Ali France, who unseated Peter Dutton, delivers emotional first speech to parliament

SBS Australia

4 days ago

Newly-elected Labor MPs Ali France and Sarah Witty delivered their first speeches to the House of Representatives on Tuesday night. Ali France, the MP who unseated Peter Dutton at the May election, paid tribute to her late son in an emotional maiden speech.
France stunned political pundits when she beat Dutton, making him the first federal opposition leader to lose his own seat.
'He was convinced I would win' France spoke of the painful loss of her 19-year-old son Henry, who died from leukaemia in February 2024 after an 18-month battle. She said her late son was the driving force of her campaign. "He told me many times, that this election was my time," she said in the speech. "He was convinced I would win and said a number of times, 'don't make me the excuse for you not doing important things'.
"His words, his courage, were with me every day of the campaign. Henry was instrumental in getting me to this place."
France told the House of Representatives her journey to becoming an MP was not "a lifelong dream. Rather, it was hundreds of little steps." The single mother of two recalled the day she and her other son were hit by a car in 2011, in which she lost her leg, as a day she "was supposed to die". She was taking her youngest son Zac, then four years old, to an appointment at a Brisbane shopping centre when an out-of-control car came veering towards them.
Her left leg was crushed from her thigh down as she was pinned against another vehicle.
Martin Wullschleger, the trauma surgeon whose split-second decision to amputate saved France's life, was in the gallery to hear her maiden speech. Six surgeries in four years, PTSD and severe pain left France at the lowest point in her life.
The refugee and surgeon also watched on from the gallery.
'People only saw disability' France described being pretty angry by the time she joined Labor in 2016. "Landing a job was incredibly difficult for me. People only saw disability," she said. She said her "epic journey" to sitting in federal parliament was not part of any grand plan, but rather the result of hundreds of little steps.
France contested the seat of Dickson twice before defeating Dutton in the 2025 election.
'Our moment to fix the system' Experienced foster carer Sarah Witty beat former Greens leader Adam Bandt in the May election, and took the seat of Melbourne back to Labor for the first time in 15 years. It was one of the biggest upsets of the election and while she never expected to win, from her first day on the campaign trail, her appetite for change was clear.
In her maiden speech, Witty thanked former Greens leader Adam Bandt, whom she unseated in the electorate of Melbourne.
Labor member for Melbourne Sarah Witty delivered her first speech in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas The Richmond local also paid tribute to the city she now represents. "We are the home of the eight-hour working day and the union movement. The Victorian Trades Hall, the oldest continuously operating trades hall in the world, stands proudly in my electorate." Witty said Medicare, childcare and housing are at the top of her priorities for her constituents. "Homelessness is the harshest symptom of this failure," she said. "Safe houses are all that's needed… Without that foundation, everything else — health, work, education becomes so much harder. This is our moment to fix the system." She told the chamber that representing Melbourne is "not just an honour. It's a calling". "I bring with me the voices of renters demanding Justice, of people demanding climate action, of communities demanding to be heard, not managed." Witty and France were the first people elected at the May poll to give their maiden speech in the 48th parliament, with other first-term MPs to deliver their remarks in coming days. With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.