Dickson MP Ali France honours late 19yo son Henry

The Australian

3 days ago

The disabled, single mum who ended Peter Dutton's 24-year run in politics has shared the emotional, private battle behind her uphill campaign to unseat the former opposition leader at her third attempt.
Giving her inaugural speech in parliament, Ali France said that while the 2025 federal campaign was 'obviously my best,' she remained heartbroken over the death of her 19-year-old son Henry, who lost his battle to leukaemia in February 2024.
'The 2025 campaign was obviously my best, and that is quite a bizarre thing because behind the curtain I was grieving and desperately wanting to hold my son Henry,' she told parliament.
The 52-year-old became a Labor legend after she defeated Mr Dutton in the outer Brisbane seat of Dickson, a seat he had held since 2001.
While the electorate was one of the country's most marginal at 1.7 per cent, Ms France achieved a 7.7 per cent swing.
Former politician Ali France credited her election win to her 19-year-old son Henry, who died from leukaemia in 2024. Source: X
Ali France MP delivered her inaugural speech in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Ms France, a former journalist and staffer to former Queensland premier Steven Miles, credited Henry, who she said was 'in another place, hopefully looking on with a big, wide smile,' as being 'instrumental' to her unexpected election win.
She also shared a private moment in the days before his death, when Henry was able to return home from hospital 'for a couple of nights'.
'He asked to sleep in my bed, next to his mum, like he did for years when he was little,' she said, her voice occasionally breaking.
'I watched him breathe all night, in awe of him, his courage and his ability to smile every day despite unbelievable pain and the never-ending hospital stays and treatment.
'I am so grateful for those hours.'
She said her son told her she would win the seat of Dickson.
'He told me many times, that this election was my time. He was convinced I would win and said a number of times, 'don't make me the excuse for you not doing important things,' she said.
'His words, his courage, were with me every day of the campaign. Henry was instrumental in getting me to this place.'
Ali France, with the Prime Minister, was the first of the new MPs elected at the May 3 election to give their inaugural speech. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Ali France hugs the Prime Minister after giving her first speech to parliament on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Ms France also spoke about the 2011 car accident which resulted in the amputation of her leg.
The incident occurred in the after a car crashed into her, and pinned her against another vehicle.
At the time, Ms France was taking her youngest son Zac to a doctor's appointment, however she managed to push the child out of the car's path.
She referred to the incident as the 'day I was supposed to die,' and thanked her trauma surgeon Martin Wullschleger, the bystanders and staff at the Royal Brisbane Hospital for saving her life.
'Martin's split-second decision to amputate my leg with a makeshift tourniquet saved me and ensured my kids had their mum,' she said.
'We kept in touch, Martin is in the gallery.'
Ms France said that while she was told she was 'unlikely to ever work again,' she owed her recovery to a 'refugee (orthopaedic) surgeon from Iraq', Professor Munjed Al Muderis, who successfully completed a 'groundbreaking and risky' osseointegration surgery, which at the time had only been completed 25 times.
Supporters of Ali France, including her son Zac and father Peter Lawlor (fourth and fifth from the left) were in the gallery for her inaugural speech. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Fellow Labor MPs applaud Ali France after her speech. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
'I've now been walking for 11 years – with a little help from my wheelchair,' she said.
'Munjed is in the gallery. And I am so grateful you stepped outside the boundaries of what was thought to be medically possible at the time.
'I literally would not be standing here today without you.'
The Brisbane MP also paid a special tribute to Anthony Albanese and her former boss Mr Miles, and referred to them as her 'greatest political believers'.
Notably the Prime Minister visited the seat of Dickson twice during the federal campaign, and began his election run in what was originally regarded as an unwinnable seat.
'When you're running for a third time, there will always be those who question if you're the right candidate,' she said.
'The Prime Minister and Steven have always been in my corner.
'Their support has meant I've continued to climb the mountain and succeed, when many others said I should step away.'
The woman who beat Greens leader gives speech
The woman who defeated another party leader at the election, Sarah Witty, has also given her first speech – highlighting the policy area that was key to the Greens.
Sarah Witty, who upset Greens leader Adam Bandt to win back the seat of Melbourne for Labor after 15 years, has highlighted housing affordability as policy of concern.
'Most of Melbourne's high-density suburbs sit right here in the seat of Melbourne, and that places us at the very heart of the housing crisis,' said Ms Witty told parliament.
Sarah Witty also made her first speech in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
'The crisis didn't happen overnight. It is a result of underinvestment from previous governments and blocking of good housing policies that has slowed progress and kept supply dangerously low.
'You must confront this crisis now with honesty and urgency and courage.'
'Safe, secure housing is not a luxury, it's a human right. Today, it's harder than ever to get into the housing market.'
Meanwhile, another new Labor MP, Gabriel Ng, who won the seat of Menzies from rising Liberal star Keith Wolahan, citied Pauline Hanson as an inspiration for him to enter public life.
Senator Hanson used her first speech in 1996 to warn that Australia was in danger of 'being swamped by Asians'.
'For the first time, I felt there were some in the population, maybe a sizeable number, who considered me less Australian because of my race,' Mr Ng, who is of Chinese-Singaporean descent, said in his first speech.
'I raise Miss Hanson's … speech not to elicit sympathy, but to remind all of us in this house, if we needed any reminding, that what we do in this place matters.
'Not only in the legislation we pass, but in the words we speak.
'We have one of the most powerful platforms in the nation, and I urge all of us in this parliament to turn away from opportunistic division and embrace and tell the story of modern Australia as it is.'
Read related topics: Peter Dutton
Jessica Wang
NewsWire Federal Politics Reporter
Jessica Wang is a federal politics reporter for NewsWire based in the Canberra Press Gallery. She previously covered NSW state politics for the Wire and has also worked at news.com.au, and Mamamia covering breaking news, entertainment, and lifestyle.
@imjesswang_
Jessica Wang