By Parker McKenzie
Aston MP Mary Doyle delivered her first speech to Federal Parliament on Thursday 11 May, after she was sworn in earlier in the week as the first woman to represent the electorate.
Ms Doyle opened her speech by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land and said she looked forward to the time when the Uluru Statement from the Heart is implemented in full.
“I am here now in this chamber as the new Member for Aston, the first woman to be elected in the seat’s history, and the second-ever Labor representative for this seat,” she said.
I acknowledge, with respect, the previously elected members for Aston and their good work in the community over the years: John Saunderson, the late Peter Nugent, Chris Pearce and Alan Tudge.”
She said the electorate of Aston is named after one of the most important disability activists in Australia’s history, Matilda Aston, and she hopes to “embody some of her spirit, courage and persistence and bring these quality to my role as member for the electorate.”
“The people I call friends and family who live in suburbs like Ferntree Gully, Boronia, Wantirna, Bayswater, Knoxfield and Rowville are among the hardest working, compassionate and good-hearted people I know,” Ms Doyle said.
“These are the CFA volunteers, the community organisation volunteers who help disadvantaged people in the community, the sporting and theatre club volunteers who show up without fail to bring some excitement and life-affirming qualities to peoples’ lives.”
She paid tribute to Foothills Community Care and Knox Infolink volunteers, members of Sri Vakrathunda Vinayaga Hindu Temple and Community Centre in The Basin and the Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Boronia and members of the Knox Chinese Elderly Citizens Club.
Ms Doyle spoke about her upbringing in Echua as the youngest of nine in a “big Catholic family.”
“Tragically, both my sister Carmel and my niece Melanie are no longer with us, having both passed in 2009 and 2020 respectively. My family and I miss them terribly,” she said.
“I am now Guardian of my great-niece, 16-year-old Jamilah, Melanie’s daughter and Carmel’s granddaughter and I am proud to be caring for her and to see the bright and talented young woman she’s becoming. I am so happy she is here today.”
She said in the early 1970s, her father Ted “lost his job and succumbed to depression and alcoholism, and never returned to work.
“In the early 70s, because of my dad’s alcoholism and mental health issues, he had to apply for, what they called back then, the ‘invalid pension’, the married couples’ one,” Ms Doyle said.
“As a child growing up in public housing, like some other very senior people sitting in the House right now, I didn’t always have the things some other kids at school took for granted. I understood from an early age that my family was not one with a lot of money.”
Ms Doyle said in late 1995, at 25 years old while living in a share-house and working in a call centre, she found a lump in her right breast by accident.
“The results stated the lump was ‘atypical’, so the GP sent me to a breast specialist who did a fine needle aspiration. The next day, the results confirmed I had breast cancer,” she said
“I didn’t know what the broader future held, in terms of life and death, and more immediately, I didn’t know how I was going to pay my rent and bills, let alone save up for a wedding if I couldn’t work.”
She said living in a country with Medicare allowed her to receive the support and she needed “without paying a king’s ransom.”
“There is a very good reason terms like social security and welfare exist. These are not dirty words. We need to remember what they mean and re-embrace them,” Ms Doyle said.
“For the security of society, for the welfare of people, to help people get back on their feet, and ensure they’re not left behind.”
She thanked her campaign teams in 2022 and 2023, volunteers and the multitude of federal and state MPs who supported her throughout the campaign.
“To a bloke who, just like me – grew up in public housing, and grew up Catholic, I can’t thank you enough for backing me all the way,” she said.
“Thank you, Prime Minister, I’m so proud to be part of the team you lead.”
Ms Doyle said she confessed at the start of her campaign in 2023 that she wasn’t a career politician, instead “a regular type of person, who’s lived the kind of life which mirrors that of many of my constituents.”
“My backstory is one riddled with challenges. Families doing it tough in Aston, families like mine growing up, don’t need a pat on the head and a pitying look, what we need is good policy, and to be taken seriously,” she said.
“My message to them is: I will always put you first as your Member for Aston.”
