I give the call to the  honourable member for McPherson.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

It is with deep humility and  immense pride that I rise to

deliver my first speech in this House as  the newly elected member for McPherson.

Not long ago I sat in this chamber not as a  participant in debate but as a parliamentary

attendant, a silent observer to the great  conversations that shape our nation. I listened, I

learned and I grew in my resolve to one day add my  voice to the legacy of our national story. Today,

that day has come, and I rise with gratitude to  my community, with reverence for this institution

and our great democracy and with a commitment  to serve with integrity, energy and purpose.

My presence here today is a testament  to our national character—that someone

who once sorted mail in the basement  of this very building can ascend from

humble beginnings to define the future  of our nation as a member of parliament.

I am proud to be the first to make this journey,  but I sincerely hope I’m not the last. Ours

is a country where opportunities can be seized,  through hard work, perseverance and belief in the

value of public service, and where every voice,  regardless of where it begins, can contribute

to the great tapestry of our shared Australian  journey. I will always come to this place as a

place of service—to the people of McPherson,  to my state of Queensland and to my country.

I feel blessed that I had a remarkable  childhood. I benefited from a world-class

education, a multicultural family  that embraced a global perspective,

the freedom to practise my faith freely, and  the love and support of a strong family unit.

My father is a tradie, an electrician and  refrigeration mechanic. My mother is a

dedicated public servant, still working in  the service of her country to this day. To

get ahead they worked second jobs, took risks  to invest in property and small business and

never questioned their obligation to stand on  their own two feet. Weekends weren’t for rest.

They were for renovating houses for extra  money and printing tickets for milk bottle

deliveries as part of our family business. We  were optimistic, not because we had wealth but

because we believed in effort. And when our hard  work paid off we felt pride in having earned the

rewards. Together we supported one other as much  as we relied upon one another. We were a family.

My upbringing was a traditional middle-class  Australian story. It was grounded in values of

personal responsibility, self-determination and  respect for the institutions on which Australia

was built. As migrants, my parents never let  a day pass without reminding me to hold a deep

and profound gratitude for all that Australia  made possible. I stand in this place because of

their quiet patriotism and because they raised  me to believe in Australia and in her promise,

and that service in her name is a tremendous  calling. It is no wonder these values took me to

the Liberal Party here in the ACT and the Liberal  National Party in the great state of Queensland.

I joined the Liberal Party because I was taught  to believe in personal responsibility—that if

you drop something you pick it up, and if you want  something you work for it. And yes, I may not be a

stereotypical Liberal, but I am a Liberal—proudly,  unapologetically. I’m a Liberal because I trust

Australians to make decisions for themselves and  I believe that the role of government is to lift

people up, not lock them in. I’m a Liberal  because I believe in limited government,

not out of a desire for less but because I believe  Australians are capable of far more. And I’m a

Liberal because I believe in giving Australians a  stake in the economy through free enterprise and

home ownership and that this is more important  than giving them a stake in the government.

We are a party that has stood for what’s decent,  what’s compassionate and, more often than not,

what’s grounded in common sense. My start in  life was available to me as the beneficiary of

an Australia that my parents came here for—an  Australia where one’s fortune was the result

of their determination and contribution, an  Australia that understood that aspiration,

not entitlement, was the foundation  for progress. But that Australia is

becoming harder to recognise. Across this  country, among men and women, young and old,

there’s a growing sense of disempowerment. Too  many Australians feel discouraged to dream,

strive and achieve. I stand here today for  them, and because I fear we are losing our way.

We have drifted from celebrating self-reliance to  being conditioned to expect government to step in,

not just in times of crisis but  in place of personal initiative.

Our national psyche has evolved, whereby the  instinct to prepare for a rainy day is dulled

by an expectation of government intervention. This  mindset has not just taken hold in our community;

it has infected government itself, where  short-term spending too often replaces

long-term discipline. And we have fallen in love  with regulation that is punitive to the many,

instead of making an example of the  few who set out to do the wrong thing.

