Welfare isn’t a dirty word, says new Aston MP amid JobSeeker debate

Welfare should not be treated as a dirty word, says new MP Mary Doyle, who used her first speech in federal parliament after her upset victory in Melbourne’s Aston byelection to detail how Labor policies and Catholic social teaching guided her life.

Amid weeks of debate over the rate of JobSeeker and continued pressure from Labor MPs to bolster the payment, Labor’s full caucus took time out of a busy parliamentary session to watch Doyle explain how her pathway to the nation’s capital had been “riddled with challenges”.

Mary Doyle delivering her first speech.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Battler families like the one she grew up in did not need a pat on the back, she insisted, but good policies that boosted social mobility.

“There is a very, very good reason terms like social security and welfare exist. These are not dirty words,” she said.

“We need to remember what they mean and re-embrace them. For the security of society. For the welfare of people. To help people get back on their feet and ensure they are not left behind.”

Doyle’s win last month marked the first time in a century a sitting government had wrested a seat from the opposition in a byelection, giving the Albanese government huge momentum in the lead-up to Tuesday’s budget. Labor is hoping to replicate its success in Aston in the few remaining Liberal-held seats in Melbourne such as Deakin and Menzies.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese embraces Doyle after her speech.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the mortgage-belt seat four times before the byelection, despite Labor’s internal polling giving the party only an outside chance of picking up the Liberal stronghold.

“She is already the best member for Aston in over 30 years,” Albanese said in parliament on Thursday.

“Mary Doyle is driven by the oldest and deepest Australian aspiration. The aspiration for a better life and a greater opportunity for the next generation.”

Doyle’s family could not afford her school camp, the cost of which was covered by her Catholic school, at which she said she learnt lifelong lessons from nuns.

The new MP – the first to pledge allegiance to King Charles III in their swearing-in – said her father struggled with alcoholism and mental health problems after losing his job.

A Whitlam government policy change allowing her mother to receive welfare payments instead of them being sent to her father made a huge difference to her family’s wellbeing, she said.

As a 25-year-old casual call-centre worker, Doyle was able to rely on Medicare after discovering a lump in her breast.

“This is what Labor governments do,” she said.

Doyle is the first woman to represent the division of Aston, which takes in outer-eastern suburbs like Rowville, Bayswater and Knox.

She cried when paying tribute to her 93-year-old mother, who has dementia and could not make the trip from Victoria to Canberra to watch her daughter address parliament.

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