Jodie Belyea has promised voters in Dunkley she will be a champion for the “incredible” and “diverse” community, in a maiden speech to parliament that revealed her experience of domestic and family violence, and sexual abuse.
In a nearly 30-minute address on Wednesday afternoon, the self-described “mum from Frankston” paid tribute to her predecessor Peta Murphy, who lost her battle to breast cancer late last year, triggering the by election held on March 2.
Ms Belyea beat the Liberal Party’s Nathan Conroy, despite the Labor Party suffering a 3.57 per cent swing against it.
“Thank you to the people of Dunkley for the immense privilege and honour of representing you in parliament,” she said on Wednesday.
“I will seek to honour the community’s trust every day I’m here.”
Ms Belyea recalled how her journey with overcoming trauma related to her experience of family violence and sexual assault had first led her to meet Ms Murphy.
An invitation from the late MP to walk in the 2021 March 4 Justice ultimately pushed her into politics, she said.
“I knew in that moment that I was going to need to be brave, in order to make a bigger difference. So here I am,” she said.
She affirmed her commitment to seeing Ms Murphy’s ambitious gambling reforms realised.
“I will be an advocate for the recommendations of ‘Win Some, Lose More’ report. Peta drove this report’s common sense recommendations with empathy and care,” Ms Belyea said.
“It falls on us to meet her political courage with a little bit of our own.”
The government is still considering its response to the report, which was released eight months ago.
The major recommendation was for online gambling ads to be banned within three years.
Ms Murphy’s parents watched Ms Belyea’s speech from the public gallery, while the new Dunkley MP also paid tribute to the late member’s husband Rod for his support throughout her campaign.
“Thank you for your guidance and support for months, despite your grief,” she said.
She also thanked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his support.