In our desire to shield Australians from hardship,  we are wrapping the population in cotton and,

in doing so, we are stifling our national spirit.  We risk being slowly pulled into the quicksand of

bureaucracy, overreach and ideologically driven  agendas that forget that it is the individual

that is at the heart of our democracy. The  result in my electorate is a housing crisis,

where young Australians are now  unable to afford a home, and,

even worse, everyday working people are  less able to afford rent and essentials.

I come to this place to reignite the traditional  role of government as an enabler instead of a

provider, and I seek to reinforce the role of  the Australian parliament as future focused,

placing Australia and her people foremost in every  decision we make. In my time in this place, it is

my duty and privilege to represent the people of  McPherson, to share with this place their thoughts

and their values and to work hard to ensure  that they get the attention of government when

they need it. Equally important, I’m committed  to crafting a future Australia that they can

take pride in. I’ll contribute to the domestic  and international agendas that will define our

nation’s path forward, ensuring our future is  a positive evolution built upon the foundation

of our past. I’ll seek to address new-world  challenges without weakening our old-world values.

The greatest reforms we will achieve in this  place will not be coupled with great expense.

They’ll not be marked by grand monuments; nor will  they burden the public with costs of creation and

upkeep. The greatest reforms will be those that  redefine how we conduct ourselves as Australians,

both as individuals and as a nation. We  are navigating a national identity crisis,

and it’s imperative that we restore a deep sense  of purpose. We must reignite our national spirit,

set the bounds for our shared identity and  rediscover our values and basic common sense.

In his farewell address, President Reagan put the  question to Americans: ‘Are we doing a good enough

job of teaching our children what America is and  what she represents in the long history of the

world?’ I ask the same of us here in Australia.  We must reignite an unambivalent appreciation

of Australia and the Western values that form  the foundation of our nation. This will give

us the resolve and the capacity to confront the  pressing challenges that demand urgent attention.

We face a population surge fuelled  by a reckless immigration profile,

one that no longer reflects the careful planning  or national interest that critically underpinned

our migration success story. In allowing this, we  risk diminishing both the privilege of coming to

Australia and the cohesion that has long made our  multicultural society a strength, not a strain.

The desire to come to Australia, while admirable,  should not be the sole qualification. It is the

willingness to contribute to Australia that  must be the true test. Having studied in Europe,

I’ve witnessed the social and economic pressures  that arise when migration is poorly managed:

rising social tensions, buckling infrastructure,  divided communities. These are no longer

abstract policy debates; they are lived realities  overseas. We would do well to heed these warnings.

At the same time, our education standards are  falling, with too many young Australians leaving

school not only lacking the skills to succeed  but also uncertain of who we are as a nation.

There is a growing detachment from our history,  our democratic institutions and our values.

A generation is emerging that is less proud  of Australia and has little understanding of

how fragile yet precious our democracy  truly is—that it must be understood,

defended and never taken for granted. This is not  just an academic concern; it’s a national one.

Civic education has been neglected for  too long, and it must be installed at the

heart of our national curriculum, to teach young  Australians why pride in Australia is justified.

Our welfare system, once a vital  safety net for those in genuine need,

has ballooned into something  broader and, in many cases,

far less targeted. Too often support is now  distributed based on identity rather than

circumstance. Compassion should not be measured  by how much we spend but by how effectively we

lift people out of hardship. A welfare system  that is sustainable, fair and focused on need

will always do more to empower Australians  than one built on division or ideology.

Governments don’t create wealth; businesses  do. When my father lost his job shortly after

arriving in Australia, he sought to rebuild by  starting an electrical business much like the

one he had successfully run overseas. Yet, when  he approached a government department for advice,

he was told that assistance would only be  available if he first went on welfare. That

experience speaks volumes about a system  that too often disincentivises initiative.

If we are serious about national prosperity,  we must do more to encourage enterprise,

not hinder it. It is the resilience of small  business that underpins our economic strength

and employment opportunities. But Australia is  now losing too many of them to countries with

more favourable economic conditions. This quiet  exodus of ambition and ability cannot continue. If

we are to grow our economy and secure our future,  we must foster a climate that rewards effort,

investment and innovation. That means undertaking  a serious internal review of our tax system

and industrial relations policies, ensuring  they’re competitive and encourage productivity.

