Kristina Keneally never imagined she'd make a political comeback.
"Simply put, I thought my race was run," the former NSW premier turned senator told federal parliament.
But a call from Bill Shorten asking her to switch from commentator to candidate reminded the US-born Labor senator why she was drawn to politics - to turn promises into progress.
While she lost the Bennelong by-election to incumbent John Alexander last year, Sam Dastyari's fall from grace paved the way for her ascension to the upper house.
"There is nowhere else I would rather be," she said in her maiden speech on Tuesday.
Her commitment to unions was forged in 1987 in her hometown of Waterville, Ohio, where she worked on an assembly line in a fibreglass factory.
Senator Keneally said she worked there months after another young woman, Leslie Lambert.
"One afternoon Leslie was caught by the adhesive, spun around 10 times, cracking her head and back on to the machine, before she was thrown to the floor," she said.
"She died. Leslie was 19."
The experience seared the importance of a safe workplace and unions into Senator Keneally's "very existence".
It wasn't the last life-changing moment which would inform her policy pursuits.
Less than an hour after winning bipartisan support for a Senate committee to examine stillbirth research and education, Senator Keneally recounted what sparked her passion for the issue.
"Our daughter Caroline never drew breath, but she changed me forever," she said.
Stillbirth was a national public health crisis with major economic impact and devastating effect on families, she said.
There was unsurprisingly no mention of jailed former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid, who the Liberals attempted to link to her during the Bennelong campaign.
But Senator Keneally outlined her hope a federal anti-corruption watchdog would become a reality.
"What I and the people of New South Wales know from ICAC inquiries is that when people choose to act corruptly, they do it in secret," she said.
"When it comes to safeguarding trust in our democracy, sunlight isn't just an effective disinfectant, it is an essential precondition."
Senator Keneally famously told NSW parliament she was "nobody's girl" to shake off accusations that she was Obeid's "puppet".
In her maiden address in Canberra, she defended her achievements as premier while accepting her government made mistakes.
As she embarks on her second crack in politics, a stronger, fairer and more generous Australia is in her sights.
"And now that this first speech is done, it is time to get on with that task."
