Perth Labor MP Patrick Gorman used his first speech to call for parliament to hold regional sittings, and he wants to fully fund the cost of school trips to Canberra.

"We should also follow former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop's lead and hold interstate and regional sittings of the parliament on a yearly basis," he told parliament on Monday.

Mr Gorman, who was a senior advisor to former prime minister Kevin Rudd, thanked his previous boss for his "friendship and encouragement over many years".

"Thank you for the advice to discover 'What do you believe in? Why? And what are you going to do about it?'," he said.

The former WA Labor party secretary threw his support behind an indigenous "voice" in parliament, an Australian Republic and free government-run early education and childcare.

Mr Gorman thanked his predecessor in the seat of Perth, Tim Hammond, who quit federal parliament as it prevented him from spending time with his young family.

Longer periods of parental leave are also in his policy sights, with Mr Gorman saying he took three months of parental leave after the birth of his son.

"I wish I had been brave enough to ask for and take more," he said.

"This is not an easy policy outcome to achieve. But big economic reforms never are."

He also thanked his parents for his unusual middle name, Possum, before thanking his brother Joseph Anachie Gorman.

Australian Associated Press