Independent Deb Leonard decided to stop complaining about politicians and have a go herself. By Catherine Watson
THERE are a lot of things Independent Deb Leonard would rather be doing right now than fighting an election. Practising law and spending time with her family at weekends are just two of them.
“If we had an MP I thought was representing our community, and a government fighting for our community’s values, I’d have been quite happy to stay at home and get on with my life. Rather than sit back and complain I decided to step up and see if I could make a difference.”
Having embarked on her maiden political voyage journey, she has to admit it’s a very exciting time to be in politics with a groundswell of women coming together to change things.
THERE are a lot of things Independent Deb Leonard would rather be doing right now than fighting an election. Practising law and spending time with her family at weekends are just two of them.
“If we had an MP I thought was representing our community, and a government fighting for our community’s values, I’d have been quite happy to stay at home and get on with my life. Rather than sit back and complain I decided to step up and see if I could make a difference.”
Having embarked on her maiden political voyage journey, she has to admit it’s a very exciting time to be in politics with a groundswell of women coming together to change things.
We meet in San Remo on a cold blustery afternoon. The cafes are closed so we head into the bar of the Western Port Hotel where we converse against a background noise of TV, looking out over a sullen sky and bay.
Ms Leonard lives just across the bridge in Cape Woolamai. She moved to the island in 2008 and set up a legal practice in Cowes. Island life was no culture shock for this city girl. She spent her childhood holidays on the island and, like many locals, her first job was at the Grand Prix.
Legal work has been on the backburner since she began her campaign but she has two able partners who are keeping the the wheels turning while she’s out meeting “her people”. “I was a bit nervous at first but found I really enjoy it. I like talking to people, hearing about their lives.”
Ms Leonard lives just across the bridge in Cape Woolamai. She moved to the island in 2008 and set up a legal practice in Cowes. Island life was no culture shock for this city girl. She spent her childhood holidays on the island and, like many locals, her first job was at the Grand Prix.
Legal work has been on the backburner since she began her campaign but she has two able partners who are keeping the the wheels turning while she’s out meeting “her people”. “I was a bit nervous at first but found I really enjoy it. I like talking to people, hearing about their lives.”
| While she’s known on the island, and increasingly in the wider Bass Coast Shire, she is new to the rest of the Monash electorate. Since Voices for Monash (V4M) chose her to run as an Independent, she’s attending a lot of events and doing a lot of meet and greets, with the help of V4M supporters “on the other side” (Warragul, Drouin, Moe) who are introducing her to their networks. Voices candidates take their inspiration from Cathy McGowan who in 2013, under the banner of Voices for Indi, knocked off prominent Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella in the formerly extremely safe seat of Indi. V4M is a movement, not a political party, so she’s an unofficially endorsed V4M candidate. | Top three issues
Preferences “My HTV card will ask voters to put a 1 next to me, and then number each box according to how they think each candidate aligns with their values.” |
Ms Leonard says that if elected, she will follow McGowan’s pattern of holding kitchen cabinet style public meetings to determine the wishes of her community and she hopes V4M would become a community group.
The number one issue for all Voices Independents is urgent climate action. Climate 200, a group founded by Simon Holmes à Court, is supporting 22 Independent candidates, most of them taking on prominent Coalition MPs and ministers. Deb Leonard is not one of them. She says Climate 200 is letting her use their software to roster volunteers onto polling booths but she receives no funding from them.
Nor does she have a formal association with the other Voices candidates throughout Australia, though she has been in touch with some of them and is watching what they do.
I hear two major criticisms of the Independent candidates who look set to play a big role in this year’s federal election, including Monash: one is that they are closet Greens; the second that they are closet Liberals. Ms Leonard hears them too.
“I’ve always been interested in politics but I’m not really party political. I supported a Liberal candidate in the state election in 2006. I also joined the Greens but I also felt they didn’t quite align with what I wanted from a representative.
More and more climate change is a centrist issue, she says. It’s the Liberal Party that is extreme.
