Warringah’s Zali Steggall makes maiden Federal Parliament speech in Canberra
After defeating Tony Abbott to become the new Federal Member for Warringah, Zali Steggall made her first speech in parliament on Wednesday. Catch up here for all the big moments from the day.
After defeating Tony Abbott to become the new Federal Member for Warringah, Zali Steggall has made her first speech in parliament today. Follow our rolling coverage as Manly Daily journalist Julie Cross joins Ms Steggall’s supporters in Canberra:
2.48pm
Thanks for following our live coverage. See our full wrap story at manlydaily.com.au later today.
2.34pm
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack responds to Steggall’s question on the Beaches Link Tunnel:
“When we promise something we actually deliver,” the Deputy Prime Minister said in response.
“We added $3bn in the last budget to busting congestion…to make sure people can get home sooner and safer.
“I look forward to working with the member for Warringah to making sure we develop infrastructure in her electorate.”
The Deputy Prime Minster then made way for Minister for Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge who addressed Ms Steggall.
“We are in negotiations as we speak with the NSW Government over every single project just as we are with every other single project around the country.”
He added: “The member would know that one of the major projects coming to fruition is the North Connex project that members of her electorate will be beneficiaries of.”
He then listed a number of other projects without directly answering Ms Steggall’s question.
However Ms Steggall did not get a chance to follow up as the speaker moved on to other questions.
2.28pm
Zali Steggall used her first question at question time to ask what progress has been made on the Beaches Link Tunnel.
The Warringah MP referenced the $50 million promised during the election campaign towards the project.
“It would improve congestion by bypassing congestion on the Spit Bridge which creates a bottleneck between the northern beaches and the lower north shore,” she said of the tunnel.
“The northern beaches tunnel has been talked about for over two decades,” she added
“Could the minister please tell the house what has happened to that $50m commitment?”
1.53pm
Ms Steggall will be joining other MPs for question time shortly. It is expected she will be among those MPs asking a question.
1:45pm
Photographer Kym Smith has been busy today capturing all the action as Zali Steggall makes her maiden speech. Here are some of her best shots so far.
1.38pm
12.30pm
12.24pm
12.22pm
11.33am:
Steggall: “I am grateful to the people of Warringah for entrusting me with the responsibility of representing their views and concerns to this Parliament.”
11.31am:
Steggall on thanking her supporters: “The other thing that stood out was, and still is if I look around the gallery today, the passion of the people of Warringah to bring about a new era – Moderates with a heart!”
11.30am:
Steggall thanks her family: “Finally, my thoughts go to the most important people in my life and those without whom none of this is possible: my ultimate partner and support, my husband Tim, and better than any gold medal, my children Chloe, Rex and Remy.”
11.28am:
“To my fellow Parliamentarians in this, the 46th Parliament of Australia, I thank you for your warm welcome and I look forward to working with all of you – on both sides of the aisle – as collectively we strive to make our Nation an even better place over the next 3 years.”
11.26am:
“Nationally and in Warringah, mental health and rising suicide rates require a new approach. We need to learn from the local organisations that are listening and working within our communities. We can offer more hope and care to our youth and older generations.”
11.24am:
Steggall: “We live in a time of opportunity with more technology than ever before but we have serious health challenges and social inequities. There is still a 14% pay gap between men and women and women are retiring with 40% less superannuation."
11.20am:
Steggall gives an insight into her family’s heritage: “My family’s relationship with Manly started in the 1920s, when my great-grand aunts moved there. Seeing his sisters struggle to earn a livelihood, my great grandfather prioritised his daughters, including my grandmother, Phemie Faith Mallaby, getting a formal university education. There has never been any question, in my family, that women are equal, capable and entitled to the same opportunities as men.”
11.18am
Steggall: “I urge this 46th parliament to be remembered for developing a comprehensive plan to decarbonise every polluting sector by 2050 and then putting it into action,”
11.16am
Steggall: “Climate change impacts represent the greatest threat to our national security, our economy, our health and our environment.”
11.14am
Steggall moves onto discussing climate change and the environment. “We live in a time where we are facing possibly our biggest challenge to date, to properly appreciate, respect and nurture our environment and evolve to a zero-carbon economy. Our school kids are leading the way in pointing out that there is no second planet, no planet B.”
11.13am
“In researching and reading many of this Parliament’s members’ first speeches, I was struck by how many grand statements and ideals are first made but then seem to disappear in the polarisation of party partisanship.”
