I am sitting cross-legged on a concrete slab in a home that is not a home. This is a makeshift shelter of corrugated iron and plastic sheeting, about the size of a parking spot, and it accommodates a displaced Syrian family with three young children.
What if we gave as many column inches to random acts of kindness as we do to random acts of violence?
What if we valued humanitarian aid as highly as we value human might?…
Today I am honoured to be announced as the Patron of the Full Stop Foundation for ending domestic and sexual violence, Full Stop. Here is a full transcript of my speech at the Parliament House launch.
In order to address the fictions about other women, I had to also address the fictions about myself. One of those fictions is that I am ‘Teflon Tara’ and nothing has chinked my armour; my life has been as smooth and unmarked by pain and loss as one of those shiny advertisements I posed for over the years while making my living as a fashion model.
‘I would put forward the idea we should have an advocate whose job it is to be the guardian for those kids because at the moment their guardian and their jailer are the same person and I don’t think that’s right.’
On this election day, I am grateful to be a working, voting citizen of Australia, a democratic and lucky country. I owe thanks to the women before me who made this possible. Edith Cowan believed that if you wanted something changed, you had to run for parliament. I’ll be raising a glass to her today.