I am truly honoured to have been nominated and a finalist in the McKinnon State/Territory Policial Leadership award for 2026 and to receive a judges commendation. I acknowledge the category winner Hon Chris Minns MP, Premier of NWS for his leadership following the horrific events in Bondi late last year. All finalists in this category do extraordinary work, and I proud to stand among them. I have written some thoughts on this recognition, the importance of good leadership and the work of the McKinnon Foundation and the McKinnon Institute. The kind of leadership McKinnon set out to recognise is leadership that has never been a solo act. It’s the visible edge of something much larger and quieter: the daily, unglamorous effort of people across this country’s parliaments who are simply trying to do the job well.
I’ve represented the rural and regional electorate of Murchison in the Tasmanian Legislative Council for 21 years now, as an Independent. I grew up in a small rural community, went to the small local public primary school, the large public high school about an hour’s drive on the bus each way, and then successfully gained my matriculation qualifications in one year at the local public college – also an hour’s drive away in the other direction. I started nursing at the age of 16 in the local hospital, followed promptly by midwifery, a profession that is and was incredibly rewarding.
I had no ambition for politics at all until, on the suggestion of a friend, I stood for Parliament in 2005 and won the seat – the first woman to ever hold that seat.
I had never been a natural orator. I preferred listening and watching, waiting and supporting women and their families at the truly incredible occasion of the birth of their child. I have had to work hard to understand and be effective and influential in this world I am now in.
That young girl from Riana – a rural farming area in North West Tasmania – and the young woman starting nursing and actually caring for others at the age of 16, never would have or could have envisaged this recognition.
I absolutely acknowledge the people who have assisted me along this incredible journey. I have one staff member who runs my office. Yvonne supports my work and our community to enable me to do the other important work my role entails. Those who support me with learning about all the areas I was not familiar with – state budgets, financial management, our complex energy systems, and so many others. There are many who have my back and I thank them all.
I have also drawn on the resources of other amazing organisations working in the world of leadership and politics, to help me maintain focus, be the best person I can be supporting and working all Tasmanians.
I acknowledge the work of McKinnon in this important area of political leadership, and working to improve the capacity and capability of elected members. I also appreciate the opportunity to actively engage with McKinnon to also find ways to support independent members in gaining advanced political leadership skills.
I am equally grateful for the support and work of Next25, Tasmanian Leaders, and the Better Politics Foundation. These organisations actively and meaningfully support leadership and lead important discussions on renewing leadership, reimagining politics, and rebuilding trust.
Those acknowledgements sound modest until you try to live them inside an actual parliament, with many competing and pressing matters, actual budgets, real challenges and real consequences for the people we represent and serve.
For me, that work has covered many areas included establishing the long-standing Government Administration Committees in 2010, the establishment of Tasmania’s Gender and Equality Committee, which I believe is only one of two standalone committee of its kind in this country, my seventeen years on the Public Accounts Committee, more than five of them as Chair, and many others besides my role in the Chamber as Chair of Committees and Deputy President.
My focus has always been accountability, transparency, integrity and honesty. Holding many big and challenging matters at one time can be tiring and challenging and we all need the skills and support to do this well. It is never a truly solo endeavour.
The actions we take and decisions we make matter because structural problems don’t fix themselves without a dedicated table to sit at. I am privileged to sit at many of these tables – even as in independent member and not a member of government. I know my decisions matter and I can influence policy and outcomes and I, as we all do, need to work with others effectively and respectfully to get the best possible outcomes.
These opportunities have taught me much about so many areas of service delivery and public administration – areas I knew little about prior to 2005.
As elected members, we are part of a complex system. We are not, and cannot be, bystanders to the challenges our citizens face. We must be participants in this system, who, in ways large and small, make a tangible difference. I think political leadership today cuts against the old idea of such leadership as some heroic, individual act.
Twenty-one years in Parliament, and seventeen years on a Public Accounts Committee, will disabuse you of any heroic notions fairly quickly. What it teaches you instead is that the system holds together, or doesn’t, based on whether the people inside it are genuinely free to ask the uncomfortable question and learn as they go.
This connects to something McKinnon itself stands for: leaders who are willing to confront hard truths and set a long-term course, even when the short-term incentives point the other way. I’ve spent a fair amount of this past year arguing that Tasmania needs to have an honest conversation about fiscal repair – including through a citizens’ assembly, so that this isn’t a conversation politicians have at the public, but one we have with them.
Short-termism avoids these longer-term, forward-focused discussions. It is also how states end up surprised by problems that were entirely visible years in advance, to anyone willing to look.
Whilst I did not win this category, to receive a judge’s commendation was amazing and I am so grateful to those who see the hard work I do for our State. I really dedicate this recognition to those who have had my back – my husband Rob, my electorate officer Yvonne, John who teaches me so much about economics and finance and particularly the people of the North West Coast, who’ve trusted an Independent with their vote for more than two decades. My constituents have been supportive and forgiving when my work takes me away from my large and diverse electorate to Hobart regularly and I know they care about me as I care about them.
I also acknowledge the staff and colleagues across the parliament who’ve done much of the unglamorous work alongside me, seeking to get the best outcomes we can for the people we serve.
To me, leadership is more about opening a door for someone else to walk through than an individual endeavour and achievement.
It was an honour to be nominated, be a finalist and receive a judge’s commendation. When I look to the future, I will continue to strive to promote political leadership as a collective effort. Where are roles and focus remain firmly on accountability, integrity and transparency. Where the important task of scrutiny of our own views and government policy and actions are acts of caring and curiosity that are never undertaken in isolation. A future where better politics and great leadership are built on honesty, transparency, trustworthiness, integrity and respect.
