1 Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you for your very warmwelcome to this place. It is a great honour to address you today as the newmember for Kooyong. Firstly, let me acknowledge that I do so on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land, and that the traditional owners and original custodians of Kooyong are the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to them and to all the First Nations people of this wide and beautiful land. I honour their wisdom and their culture. I look forward to working towards them having a voice to this parliament. We have an extraordinary opportunity to join in a Makarrata—a coming together after a struggle—and an opportunity to walk on this country with its traditional owners in trust, strength and truth. To the people of Kooyong: thank you for entrusting me with this great responsibility to be your elected representative. I do so with humility and I am honoured to serve you. The electorate of Kooyong sits in eastern Melbourne. Its 59 square kilometres include Balwyn, Kew, Hawthorn, Camberwell, Deepdene, Canterbury, Surrey Hills, Mont Albert and Glen Iris. The seat is believed to have derived its name from the Wurundjeri name for resting place or camp. In its 122 years, the federal seat of Kooyong has had only seven previous members, including Sir Robert Menzies, Andrew Peacock and Petro Georgiou. Those men were all true liberals. They recognised that open markets are the best way to boost prosperity. They were committed to protecting individuals’
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