Australia's youngest senator, Charlotte Walker, has used her first speech to parliament to reveal her battle with depression and bullying, as well as the misogyny she has faced since being elected. The 21-year-old Labor senator from South Australia, who turned 21 on election night, addressed the chamber on Monday evening.
Walker disclosed that she had struggled with depression since the age of 18, describing a period of denial and guilt. 'I often wondered if I wanted to go on – if there was any point in me being here,' she said. Only a handful of people previously knew about her experience, she added, because of a 'deep shame' and fear of being seen as 'damaged goods'.
She pledged to focus on issues such as the housing crisis, generational inequity, domestic violence, healthcare, youth mental health, climate change, regional opportunities and workers' rights. On climate change, she noted that young people 'live with the ever-present threat' and that by 2050, her generation will be in their 40s, demanding 'an inhabitable planet'.
Walker also addressed domestic violence, referencing findings from South Australia's royal commission that Generation Z is the first to grow up exposed to violent pornography and online misogyny. She reflected on her own experience of misogyny, including a feud with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who had referred to her as being 'out of her nappies'.
In a lighter moment, Walker admitted to a 'white lie' about how she obtained her cat, Gerald. She had claimed to have heroically rescued abandoned kittens from a national park, but later confessed to her mother that she actually got the kitten from a colleague. 'I only lied because I thought that if you knew the truth you’d make me take him back,' she said.
