MICHAEL MOORE continues his review of inaugural speeches from new members of the Legislative Assembly, this week highlighting two people committed to building a better world, but having such different perspectives.

IT’S fascinating to understand why our most recently elected MLAs have run for office.

For most there is a specific catalyst. Marisa Paterson’s “inaugural speech” was not her first parliamentary contribution. 

Moments earlier the member for Murrumbidgee contributed to a motion regarding government support for clubs and commented on the dangers of gambling. 

“What we cannot ignore in the ACT is the harm experienced by 10 per cent of the community as a result of gambling. This level of harm is not acceptable in our community,” she said.

There is an element of politics in Marisa Paterson’s background. And it was not always Labor. As a young woman she watched as her granddad attempted to influence politics as a chair of the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association in Victoria. And her parents “instilled in all four children a sense of social justice and the importance of making a contribution to community”.

As the only newly elected Labor MLA, Dr Paterson was also supported by Emily’s List. This is a network within Labor that was set up to ensure gender equity in the election of Labor women to parliaments across Australia.

She has a strong academic background studying at Monash University and the ANU before taking on a PhD scholarship “at Charles Darwin University, to study gambling and the impact on remote Aboriginal communities”. 

Her study was motivated by a fascination “in human behaviour: why people do what they do and how culture and society influence and interact. My particular interest was in mental health and addiction research”.

It is not surprising then that after her first contribution that Mark Parton acknowledged her contribution being made “in a very sensible and level way”. 

Ahead of her now is to live up to the reason she joined Labor in order to work “together to make the world a fairer and equitable place”.

GREENS MLA Jo Clay began her inaugural speech with what seemed to be a rhetorical question: “What are we going to do about it?” Ms Clay was talking about “the climate emergency”, a phrase she constantly reiterated.

In explaining her background as being from a family of lawyers and artists she provided an insight into her motivation. This background formed the basis of her university studies resulting in a double degree in Law and Creative Arts. She has worked in the arts as a writer of stories, books and films. However, “everything that I made was about apocalypse”.

“Now that we are in a climate emergency, what are we going to do about it?” The reiteration of her message added power to her speech. 

There was no doubt left about her motivation for entering politics and the need for her to hand a better world to her daughter Xander and the next generation. 

“Climate change is here, and it is a blazing disaster,” she said.

Although the first part of Ms Clay’s life involved travel and “a lot of gap years”, she has also been a public servant. Additionally, as an environmentalist she has put her efforts in line with her philosophy as a worker at the Green Shed and as a manager of Send and Shred.

Jo Clay set herself a personal goal to cut her own carbon footprint. She contrasts her efforts with that of the federal government. 

“While the federal inventory claimed a 0.1 per cent emissions cut, mine cut 77 per cent. Apparently, I am 7700 times more effective than our federal government”.

A key message from the member for Ginninderra’s speech was: “I have learned a lot since accepting that I am part of the problem. I have learned far more working on solutions than I ever did running away from them.”

The conclusion was also powerful and included: “Plenty of climate denialists ran, none were elected”.

The question, “what are we going to do about it?”, seemed much less rhetorical by the end of Ms Clay’s contribution.

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