Maryka Groenewald MLC, inaugural speech
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised by my incredible grandma (Oumie) and granddad (Oupie) and moved to Western Australia with my parents and sister when I was 13 years old.
I was grateful to have a supportive school community and chaplain as we settled in.
I studied Community Development and Politics at Murdoch University and loved working in community!
I mentored young people, supported kids in foster care, and advocated for women leaving exploitation and trafficking. I developed volunteer programs to build stronger communities and helped design a school-engagement program that ran across dozens of schools in WA, NT and SA.
I also served alongside a team in prisons, coordinating restorative justice programs and facilitating the Angel Tree Christmas Project for children with a mum or dad in prison.
Those years really shaped me.
Strong families change lives.
Faith brings hope.
Community solutions over bureaucracy.
That conviction took me into public life – and I hope to continue that fight, scrutinising laws and decisions that affect us on a daily basis.
But more than that – I want to be a bridge builder; I want to bring hope, truth and joy (with some grit and courage of course!) in how I approach policy and politics.
In 2016, I became State Director of The Australian Christians Party (AC). For almost a decade I built the organisation, trained volunteers, and gave conservative Christians a clear, respectful voice in WA.
In 2025 I was elected to the Legislative Council, the first Australian Christians MP in any parliament. It’s a privilege to lead the Party.
We stand for life, faith, family and freedom.
That means:
My approach is simple: walk the walk, do the work.
It’s the greatest honour to be serving Western Australians with a clear aim —to protect life, strengthen families and secure our freedoms.
