I’d also like to acknowledge the Mid West Small Business Centre, in particular Liz Kelly who invited me to speak here today.

 

When I was invited here today, Liz suggested I share a bit of my background and my achievements or the things I want to achieve as a member of parliament.

 

I will start off with a potted history of Mia.

 

I was elected to the State Parliament in the 2008 State Election and was sworn in to the Legislative Council in May 2009.

 

I represent the Agricultural Region, which spans from Kalbarri in the north, right down to Bremer Bay and across the Wheatbelt to Westonia.

 

I was 30 when I was elected, making me the youngest member of the Legislative Council.

 

I am also the only woman representing the Agricultural Region.

 

It is a great honour and privilege, and at times a challenge.

 

To understand the values I bring to the position I am in now I often return to my childhood, which was spent on our family farm in Yorkrakine, between Tammin and Wyalkatchem in the Central Wheatbelt.

 

Growing up in the country gives you a strong sense of community, which I think informs the way I approach leadership and life.

 

I grew up surrounded by people that took on leadership roles as a part of everyday life.

 

My Grandfather was the Shire President for many years, and later became Freeman of the Shire, my Grandmother was heavily involved in the CWA, Rotary and Senior Citizens, my father was the President of the P&C, the Football Club and probably the Cricket Club as well. My mother was a teacher at the school. My neighbour was a St John’s Ambulance volunteer.

 

I grew up thinking that this was normal – you made sure the things in your town got done by participating.

 

I went from Wyalkatchem to boarding school in Perth, which broadened my horizons, and allowed me to develop a strong sense of independence.

 

It was an all-girls school and from my perspective the options for my future were limited only by my capacity, not by my gender.

 

University and the obligatory overseas travel ensued, before returning with a debt that required a job.

 

I started my professional career in Hon Max Trenorden’s office, then leader of the Parliamentary National Party, working as a receptionist, and a research officer.

 

I continued working in the leader of the Nationals’ office under the leadership of Brendon Grylls, working my way up to the position of Policy Advisor, until I moved to the private sector and I took a position with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.

 

This role took me to the north west of the state. I was a regular visitor to Port Hedland, Karratha, Newman and other towns throughout the Pilbara - a vastly different environment from the one I grew up in.

 

But in the end, I came back to The Nationals WA. The team of people in this organisation are like an extension of my hometown and my family.

 

We share the same values, we challenge each other and we have the opportunity to give back to our community.

  

This year I was thrilled to be asked to open the Dowerin Field Days.

As someone who attended the Field days as a child for many years, and have attended as an adult for the past 10 years, it was a great thrill.

In inviting me to speak, the Committee pointed out that it was the Centenary of International Women’s Day this year.

Perhaps it was a no brainer – I am after all the only woman representing the Agricultural Region, and this includes those Legislative Assembly seats that make up the region.

10 Members to represent the region and I’m the only one bring the XY factor to the table!

I spoke about the role of women in regional Western Australia as our State developed.

Women played a central role as pioneers, yet interestingly there is little written in our formal histories about these characters.

 

The harsh conditions of the country was not really a place for a European woman in her long layered skirts and pale skin, yet I suspect our families all have stories about those that rolled up their sleeves, showed true grit and made a go of it.

As the men set about clearing the land, the women created homes for their families, raised their children and began building the community around them.

 

This was at a time when all women were judged against the nineteenth century belief that we had smaller heads, our brains were smaller compared to men’s and incapable of logical thought.

 

Where pay, let alone equal pay, was decades over the horizon.

 

And yet women played a fundamental role in the development of the regions, its communities and key industries.

 

They took to corralling their community, forming groups, organising social and sporting days, starting charitable organisations to care for those less fortunate and generally taking on the role of community development.

 

They were multi-skilled and multi-tasking long before it became a requirement on your resume.

 

 As is the case in much of our formal history, the references to women are typically in relation to their stoic acceptance of primitive’ conditions, taking on family life and working side by side with their husband.

