Page 306 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 December 2016
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lifetime of being a dog person, I took the plunge two years ago and adopted my first-ever cat, Portia Pie, from the RSPCA.
When I was growing up what was a little bit different for me was that my family fostered more than 200 children. We wanted to help kids who needed it most, and this was my family’s way of doing that. I learned we can do a lot to help each other, but sometimes we cannot solve all the problems ourselves. Luckily we had social services there to help us when we needed it most. It showed me that the help and support government can give goes a long way towards making a real difference.
Due to my upbringing and my experience in the workforce, being an active member of the Labor Party and the wider labour movement has always been where I feel at home. Our party and our movement bring people together to stand up for each other and make our community a fairer, more inclusive place to live. But apart from a brief stint in Young Labor during my uni years, I had never formally joined the political arm of the labour movement. In 2013, following a change of federal government, the policy area I worked in was dismantled overnight. I figured the only way I could keep making a difference in an area I really cared about was to get involved where the agenda is set. That is when I joined Labor.
All I wanted to do when I joined Labor was to get involved. It turned out that for me this meant joining with 350.org to lead a campaign within the ACT Labor Party calling for an end to the ACT government investing in fossil fuel companies. In the lead-up to our branch conference and with a motion in hand, I spoke to as many Labor members as I could, explaining our goal, the importance of divestment and how what we were asking for was both achievable and beneficial. The ACT government heard our call and has now divested from companies that generated 60 gigatonnes of fossil fuels.
After this success, my friends and colleagues suggested I run for the Legislative Assembly. Having never imagined myself as a politician, I took some time to really think about whether this was for me. At the same time I was telling just about anyone in the Labor Party who would listen, “We really need candidates who are connected to both the Belconnen and Gungahlin parts of Yerrabi.” One day it was pointed out to me, not very subtly, that perhaps the person who grew up in the Belco suburbs, now lived in Gungahlin and seemed very keen on making sure all the electorate was represented might be a good option. I took the hint, and while there is never only one reason for running, for me there is one thing that, in the end, persuaded me to throw my hat in the ring. That thing was the chance to work with and represent my family and friends, the people I went to school with, the colleagues I have had the pleasure of working with and the wonderful people who, like me, call the Belco, old Gungahlin, and new Gungahlin parts of Yerrabi home. I am very excited to now have the opportunity to represent Yerrabi and the wonderful people who live there.
When I was 12 years old my dad took me to look at some houses in a street in a place called Palmerston. I was very confused about why we were going to look at houses because mum had made it very clear that she was never moving out of Giralang. But dad explained to me that these were the first houses for a whole new suburb, and eventually a whole new region, and he just wanted to check them out. Those first
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