“Russell Broadbent’s got a lot of loyal followers, a lot of people who are happy to keep doing what they’ve always done, but I’m hoping I can inspire enough people to think about the fact that he and his government have done nothing to mitigate carbon emissions. And they have failed to prepare for what’s going to be a very profitable new industry.
“There are a lot of conservative farmers and that’s fine, because they’ve traditionally been looked after, but there’s also a growing cohort of farmers realising climate change affects them and their properties. A lot of them have become more progressive realising we have to act.
“We need to trust the science and we need to take action to mitigate the climate disasters of fires, floods and droughts. I don’t think that’s a leftie-Greens issue any more.”
She says her policies are not her own, or dictated by a party, but drawn from what she has observed and heard in her own electorate. As with most of the other Independents – and the Greens – she is pushing for a federal integrity commission to investigate political rorting.
Her third issue is more local: the dire circumstances facing many small businesses in the wake of Covid.
“I have friends who have lost business through Covid. We’ve already lost businesses on the island and in Bass Coast. I’ve spoken to a lot of small business owners from the craft shops to the swim centres. Now they’re dealing with a work force shortage. People are having to draw on their super to survive.
“In rural and regional areas you run into people at the pub or supermarket. Small business is not just commerce, it’s the glue that holds people together. We need them to survive for the sake of our communities.”
The city Independent candidates are getting plenty of media attention; not so much in rural areas. Could she possibly win in Monash?
“It’s a long shot, but if I can get the word out I think it‘s a real possibility. So many people have said to me ‘Thank you for standing up’.”
The number one issue for all Voices Independents is urgent climate action. Climate 200, a group founded by Simon Holmes à Court, is supporting 22 Independent candidates, most of them taking on prominent Coalition MPs and ministers. Deb Leonard is not one of them. She says Climate 200 is letting her use their software to roster volunteers onto polling booths but she receives no funding from them.
Nor does she have a formal association with the other Voices candidates throughout Australia, though she has been in touch with some of them and is watching what they do.
I hear two major criticisms of the Independent candidates who look set to play a big role in this year’s federal election, including Monash: one is that they are closet Greens; the second that they are closet Liberals. Ms Leonard hears them too.
“I’ve always been interested in politics but I’m not really party political. I supported a Liberal candidate in the state election in 2006. I also joined the Greens but I also felt they didn’t quite align with what I wanted from a representative.
More and more climate change is a centrist issue, she says. It’s the Liberal Party that is extreme.
“Russell Broadbent’s got a lot of loyal followers, a lot of people who are happy to keep doing what they’ve always done, but I’m hoping I can inspire enough people to think about the fact that he and his government have done nothing to mitigate carbon emissions. And they have failed to prepare for what’s going to be a very profitable new industry.
“There are a lot of conservative farmers and that’s fine, because they’ve traditionally been looked after, but there’s also a growing cohort of farmers realising climate change affects them and their properties. A lot of them have become more progressive realising we have to act.
“We need to trust the science and we need to take action to mitigate the climate disasters of fires, floods and droughts. I don’t think that’s a leftie-Greens issue any more.”
She says her policies are not her own, or dictated by a party, but drawn from what she has observed and heard in her own electorate. As with most of the other Independents – and the Greens – she is pushing for a federal integrity commission to investigate political rorting.
Her third issue is more local: the dire circumstances facing many small businesses in the wake of Covid.
“I have friends who have lost business through Covid. We’ve already lost businesses on the island and in Bass Coast. I’ve spoken to a lot of small business owners from the craft shops to the swim centres. Now they’re dealing with a work force shortage. People are having to draw on their super to survive.
“In rural and regional areas you run into people at the pub or supermarket. Small business is not just commerce, it’s the glue that holds people together. We need them to survive for the sake of our communities.”
The city Independent candidates are getting plenty of media attention; not so much in rural areas. Could she possibly win in Monash?
“It’s a long shot, but if I can get the word out I think it‘s a real possibility. So many people have said to me ‘Thank you for standing up’.”