Youth

Listen to audio of speech here.

It is a great honour to be standing here today, not just in this remarkable place that is the Senate but at a time when the challenges that we face as a country and the decisions that we will make as representatives are more important than ever in determining the destiny of future generations. 

Today is the first day of spring, a day when we pull back the curtains and let the sun shine in after months of grey. May this spring mark the beginning of a new phase in Australia's history where fresh ideas and innovation are actively sourced and debated in an attempt to find solutions to our biggest challenge of all: balancing human needs with our finite and fragile environment.

South Australia's first-ever Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, vowed to put the Murray River at the top of Canberra's agenda when she was sworn in today.

Senator Hanson-Young, 26, makes history as the youngest woman ever elected to the Federal Parliament, and is the youngest member of the current Parliament.