Australia’s youngest senator Charlotte Walker has given her first speech in parliament, sharing her battle with depression, bullying and the misogyny she’s faced since the federal election.
A Labor senator for South Australia, Walker turned 21 on election night and has said she’ll be an advocate for issues affecting young people such as mental health, housing affordability and the climate crisis.
In her speech on Monday night, Walker said she realised she had depression when she was 18 after struggling to sleep.
“The effects had been long lasting, compounded by guilt,” she said. “I often wondered if I wanted to go on- if there was any point in me being here.”
In year four of school, Walker said she was bullied so badly that she was forced to leave her public school. Her mum scraped together money for her to go to private school.
Walker explained that this previous experience and the “perception of being damaged goods” is what has led her to want to be an advocate for young people battling similar mental health issues.
“During my term in parliament, I want to shine a light on how childhood experiences like mine can continue to affect your mental health into adulthood – and to explore meaningful ways to address this.”
Pointing to the climate crisis, Walker said young people live with this “ever-present threat” and that she will be focused on the issue in parliament.
“In 2050 I won’t be in my late 90s, like some who want to abandon net zero. My friends and I will be in our 40s, and we demand a habitable planet.”
At the beginning of her speech, Walker said that while it wasn’t technically the first time she’d spoken in the chamber, the results from previous outings had been “wack”. This was likely a reference to her feud with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
Walker has criticised Hanson’s position against net zero, and in response, Hanson referred to Walker as just being “out of her nappies”.
In Monday’s speech, Walker also spoke of the misogynistic comments she often cops on social media.
As for other issues she’ll focus on during her time in parliament, Walker pointed towards the housing crisis, generational inequity, domestic violence, healthcare and regional opportunities and workers’ rights.
She mentioned the South Australian royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence, saying that Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with exposure to online misogyny and violent pornography.
“If the future truly is ours, then we deserve to be heard,” Walker said. “We deserve to be included, and we deserve a fair chance to build lives that are not just sustainable, but fulfilling.”