First Speech – Ash Ambihaipahar MP – Member for Barton NSW
Ms Ash Ambihaipahar MP, Member for Barton, gave her first speech in the House of Representatives on 23 July 2025.
Chamber House of Representativeson 23/07/2025 Item GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH – Address-in-Reply Speaker : Ambihaipahar, Ash MP
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Ms AMBIHAIPAHAR (Barton) (11:18): I rise in this chamber with deep humility and enormous gratitude as the newly elected member for Barton. Before I begin, I wish to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land this parliament meets on, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. I also acknowledge the Bidjigal people of the Eora nation, who are the traditional custodians of the land I have the privilege to represent, the seat of Barton. These lands were never ceded. They hold the wisdom of over 65,000 years of continuous connection to land, water, sky and spirit. This history is not behind us; it lives with us. And it reminds us that the work of truth-telling and justice is far from complete. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
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I want to acknowledge my predecessor and mentor, the Hon. Linda Burney. Your service to the people of Barton and to this nation, as a proud Wiradjuri woman and a trailblazing parliamentarian, has been profound. Your advocacy for First Nations peoples has shaped this country’s moral conscience. I will walk in your footsteps with awe and admiration. I wish you well for the next chapter of your life and thank you for your support.
I also want to congratulate my fellow new members of parliament. I know we will all work together to ensure this parliament is defined by unity, by courage and by decency. We are all part of the most diverse parliament in this nation’s history. We should be proud to say as much, but we should also understand the duty that representing that diversity bears. It requires empathy, compassion and humility. It requires an understanding that service to others underpins this job.
I am lucky enough to have been raised by a family that instilled this ethic in me. I was raised in the electorate of Barton. My story is written in the streets of Hurstville, the parks of Kogarah and the laneways of Arncliffe. I stand here as a member of the House of Representatives with Papua New Guinean heritage and as the daughter of a Tamil Sri Lankan mother. While my mother completed her studies in Papua New Guinea and became the first female psychiatrist there, I was raised by my uncle Thiru, her brother. He was a young, single man in his 20s, with thick, slick hair, a leather jacket and a cigarette permanently perched between his lips—not your typical father figure, some say. But he showed up for me every single day.
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We didn’t do it alone. A Maltese hospital cleaner introduced him to the Bezzina family of Narwee, who became family. Then came the Colubriales, an Italian family from Elwood who taught me to brine olives, make salami and roast chestnuts. My family was not defined by blood but by love and kindness. I was raised in a multicultural village—Sri Lankan, Maltese, Italian, Burmese, Cambodian. I was that dark-skinned little girl running through the streets of Barton who never felt out of place.
It was at Hurstville Public School where I first met my husband, Shamil. Maybe an idea was forged on the bus back from the year 6 excursion to Canberra, but I think it is more likely that neither of us imagined we’d be here. Shamil has been by my side through three election campaigns in 2½ years. He’s endured stump speeches at the dinner table and my idea of weekend do-it-yourself at home—hammering a few A-frames together for a shopping centre stall—but that’s devotion. I see your patience, your love, and your strength, Shamil, and I’m grateful beyond words.
I learnt early that love doesn’t follow convention; it just shows up. Real community is built not by proximity but by generosity. From my maternal grandparents—my grandfather, known as Master Ambi in the Tamil literacy and scientific world, and Mano, my grandmother, a teacher by trade for 40 years—I inherited a commitment to education and justice, and I am eternally grateful to them. I thank my in-laws, Smeetha and Kishore, who came from apartheid South Africa to settle in Hurstville for a better life and taught me resilience and hope. I would like to thank Thiru, my parents, Uma and Siva, Dharamine, Thaya, Ajith, the Bezzinas, the Colubriales and my siblings for the understanding that serving my community often means sacrificing time with you.
While Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have been a little bit complicated for me, I must say I’m proud that I was raised by a community—mosaic of cultures, traditions and faiths. My childhood transcended the conventional nuclear family. I never felt once left out of place, because love doesn’t care for convention; it just shows up. It shows up and it serves.
Barton is named for Edmund Barton, Australia’s first Prime Minister. He was a nation-builder, stitching together all of the disparate colonies into one federation. However, as a champion of the White Australia policy, I don’t think that Edmund Barton could have envisioned someone with the backstory I’ve just described making their first speech in parliament. But, like Edmund Barton, I attended the University of Sydney before studying law. Like Barton, I stand here representing more than just a place. I represent the project of Australia itself—a project that is not finished but ever-evolving.
Edmund Barton was Prime Minister when women won the right to vote. In this chamber, I stand on the shoulders of Julia Gillard, our first female prime minister. Her words in this chamber were a clarion call to me and to all Australian women to speak up, to push through and to change the system from within. I also follow in the footsteps of former members for Barton Robert McClelland and Gary Punch. It is an honour, and one I do not take lightly.
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After completing my science degree, I began my career in a mortuary. Yes, that’s right—dead bodies. It’s not glamorous, but it teaches you that life is precious and that dignity matters in life and in death. That’s what drew me to law, to unions and to advocacy. It led me to my passion for workplace law reform. My belief that dignity at work is sacred is at the core of everything I do. I’ve stood with workers here and overseas. I’ve worked with the United Auto Workers in America, the Electrical Trades Union, the Nurses and Midwives’ Association and the Australian Hotels Association. In the federal campaign this year, I worked with the United Workers Union, and I want to thank them, especially Jo-anne Schofield, Mel Gatfield and Riz Chowdhury.
Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve seen how easy it is for workers to be exploited, especially when they don’t understand their payslips, their contracts or their rights. I’ve seen employers operate in the ‘grey zone’, especially in the care sector, where profits can be prioritised over people. That’s why I’m proud to be part of a Labor government that is pro-worker, pro-decency and pro-small-business. Labor’s secure jobs, better pay reforms are shifting power back where it belongs—with the workers. Setting minimum standards for gig workers, enacting the right to disconnect, giving genuine bargaining power, enacting the government’s closing loopholes act and tackling casualisation, underpayment and wage theft is just the beginning.
Some say that supporting workers and supporting small business are incompatible. I reject that. Business success should never come at the cost of dignity and fairness. The best businesses know that when you invest in your people, you invest in your prosperity. I’m proud to be part of a movement that has always understood the role of unions. They stand in the gap for those who don’t always know their rights, who can’t read the fine print and who just want a fair go. Again, their purpose is to serve—to serve their members and to serve the collective movement for working people. I learnt more about what this service means in my time working at the St Vincent de Paul Society. But, this time, it was applied to those experiencing housing stress and homelessness. This role taught me that policy only works when it is human, when it listens first. My time as a councillor at Georges River Council gave me a glimpse of how compassionate leadership can shape local lives, especially in homelessness advocacy. I’ve volunteered in soup kitchens, I’ve delivered meals to some people sleeping rough and I’ve sat with families terrified of the night ahead. These are not statistics; these are people. They are our neighbours. I’m proud of the Prime Minister’s National Housing Accord, because housing is not just an economic issue. It is about dignity, it’s about safety, and it is about hope.
I’m also passionate about our young people. This next generation deserves purpose, pathways and potential, not burnout, not debt and not despair. We owe them a future that is fair, full of opportunity and where safeguarding the planet has been taken seriously by the generation going before. That’s why climate change must be the lens through which all policy passes. If we’re not tackling climate, we’re not doing our job.
While there are parallels between Edmund Barton’s life and mine, in some ways they could not be more different. While Barton championed the White Australia policy, I live and breathe multiculturalism. I stand here because others lifted me. That’s why I will always fight for antidiscrimination, for safety, for equity and for unity. I know what it feels like to be different, to navigate different worlds. I’ve also seen how political tension can quickly mutate into real-world hate if not called out early. I will always stand up against racism, division and hate. I like to think that Edmund Barton, as the architect of Federation, would recognise the work needed to forge not just a nation but a just nation.
My story is a uniquely Australian story, and it is Barton’s story: diverse, proud, imperfect but always striving. In that spirit, I carry forward the unfinished work to ensure parliaments reflect their people, that justice is accessible, that equality is not just a promise but a practice.
I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his faith in me and for leading us all with compassion and strength. Thank you to Dom Ofner, David Dobson and especially George Simon. Thank you, George, for your wisdom and your support.
I stand here today because others stood with me. I carry my community with me every step of the way. I thank the people of Barton for placing their faith in me. I will never take that for granted. I thank the wonderful Barton Labor branch members; I can’t list them all, but I can see you up there—my friends, Labor councillors, who worked so hard on the campaign. Thank you to Cherie Burton and Sienna Forrest for volunteering and showing political courage and campaign grit. To Davina Langton, Cheryl Han, Samantha Otardo, Jessica Wei, Loretta Marcus, Anne Sinclair, Anne Tegg and Anna Minns: my campaign was run almost exclusively by women, and the result speaks for itself.
Thank you to the New South Wales Premier, the Hon. Chris Minns, and Ministers Steve Kamper and Sophie Cotsis. It is a remarkable privilege to represent a seat alongside three state MPs of such calibre. I am grateful for your advice, support and friendship. Thank you to the Southern Sydney Young Labor Association, India Jones, Sam and the Iskandar family, and our secret weapon in Barton, Don Smith.
My passion for the people of Barton has been shaped by organisations who serve our community. Lala Noronha and the Kogarah Storehouse provide vital services of food relief and cultural inclusion. His Grace Bishop Christodoulos, the Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales, the Australasian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, and our Greek community all promote heritage and belonging. Henry Pan and the team at CASS provide our amazing Chinese community with support through aged care, child care and cultural services and lift countless lives. The St George Dragons Junior Rugby League Football Club in Kingsgrove creates community and opportunity for local kids. These groups and so many more are doing the real on-the-ground work that no level of government can replace. I’m committed to fiercely advocating for equitable funding, fair policy and ensuring the voices of those who serve are truly heard and respected.
As Edmund Barton stitched together a nation, I’m here to help stitch together a future for Barton where no-one is left behind, where every voice counts, where dignity is non-negotiable.
I’m a proud Tamil Sri Lankan, Papua New Guinean Australian woman, educated in local Barton schools and raised by a Sri Lankan, Maltese and Italian village. I’m married to a South African born Indian. I have roots in Hinduism, Buddhism and Catholicism. I am the walking, talking embodiment of modern Australia.
None of us chose the colour of our skin, our birthplace or our family, but we can choose to be kind; we can choose to serve. I close with the Latin phrase that guides me: ut prosim—that I may serve.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): Before I call the honourable member for Hughes, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech, and I ask that the House extend to him the usual courtesies.
