Less than one third of the 32 new federal MPs have delivered their maiden speeches to the 43rd parliament of Australia in the last two days. There are more than a few faces to watch among the 24 men and eight women — including the nation’s first Greens MP Adam Bandt, our first indigenous MP Ken Wyatt, and that other Wyatt, Australia’s youngest ever MP Wyatt Roy.

Bandt today delivered a searing critique of so-called equality in today’s society, a society governed by neo-liberalism and the ideology of market dominance. Minutes later, former intelligence analyst-turned-whistleblower Andrew Wilkie took the stage, and called the government and the Opposition on the “great lie peddled by both” — that Australian troops must stay in Afghanistan to protect Australia from terrorism.

And Wyatt yesterday moved the House to tears as he described the impact of the former prime minister’s 2008 apology to the Stolen Generation.

Meanwhile, four other newbies used their first speeches to address the issues that strike at the core of Australian politics: health, education, the National Broadband Network and … sport. Welcome to the Class of 2010:

Adam Bandt, Greens Member for Melbourne

“Ironically, it is usually those who want the fewest barriers for money to move across borders who want to build the strongest walls to stop people doing the same. But when we lock asylum seekers and refugees up indefinitely, in city and desert prisons, we have more than enough evidence that we destroy their lives and the lives of their families. There is a palpable hypocrisy in saying the threat is so dire that we must send our soldiers to fight in places like Afghanistan, and yet when people flee that threat we close the door on them.”

Andrew Wilkie, Independent Member for Denison

“[M]y Iraq whistleblower experience was hard for me but it has a happy ending. More often whistleblowers end up on a heap having lost everything including their job, their family and friends, their life savings and even their life. But yet a succession of Federal Governments have dodged the self-evident imperative for such legislation, preferring instead the status quo where those who try and tell truth to power are regarded as troublemakers or criminals… Finally Australia is on the cusp of having a framework to protect the men and women who risk all to reveal official misconduct.”

Ken Wyatt, Liberal Member for Hasluck

“My mother was one of the Stolen Generation and spent her childhood years in Roelands Mission near Bunbury in Western Australia… When the former prime minister delivered the apology on 13 February 2008 in this chamber I shed tears for my mother and her siblings. My mother and her siblings, along with many others, did not live to hear the words delivered in the apology, which would have meant a great deal to them individually. I felt a sense of relief that the pain of the past had been acknowledged and that the healing could begin.”

Jane Prentice, Liberal Member for Ryan

“[I]f this nation fails to cloak our soldiers with the full protection of the law when they go into battle, we fail them all. The rules of engagement must be crystal clear and our support strong. If we put Australian troops into the heat of battle and expect them to take enormous risks on our behalf, we cannot expect them to be split-second lawyers as well … [O]ur troops go to war on the instructions of our government. They must be able to do their job in accordance with the rules of engagement without having to worry about whether those rules might be interpreted differently at a later time. I say this as an Australian but also as a mother of a serving member of the Defence Force.”

Deborah O’Neill, Labor Member for Robertson

I make no apology for articulating today my determination to seek the earliest possible rollout of the National Broadband Network for our region … Currently, so many of our young people, our young parents and our experienced workers can only find work or seek out professional challenge by leaving the coast. Some coasties leave permanently; others commute daily. Such a loss of capacity in our region has too great a cost both socially and economically. It is my view that the NBN … is the opportunity of our lifetime to re-envision the possibility for lives in regional Australia.

Michelle Rowland, Labor Member for Greenway

I was 11 years old when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Six years of countless drugs, chemotherapy, radiation and the most unimaginable pain followed, but her survival could be prolonged no further and she died shortly after my 17th birthday. The Cancer Institute New South Wales notes that breast cancer remains the most prevalent form of the disease in our community, with nearly 50,000 survivors now in New South Wales … On behalf of the survivors, their families and those who have lost, I make a special commitment to supporting cancer research, particularly to address the disparity between geographic outcomes.

Geoff Lyons, Labor Member for Bass

I believe we must reinvigorate community sport. I believe there is a need to encourage people, particularly young people, to belong to community organisations … I know we are not in an era of joining or committing to any organisation and I believe Australia is worse off for that. How do we turn that around? One way is to improve recreational and sporting facilities in regional Australia which would make it more attractive for people of today. … I am passionate about improving sporting facilities in the electorate of Bass and encouraging young people to become involved in both individual and team sports.