{"id":11458,"date":"2013-12-02T17:12:58","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T06:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=11458"},"modified":"2022-05-02T00:36:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T14:36:50","slug":"politics-differently-indigocathy-maiden-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/politics-differently-indigocathy-maiden-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing politics differently: @indigocathy maiden speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Bac-wLhCAAA6hDV\"<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Madam Speaker, Colleagues, special guests, friends and family.<\/p>\n

Madam Speaker, warm congratulations on your election. I thank you and my colleagues for your warm welcome.<\/p>\n

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners and custodians of this land, both past and present.<\/p>\n

Today I am going to share a story \u2013 about myself, about my electorate of Indi, the power of community to reinvent itself, and I will tell you about Voice for Indi, the rural community movement that brought me to this place.<\/p>\n

I am honoured to be the representative of the people of Indi. I am grateful to my family, and some of the 700+ supporters and volunteers, almost 1000 donors and of course the voters who helped me to this place. Many have made an extraordinary effort to be here today. I can only imagine what you must have done \u2013 getting families organised, children, animals, farms cared for – up before dawn, packing picnics, organizing and car pooling and over 6 hours in buses up the Hume Highway!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To the volunteers, all of you \u2013 who staffed the polling booths, ran offices at Alexandra, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Benalla, the door knockers, those who made the coffees, cuppateas and arranged food, the people who ran classes and shared their skills, the scrutineers, organisers of local gatherings, the young people, the lawyers, designers, marketers, diary keepers, accountants, the reporters, journalists and the \u2018makers\u2019 of all things orange: all of you: for your courage, your belief and conviction that we could do it. THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

In the 1800s, some five generations ago, my family left Europe in harsh times to make a better life for themselves and their children\u2019s children\u2019s children. Their courage and persistence is my foundation, like it is for so many Australians whose families emigrated here.<\/p>\n

On my father\u2019s side Elizabeth Anne Brown arrived from County Cork in Ireland in 1860. She was 20. She died at the grand age of 87 and is buried in the Tallangatta cemetery \u2013 her occupation \u2013 proudly, farmer.<\/p>\n

Arriving in the Chiltern goldfields of North East Victoria she quickly met and married John Terrill, a miner from Cornwall, England.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 1875 they selected land in the Mitta Mitta Valley just below the town of Tallangatta. Barely a year later John Terrill was killed in a mining accident at El Dorado \u2013 leaving Elizabeth Anne to raise 6 children and 2 nephews. My family is rich with the stories of clearing the land, dealing with floods, fires, drought and the desperate struggle to meet the conditions to purchase the land. In 1890 Elizabeth Anne, 30 years after her arrival in Australia, made the final payment on the land and won free hold title. Her 4th child Albert, was my great grandfather.<\/p>\n

Her legacy to me? Courage, persistence, dogged determination and deep roots into farming and the rural communities of North East Victoria. She was a woman in agriculture before the term was even thought of.<\/p>\n

On the other side of my family, my great grandfather worked in the post office at Wodonga. His job was to travel over night on the train, sorting the mail so it would arrive in Melbourne ready to be delivered by 10am. My grandmother Rose Roberta Chapman was born in Wodonga in November 1888. She married Gladston Robert McGowan, son of Tasmanian pub owners, in 1920 and went on to become a teacher, mother of 6 children and matriarch. She is buried in the Yackandandah cemetery next to my mother, father, 2 sisters and brother, and where I too plan to be buried.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Grannie\u2019s legacy? A teacher, lover of stories and history, with a deep sense of social justice, community service and a wonderful sense of humour.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not known whether these two families knew each other, but what is known is that it was a dangerous time in rural areas. In Grannie\u2019s words: \u201cWe lived in Wodonga and during that time the Kelly bushrangers were active. My father who worked for the PMG (before it became Australia Post) used to be accompanied by an armed policeman as they feared the train might be ambushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

And my parents: Paul McGowan met and married Marie Terrill, when he was a young Agricultural Scientist working at the Rutherglen Research Station. They lived, farmed and ran a business in the Indigo Valley, 20kms south of Wodonga, all their lives. I am proud to say I live in that valley, on my own small farm where I have conducted a rural consultancy business – up until the September 7 election.<\/p>\n

