The member for Gilmore invoked John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela in her exhortations to selflessness.

"We have been beguiled by the marketing of such things as my choice, my store, my school, my rights and my opinion," she said during her first speech in Parliament.

"Well, I'm tired of this I, me and mine dominating the media and seeping into the mindset of our children and our youth.

"For us as Australians our question is to ask not what we can do for our country, but rather what can we do for our community?"

Ms Sudmalis said if every person did one small thing for their community, the whole country would benefit.

The nation's community leaders, elected representatives and opinion makers had a responsibility to increase social value.

Angus Taylor, the new Liberal MP for Hume, also made his first speech yesterday.

He opened by noting a border of his electorate was just 10 kilometres from where he stood in Parliament House in Canberra, but a world away socially.

Mr Taylor said he wanted to see Australia take advantage of the fast growing Asian markets, so the meat, grain and cherry producers in his electorate could prosper.

"Our dollar is stubbornly high, and mining investment is on the skids," he said.

"In time export growth is the hope."

"With tens of millions of people in the developing world moving each year from agrarian poverty, into urban middle class lives, our small country is poised on the brink of yet another prospect - a boom in demand for our food."

He said those arguing for a "fortress Australia" were wrong.

"The pursuit of global opportunities in sectors where we can excel will strengthen us.

"This is how we will sustain our sovereignty, not by putting up barriers," he said.

As well as calling for an end to "insidious political correctness" from "shrill elitist voices", Mr Taylor said Australia must control its own fortune when it came to immigration rather than having it "thrust upon us".

AAP