As the youngest member of the federal  coalition, I am acutely aware that I am

viewed as a representative of my generation. And,  as a millennial, I cannot in good conscience avoid

the issue of our national debt. When I look at the  way government has treated the national accounts,

it leaves me with deep concerns about the message  we are sending and the culture we’re creating.

We have created a culture of expedience—one that  justifies present comfort at the expense of future

Australians—and we act as though we bear no  responsibility for the weight of this burden

on generations to come. This approach cannot be  sustained. It underpins the ongoing degradation of

personal responsibility and retires the obligation  to leave things better than we found them.

We can spend our time assigning blame and  pointing fingers at different governments

or we can acknowledge that this is  a fresh parliament and, with it,

a fresh opportunity—an opportunity to  restore strong fiscal management where

government practises the same self-control  that we expect of the people we govern.

We must ensure Australia remains an attractive  and competitive destination for investment,

because investment means jobs, innovation  and national prosperity. To achieve this,

we must commit to reducing the burden of  unnecessary regulation and red tape that

too often stifles opportunity before it begins. As  a foreign investment lawyer, I have seen firsthand

how Australia is fast becoming a less attractive  investment destination. Investors are deterred

not by our values or by our people but by a system  weighed down by complexity, delay and uncertainty.

If we are to secure long-term economic growth,  we must restore confidence by creating an

environment that rewards enterprise and welcomes  investment that is in the national interest.

As an island nation, our geography has  long served us as a strategic advantage,

but in the decades ahead, our location  at the heart of an increasingly volatile

Indo-Pacific region will present  complex and testing challenges.

It is already clear that these challenges are  emerging not only in a military context but also

through persistent and covert attempts  to weaken our values and fracture our

unity. Meeting them will require foresight,  resolve and deliberate strategic planning.

The men and women of the Australian Defence Force  represent the height of our national character,

but admiration alone is not enough.  We must be honest about the resourcing

constraints they face and respond accordingly.  Australia must invest in building a strong,

sovereign defence capability—one that’s  equipped, modern and ready to defend our

national interest. But national interest begins  not just with hardware but with heart. This is

why it’s so important that young Australians  grow up with a sense of pride in their country,

because a generation that understands what is  worth defending will be prepared to stand for it.

In a time of growing uncertainty in the  international order, we should seize the

strategic and diplomatic advantages of  our trusted allies and, importantly,

our membership of the Commonwealth. The defence  of our nation is not limited to military defence;

it’s also defence of our interests. I  am a firm believer in diversifying our

import and export markets so we don’t rely  on any one country and expose ourselves to

being held ransom by adversaries. Australia  must support the expansion of our domestic

manufacturing sector in line with our  strategic and comparative advantage.

Housing must not be understood simply  as a challenge of the moment but as a

generational issue that demands a generational  solution. Yes, we must urgently increase supply

and deregulate the building industry, but we  cannot stop there. We need to pursue a bold,

long-term vision for Australia’s future—one  that thinks beyond the next election cycle

and asks what this country should look like in  2100. My city of the Gold Coast remains the only

new sizeable built city that was built since  the Second World War in Australia. That fact

alone should prompt serious national reflection.  We must be prepared to plan and build new cities,

invest in infrastructure that improves national  connectivity and create the conditions for growth,

including tax settings that attract long-term  capital and drive investment. This is not just

about housing affordability; it’s about ambition.  Too many Australians feel they must leave our

cities or our shores to realise their potential.  Our task is to make sure they don’t have to.

I’m very aware of the distinguished political  lineage of my seat. In his maiden speech, the

first member for McPherson and former Australian  prime minister Sir Arthur Fadden remarked:

We should be cautious in our  decisions, because upon them

the final outcome may depend—the making  or unmaking of Australia as a nation.