In the early days of my business the jobs were many and varied – lobbying for the establishment of a school for the Flying Fruit Fly Circus; home and community care in Wodonga, Tallangatta, Corryong, Beechworth, Chiltern, Rutherglen, Yackandandah; palliative care in the Ovens, King and Kiewa Valleys; mobile child care for farming and rural families. Through this work, I build extensive networks, gained first-hand knowledge of the challenges of delivering services in our valleys and towns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One size does not fit all and it\u2019s a constant struggle to get rural voices heard.<\/p>\n

A highlight of these years was working with the Victorian Government Department of Agriculture as a Rural Affairs advisor and also travelling to Canada on a Churchill Fellowship to study rural women\u2019s networks and their role in improving communication with governments.<\/p>\n

Then when I was 40, my mother died. This was a turning point for me. (A second one was being elected to Parliament.) But back to the first – I recall thinking, \u201cSoon my life will be over and what will I have to show for it?\u201d I returned to study: completed my Master\u2019s Degree in Applied Science at the University of Western Sydney at Hawkesbury and learnt how to work with communities for change. The Australian Rural Leadership Program helped me grow in the art of leadership, understand the role of a shared vision and the power of networks in transforming rural communities.<\/p>\n

With this understanding, I decided to take a more active role in agricultural politics. I was an inaugural member of Australian Women in Agriculture, rising to become national president, participated at National Farmers Federation meetings and was elected to the Victorian Farmers Federation policy body. I learnt many skills: working with difference, building partnerships, chairing meetings, building teams, and embracing diversity. I became involved in international agricultural politics, trade and Australia\u2019s role in feeding the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I restructured my business, and became a consultant to rural communities with specialist skills in development, empowerment and transformation. Working in Australia and more recently in Ireland, India and Papua New Guinea my clients were the national Rural Research and Development Corporations, (dairy, wool, sugar, horticulture) State and local governments and community groups.<\/p>\n

Teaching leadership became a passion. Together with friends and colleagues we taught community leadership skills and set up the Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Program. We ran leadership conferences. We talked about visions. We built networks. We wrote submissions. We grew our businesses. We all grew in skill, wisdom and confidence. We became a force. We began to find our voices \u2013 our community voices.<\/p>\n

Madam Speaker, with this brief introduction, you will see that I have deep roots and connections into the communities of North East Victoria. I have an absolute commitment to be part of Indi\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

So let me share some information about Indi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Indi is a foundation Federation seat. Our first representative in 1901 was Sir Isaac Isaacs who was educated in Yackandandah and Beechworth, my local towns. Isaacs went on to become our first Australian-born Governor-General. More recently, Indi representatives include the Country Party\u2019s Mack Holton \u2013 as Minister for Repatriation, he was Indi\u2019s first Minister, and Ewen Cameron, Lou Lieberman and Sophie Mirabella. I pay tribute to them for their public service, dedication, and commitment.  In particular I acknowledge Mr Ewen Cameron, for the role he played as my mentor. I worked for him as an electorate researcher in the \u201cold Parliament House\u201d during the years of Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser and Bob  Hawke. They were heady days. I am delighted to reacquaint myself with friends from that time including some of the long serving library staff!<\/p>\n

Indi is the Wiradjuri name for the Murray River. A well named electorate as the rivers and how we use them are critical to the future of North East Victoria. Indi is blessed with 7 major watersheds: the Goulburn, Broken, King, Ovens, Kiewa, Mitta\/Dart and Murray Rivers which contribute an estimated 50% of the water to the Murray Darling Basin.<\/p>\n

Our major industries include manufacturing, retail, tourism and agriculture. Our food and wine is exported all over the world. Our ski fields, rail trails and festivals provide entertainment to many. One of the outstanding features Indi are our small rural communities where people take things \u2018into their hands\u2019 \u2013 this expression became the name of a philanthropic foundation set up after the 2009 Black Saturday fires around Mudgegonga and Murmungee; communities like Yackandandah where residents started a community business -The Yackandandah Community Development Company, bought the petrol station, run a rural produce store and give half the profits to community groups; communities like Stanley where volunteers set up and run their Post Office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But not all is well: I believe that Indi has not yet (as my mother would say) reached its potential.<\/p>\n

In this part of Victoria:<\/p>\n