What does a career in politics cost the person behind the public figure?

In this episode of Uncommon Ground, Professor Talal Yassine sits down with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young to explore the experiences that shaped her, from an unconventional childhood on a remote Victorian property to entering federal politics at just 25.

Sarah reflects on the influence of her parents, her early activism and the challenges of raising a daughter while navigating life in Parliament. She also speaks candidly about personal criticism, bullying and harassment, and the experiences that have shaped her views on political life.

It’s a conversation about family, conviction, disagreement and the sacrifices that can come with a career in the public eye.

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Episode Running Order

• Sarah’s earliest childhood memories of growing up on a remote property in East Gippsland (00:01:47)
• Living off-grid, being homeschooled and leaving home to attend high school in Orbost (00:04:40)
• How her parents encouraged curiosity, independence and a willingness to challenge injustice (00:06:51)
• Her early ambition to become a journalist and the university lecture that changed her direction (00:14:19)
• Discovering student politics at Adelaide University and being elected student president as an independent (00:16:35)
• Learning to disagree respectfully and working with future South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas (00:20:42)
• Her early involvement in refugee advocacy and the path from student politics to the Senate (00:23:57)
• Sarah’s election to the Senate at 25 and the realities of entering federal politics as a young woman (00:26:05)
• The 2007 election campaign and Sarah’s experience of entering Parliament as a young senator (00:33:09)
• Discovering she was pregnant in the same week she was preselected for the Senate (00:38:11)
• Becoming a mother while beginning a demanding career in federal politics (00:38:40)
• How her childhood connection to nature continues to shape her environmental priorities (00:42:19)
• Talal challenges Sarah on data centres, artificial intelligence and the environmental costs of new technology (00:43:33)
• Sarah’s concerns about the impact of large data centres on local communities, water and energy resources (00:44:07)
• The debate over how Australia should regulate data centres and benefit from the resources they use (00:50:50)
• The challenges of being a young woman and single mother in Parliament (00:57:30)
• Sarah’s experiences of bullying and harassment, and her decision to speak publicly about them (00:59:14)
• Her legal case against former senator David Leyonhjelm and its impact on how she responded to personal attacks (01:01:40)
• Gender, power and the treatment of women in Australian politics (01:03:06)
• The Me Too movement and the ongoing challenge of changing workplace culture (01:07:15)