Zali Steggall invokes Margaret Thatcher over climate change

Zali Steggall has called on conservatives to lead the fight on climate change.

Zali Steggall delivering her maiden speech in the House of Representatives Chamber. Picture: Kym Smith.

Independent MP Zali Steggall has evoked the spirit of the late Margaret Thatcher in her maiden speech to parliament, calling on conservatives to lead the fight on climate change.

Ms Stegall — the former Winter Olympian who pushed out Tony Abbott after 25 years in parliament — made the environment the pinnacle of her campaign.

Today, she told a conservative-dominated parliament that climate change did not have to be a “left issue” and brought in one of the world’s most famous Tory leaders to prove her point.

“The world has a bipartisan history of acting on global environmental calamities,” she told the House of Representatives.

“In the 1980s, a conservative Thatcher Government led the way in banning CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) in the atmosphere.

“Thatcher’s words to the UN General Assembly in 1989 are appropriate today: ‘We carry common burdens, face common problems and must respond with common action.’

“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.”

The barrister and Olympian won the Sydney North Shore seat of Warringah in a landslide victory against Mr Abbott last May despite a nearly $1m campaign to save the former prime minister.

Ms Steggall’s campaign was helped by major backing from GetUp, though she has denied having any personal involvement with the left-wing activist network.

She thanked Mr Abbott and other former MPs for Warringah for their service, but it was the only mention of her former electoral foe.

But she did reflect on her pre-politics career as an Olympic skier, in which she become the first individual Australian ever to win a Winter Olympics medal.

“It was a long, hard and often lonely road, with many sacrifices but ultimately so rewarding as I took Australia to the peak of alpine skiing and added my small contribution to Australia’s proud sporting history,” she said.

“I strongly believe that it is hard work, planning and resilience that brings about success and urge all young Australians to dream big.

“I felt a huge sense of responsibility representing Australia at the Olympic Games, first as a 17-year-old schoolgirl and then especially when carrying the Australian flag into the closing ceremony in Nagano in 1998 after winning Australia’s first individual medal at a Winter Olympics.”