In a moving and personal address at the ceremonial opening of the 13th Republican Parliament, President Christine Kangaloo called on legislators to act boldly and compassionately, drawing from her own family's devastating experiences with road accidents to highlight the urgent need for national reform.

Speaking to a joint sitting of the newly convened Parliament, President Kangaloo recalled the pain of losing five family members to separate road traffic collisions over the years. Her voice tinged with emotion, she pleaded with lawmakers to resist rolling back life-saving measures such as the Demerit Points System, warning that road safety should never be treated as a partisan issue.

“Too many of us know the grief of losing loved ones on our roads. In my own family, we’ve endured it five times,” she said. “This is not politics. This is pain. And it should move us all to action.”