This is the maiden speech to the House of Representatives by the Liberal member for Curtin, Celia Hammond.
Hammond won the Western Australian seat at the May 18, 2019 elections. A lawyer, she is the former vice-chancellor of the University of Notre Dame. She succeeds the former deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Julie Bishop, who held the seat between 1998 and 2019.
Curtin is an inner metropolitan electorate in Perth. It includes suburbs such as Churchlands, Claremont, Cotteslow, Glendalough, Mosman Part, Nedlands, Peppermint Grove, Subiaco and Woodlands. Created in 1949, Hammond is its fifth member. The seat has always been held by the Liberal Party, except for the 1996 election, when the disendorsed Liberal member, Allan Rocher, was re-elected as an independent member.
There was a 6.37% two-party-preferred swing against the Liberal Party. Hammond finished with 64.33% of the two-party vote. The Liberal Party won 54.18% of the primary vote, a decrease of 11.32%. The ALP’s primary vote was 17.62%, an increase of 1.91%. The Greens polled 15.55%, up 1.35%.
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Transcript of maiden speech by Celia Hammond, Liberal member for Curtin.
The SPEAKER: Before I call the honourable member for Curtin, I remind honourable members that this is her first speech. I therefore ask that the usual courtesies be extended to her.
Ms HAMMOND (Curtin) (12:26): The House of Representatives begins each day with an acknowledgement of the traditional custodians of the land and the opportunity to say a prayer. And so I start my first speech here today by acknowledging and paying my respects to the elders of the Ngunawal and Nambri peoples, who are the traditional custodians of the Canberra area; the Whadjuk Noongar people, who are the traditional custodians of the land I call home; and the Ballardong Noongar people, the traditional custodians of the land on which I was born. As a person of faith, I also start by giving thanks to God.