Australia’s youngest-ever senator goes back to school

Charlotte Walker became the youngest person ever elected to the Senate on her 21st birthday, which fell on the same day the Albanese government was re-elected for its second term.

The South Australian senator attended Senate school on Wednesday, learning the ropes with the other new senators. They will all take their places in the upper house chamber on July 22, when federal parliament sits for the first time since the national poll.

New Labor senators: Corinne Mulholland, Ellie Whiteaker, Charlotte Walker and Richard Dowling at Parliament House in Canberra.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

At an age when many of her peers are enjoying university life, Walker said she was focused on driving policies to reduce student debt, improve housing affordability, reduce domestic violence and improve access to government services in regional areas.

“The biggest issue with getting into the housing market is saving for that down payment,” she said.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out and talking to local people, making sure that we have proper regional representation in our parliament.”

Walker grew up on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, studied at the University of Adelaide and took a job with the Australian Services Union. She will now switch to a full-time job as a politician, but one less than half as old as the average member of parliament, who is 50 years old.

“Growing up in the country, I didn’t see myself in the parliament, so that’s definitely a priority of mine,” she said.

“Another issue I saw a lot of growing up is domestic violence. The lack of access to services really saw that issue maximised.”

The youngest-ever federal parliamentarian was Wyatt Roy, who was elected to the House of Representatives at 20 years old in 2010. The previous youngest senator was Jordon Steele-John, 25, elected for the Greens. Steele-John remains in parliament, but Roy now works for Saudi Arabia’s quixotic project to build a futuristic city in a straight line.

Walker joins a clutch of fresh faces for the Labor Party in the Senate. The Albanese government picked up three more senate spots and the Coalition lost three.

New Queensland Senator Corinne Mulholland’s election campaign began when her baby was just three months old. She said balancing breastfeeding and care with a slew of regional visits was made possible by the support of her husband and mother.

Mulholland, a disaster management expert, said as hard as it is to juggle her parenting with travel, meeting with a wide range of people is one strategy to address voters’ drift away from the major parties over recent decades.

“People don’t think a lot about politicians and politics outside of election campaigns, and we need to make sure that we are relevant and connected into our communities, and understanding our communities,” Mulholland said.

Tasmanian Senator Richard Dowling, who worked as an economist for the state government before going into private industry, said the major parties would increase trust in politics by delivering tangible outcomes, like boosting productivity.

Western Australian Senator Ellie Whiteaker nominated access to healthcare and housing affordability as priorities for Labor.

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