Page48 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 2 December 2020
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Assembly on their election and I sincerely look forward to the opportunity to work with you all as we work to represent the people of Canberra.
I take this opportunity to share a bit about myself and what has brought me to this moment. I am not someone who has harboured a long-term ambition for public office, and I have had a range of life experiences prior to taking on this role.
I am part of that rare breed of Canberrans, although there are a few of us here, who were born and bred in Canberra. While I was part of a generation born to parents who moved here as the public service and Canberra were expanded through the 1960s and 1970s, I have deep roots in this place, with my great-grandfather part of the Keefe and Cullan families, some of the original colonial families of the region. While my Italian great-grandparents were falling in love on a ship from northern Italy to Australia, my Irish great-grandparents were meeting on the steps of Sacred Heart Church in what is now Calwell.
My childhood in Canberra was pretty standard, as part of a fairly conventional family. It was loud. As one of six children, I found that there was always something happening. Throughout this time, while things were far from lavish—six children, one income and high interest rates put paid to that—we were never in any doubt that we were privileged and we needed to think about how we could contribute to our community. This is the lasting legacy of my parents, who have always been incredible role models, modelling hard work, community contribution, standing up for what is right, and not shying away from leadership when it was needed. In me they fostered a sense of social justice and a passion for getting involved to make things better for individuals and the community as a whole.
It is wonderful to have my dad here to share this moment, and a great sadness that my mother is no longer here to share a moment she would have loved, particularly with her passion for women’s leadership. Our family will always be grateful to members in this Assembly when they paused for a moment eight years ago to recognise her contributions to the community.
It is a bit of a confession to make that, while growing up, I was not sure that Canberra was where it was all happening. Growing up, I was often known to declare that, as soon as I was able, I would be off to be part of a much bigger and more exciting world. It was not until much later that I realised that I was part of a generation who were growing up not just in Canberra but with Canberra. Our experiences mirrored those of the city as it grew and developed.
As I made decisions about study and professional life, despite my early declarations, it was always this city that offered the most enriching and meaningful opportunities. And so I went off to one of our world-leading universities. I only recently discovered that was at the same time as both the Chief Minister and the Attorney-General, though I was more likely to be found with the Deputy Chief Minister as I was working to pay my way through university.
Then I embarked on a career as a young graduate in the ACT public service. This was a choice made very deliberately because I knew that I was passionate about working
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