Labor’s Charlotte Walker, a South Australian who turned 21 on election night, has said she will advocate for issues affecting young people such as housing affordability and the climate crisis. During her first speech to parliament, Australia’s youngest senator also spoke of her battle with depression, saying, ‘I often wondered if I wanted to go on – if there was any point in me being here.’ Walker added that experiencing a mental health challenge led her to want to ‘shine a light on how childhood experiences … can continue to affect your mental health into adulthood – and to explore meaningful ways to address this’. The senator ended her speech by saying that young people deserve a future that is ‘not just sustainable but fulfilling’