So I say to my parliamentary colleagues,  particularly those in my party at a time

of national rebuild, let’s be bold; let’s  be visionary. Let’s bring forth our very own

era of national renewal, anchored in the  issues that matter to those we represent.

We walk in the footsteps of the generation  that saved the world—men and women who fought,

served and sacrificed for the freedoms we  now inherit. As Sir Paul Hasluck reminded us,

we must ‘make the most of the chance  of politics’. That chance is now ours,

and we must meet it with  conviction, clarity and courage.

My journey to this chamber would not have been  possible without the unwavering support of my

campaign family, many of whom are in the gallery  tonight and watching from around the world. I am

profoundly grateful and forever indebted. We truly  were a grassroots movement on the Gold Coast,

and I thank every volunteer and supporter  for their tireless dedication to our cause

and to me personally. It is a truly humbling  experience to see the support that each person

gave me. I thank the Liberal National Party  of Queensland and its members for electing

me as their candidate for the seat of  McPherson, my campaign committee and

my parliamentary colleagues, particularly  those who visited me during the campaign.

I thank those who contributed to my journey,  many of whom join us here today. To my former

colleagues, from my early days as a parliamentary  attendant and from my time at King & Wood

Mallesons and those that I had the privilege of  working with in this building, including under the

guidance of my now colleague the member for Fisher  and former foreign minister the Hon. Julie Bishop:

thank you all for your mentorship and friendship.  I thank my teachers and lecturers, whose influence

has stayed with me beyond the classroom, and my  broader family and friends for their love and

support. I thank my staff. I hope this role will  inspire us to perform at our very best, always

keeping in mind that our foremost duty is to serve  our community and our country in all that we do.

As the great president Bartlet asked in The  West Wing: Do you have a friend? Are they your

best friend? Are they smarter than you? And  would you trust them with your life? Because

that’s your chief counsel. I’m fortunate  to have a few chief counsel—Trent Belling,

Troy Maloney and Jarrod Lomas—all here today.  Trent, for your sharp political mind, sense of

humour and for backing me every step of the way;  Troy, for your warm friendship and your loyalty;

and Jarrod, for being a sounding board that keeps  me grounded whether or not I like it: thank you.

I wish to make a special acknowledgement  of my mentor, the Hon. Dr Brett Mason.

As a distinguished former prime minister  once said, ‘You win the lottery of life when

you’re born in Australia.’ I’m grateful  for having won two lotteries in life:

being born to this great nation and being  born to my parents. To my mum and to my dad,

who are here today: thank you for everything.

My story is the Gold Coast story, and the Gold  Coast story is the Australian story—people who

have made something from nothing. McPherson  is a microcosm of what we need to see more

of—people who are willing to take risks, back  their ingenuity, contribute to their local

community and create a life limited only  by their own imagination. It’s a uniquely

entrepreneurial city that was built on small  business and innovation. Tradies, professionals,

small-business owners and digital nomads who can  work anywhere in the world choose McPherson as a

base because it offers them a unique lifestyle  and an unmatched natural environment to live,

work and raise a family. Their belief in  themselves and their willingness to stand on

their own two feet are the modern representation  of the Australian spirit we need to capture.

So it is only right that my final  thanks go to the people of McPherson,

without whom nothing here would be possible  and everything here would be pointless. For

placing their trust and their hopes in me, I will  never take the southern Gold Coast for granted,

and each day I will work with determination  to ensure your voice is heard in our national

parliament. It is the greatest honour of my  life to be elected as the federal member of

McPherson. I am the 1,268th person to be  elected to this chamber since Federation.

I love this country with every fibre of my being.  I love it for what it has given my family, for the

values it holds dear and for the promise it still  carries in the hearts of the quiet Australians.

Australia is not just a place on a map; it’s  an idea, a spirit and a shared story. Though

we face great challenges ahead, I have never been  more confident in the capacity of our people. The

task before us is not to manage decline but to  shape destiny and to invest in a future where

effort is rewarded, freedom is protected and  opportunity is not the privilege of the few but

the inheritance of all. With conviction, gratitude  and hope, I stand here ready to do my part.

I thank the House.