11.12am
A Winter Olympian, Steggall details the importance of sport in her own life: “Sport has played a big part in my life. I started competing in pretty much every sport I tried my hand at from the age of 4, from swimming, judo, windsurfing, ice skating, running, skiing. At 13, I watched the 1988 Winter Olympics Games and decided that I wanted to compete at a Winter Olympic Games for Australia.”
11.08am
Steggall has outlined the significance sport has had on the area: “Sport has also played a big part in our history, in defining our character and cultural identity. The people of Warringah have always appreciated the outdoors, flocking to sports on the weekend.”
11.06am
Steggall has outlined the demographic of Warringah in her speech, as well has the significant impact Indigenous people have had on the area: “The natural beauty of Warringah is intertwined with its rich past and indigenous history. It’s first people were sturdy, pioneering and resourceful. Their way of life required resilience and endurance.”
11.05am
One of the opening lines from Steggall: “It is an incredible honour to stand before the 46th Parliament as a representative for all the people of Warringah, only the 9th person to do so, and the first woman.”
11am
Zali Steggall’s speech is underway.
10.35am
10.10am
Andy Knight, 37, of Manly Vale, who works in tech and digital marketing, said he had never been involved in politics before the Zali campaign.
He said he’s voted for all parties in the past and was a swing voter when he sensed there was change in the air and he wanted to be part of it.
He said winning the election has awoken the community to the idea that if people come together they can make difference.
“That’s a win it itself,” he said.
He hoped the movement that helped get Zali Steggall elected would continue to grow.
He said for him the maiden speech was a moment of celebration.
9.40am
9.30am
Zali Steggall is in for a busy day. As well as being scheduled to make her maiden
speech at 11am she been appointed to the Environment and Energy
Committee, which is meeting at 10.15am.
9.20am
9.15am
9am
8.30am
Cynthia Cochrane, 42, of Cremorne Point, is a full-time barrister, mum, wife and Zali supporter.
She spent much of her weekends working on the campaign before the election and during pre-polling she would be out from 6am to 10am Monday, Wednesday and Friday, before going straight to work.
“There were all these people including me who had never ever been politically active in our lives,” she said.
“Many had jobs and families.
“For some reason Zali tapped into something in Warringah.
“For that brief moment in time we crammed campaigning into our lives.
“Everyone propelled each other along.”
Ms Cochrane, who knows Ms Steggall professionally, said she was someone of “high integrity and an honest person”.
She said she was also mentally strong and would be able to “roll with the punches” that comes with being in politics.
She added that during the campaign the possibility that she might be able to watch Ms Steggall give her maiden speech was what motivated her to keep going.
She said being a mum of two daughters, aged eight and four, she had seen how inspiring Ms Steggall was for her children and other little girls.
“When we were on street corners with banners and pictures of Zali, we’d see all these little girls looking at us through the car window,” she said.
“It was special thing for me.
“What she is doing is so inspirational.”
7.50am
Steggall supporter Lesley McLean, 68, of Balgowlah:
She backed Zali Steggall because she has always supported strong independent candidates if possible because they’re not hamstrung by party politics.
A retiree, she got involved in the campaign early on and worked long hours, often starting before dawn.
“I was hopeful Zali could shift the strong conservative views of this area and offer something for the future,” she said.
“I thought she was the right age, not too young and not too old.
“She had no ego, which was very refreshing.”
Ms McLean said the campaign was a massive, well organised beast.
“It just grew and grew,” she said.
“When we got T-shirts we would run up to people wearing them and give them a hug even if we didn’t know them.
“It felt like family in the end.”
7.47am
7.30am
Keen to be part of the historic day, Warringah supporters met at Manly Wharf before 6am when the stars were still in the sky, most wearing splashes of turquoise – the colour of Ms Steggall’s successful election campaign.
Another 29 people got on the bus at Mosman.
Manly Daily journalist Julie Cross is on the ‘party bus’ which was full of excited chatter, despite the early hour, with Ms Steggall’s devotees happy to reconnect with old and new friends and recant memories from the campaign trail.
7.26am
Ardent Zali Steggall supporters were up before dawn for a bus trip to Canberra today to witness the new independent Warringah MP give her maiden speech in parliament.
Others are making their own way there.
All 147 tickets for spaces in the public gallery went within 20 minutes of Ms Steggall’s team making them available.
The 54 spaces on the bus went within five minutes.
Ms Steggall, who unseated former Prime Minister and Liberal titan Tony Abbott after 25 years, will give a 20 minute speech scheduled for 11am and is expected to ask a question at Question Time at 2pm.
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