 

I read that one lady carted water from a soak in a 50-gallon tank hitched to a sledge hauled by a horse.

I read about a man in Dowerin who returned from the First World War and brought his French wife with him. She must have felt so far from the thriving metropolis of Paris when faced with the prospect of a 50 kilometre horseback ride to Goomalling for the delivery of her first child.

As the district and families began to grow, they taught their children, they nursed them through illness, they worked the land.

 

They did this without the assistance of modern household devices such as washing machines, dishwashers or communication tools.

 

Women played a key role in developing the business services available in the town.

 

Mrs Stacy was responsible for opening the town’s first store.

 

This was followed by the first bakehouse, opened by Mrs Ayling and a dining room, run by Mrs Allan.

 

These were women in business at the turn of the century.

 

Today, we have women continuing on this tradition.

 

Two spring to mind immediately – Mrs Sue Middleton and Ms Caroline Robinson. Caroline is this year’s National Rural Industries Research and Development Council’s Rural Woman of the Year.

 

Sue Middleton held the title last year.

 

Both of these women run successful and innovative businesses – Caroline has established the Wheatbelt Business Network and Sue runs a successful diversified agricultural business including broadacre farming, a piggery and orchards. She is investigating the opportunities of utilising pig waste to generate energy.

 

Both these women make a contribution to their communities in other fields – Caroline teaches ballet, she writes grant applications for not-for-profits and other community groups.

 

Sue was instrumental in getting the childcare centre up and running in Wongan Hills, she’s been a driving force behind the development of a community resource centre and space for not-for-profits in the town, amongst many other pursuits.

 

I have taken the time to talk about these women – past and present – not to fill in the time, but to give you an idea about the things I think are important.

 

The values, the passion and the innovation of the women that have gone before me underpin my approach to my role in Parliament.

 

I am particularly conscious of the things that enable women to contribute to their community and participate in the workforce.

 

The issue of childcare is one that I have been working on with my colleagues for some time now.

 

We have some wonderfully talented and experienced women living in regional WA who are unable to participate in the workforce or contribute to their community because they do not have access to childcare.

 

This issue is particularly acute in some of the smaller centres in the regions, but, as the new Early Childhood Framework is rolled out there will be challenges for all centres in attracting appropriately qualified staff.

 

The looming crisis in aged care is another issue that occupies my mind.

 

As women, we are typically the primary carers for our ageing parents.

 

My mother is going through this right now with her father.

 

In regional Western Australia there are limited choices for remaining in your community as you age – we simply don’t have appropriate facilities.

 

It hardly seems fair that the very people who helped build a community are forced to leave at the very time they should be close to friends and family.

 

Access to healthcare in regional Western Australia is perhaps the issue that I spend most of my time thinking about.

 

Along with access to quality education, access to appropriate healthcare are the dealbreakers for many families living in regional WA.

 

I have to confess that many of my colleagues, from both sides of the political spectrum, talk about roads, ports, sporting facilities.

 

I don’t know too many people that leave a town because a road isn’t good enough.

 

I know plenty that leave because they can’t get their family to a Doctor, or access a good school for their kids.

 

It is a Government’s responsibility to make sure these fundamentals are right.

 

Innovative people will then be attracted to the opportunities on offer in our regional communities.

 

Government, throughout Royalties for Regions, is playing a part in getting these fundamentals right in regional WA.

 

From my perspective, this programme is more than just another funding pool.

 

It has fundamentally changed the way Government views regional Western Australia.

 

The thing I look forward to as a Member representing the regions is working with people like you to grasp the opportunities that are on offer.

 

You know your region best. Your community best. Your business best.

 

I will bring all the things that I believe are important to the table, and know that it will be equally matched by the innovation, tenacity and unique spirit of people who live, work and invest in regional WA.

 

That’s the beauty of Royalties for Regions.

 

I look forward to chatting with you over breakfast. Thank you again for inviting me to speak here today.