future where residents are able to do so without fear of intimidation and being criminalised in the name of corporate interests. Corporate Australia should not get off scot-free when by the same test we send citizens to prison. Branding compassionate campaigning from community with criminality goes against the interests of our young people, who strike for climate and a planet worth living on. They are fighting for their lives. They are fighting for our lives. We are in the midst of a climate and extinction crisis and this government is passing anti-protest laws. How are you not the villains of that story?

I have been sent here with a mandate to deliver for my community and keep up the fight on their behalf. It has certainly been a shock to the system. This place can often feel alien to me, with marble busts peering down hallways and the towering presence of former parliamentarians and premiers on each wall. The very building seems to impose stern questions on you as an outsider, a newcomer, particularly as a young person: ‘Who are you? What are you doing here? Do you think we can’t tell you had to google how to tie a necktie?’. While on one hand it can come off as the opposite of a welcoming vibe, I think it pushes me to work harder, to go against the grain and claim the place that young people, planet protectors and champions for social justice should have in this chamber. People are desperate to be heard.

Young people are at breaking point. We want to be listened to and for our perspective to be heard – for our perspective to have impact. Listening and showing compassion are traits that are not party specific. We all have potential to demonstrate that in this term. I would like to think that everyone in this place has come with a mindset to make a difference for their community and make Victoria the best version of itself that it can be. It is something I would like us to keep in mind for the rest of this term, even when debates become heated. It is certainly something that our community, especially our young people, expect of us.

While I can say that this time last year I certainly did not think being in this place was going to be part of my journey, I will work hard to honour the responsibility and faith my community is putting in me. It is a huge honour. While there is plenty of pain and plenty of anger out there in the community, my path to now has taught me: do not get mad. Get involved. Get elected. Do not be a bystander.

I will say this to the people in this chamber: do not forget it is an honour to be here. That honour comes with grave responsibility. The decisions we make here impact people’s lives. In some cases they cost people’s lives. If you cannot live up to that responsibility, then get out of the way. I can tell you there is a generation of young people watching, waiting, ready to take your place. We cannot let them down.

Members applauded.