A fresh look at our strengths
SEPTEMBER 2017
MEANDER VALLEY Gazette caught up with Rebecca White Member for Lyons and Tasmanian Labour Party leader when she visited the Deloraine Online Centre.
Are you the youngest leader ever?
Not sure. I know that when Doug Lowe took over as the Premier of the State in the Labour party he was 35 and I’m 34, so maybe.
When Lara Giddings was leader she seemed to receive quite a lot of flack around being female, you don’t seem to get that, why do you think that is?
I think that I have been fortunate that apart from the first two weeks when a lot of people asked questions about how could I be a leader and a mum of a young baby those questions stopped. Beyond that no one has questioned how can I do my job and be a woman, I think that is probably because we have had a female premier before, we’ve had a female prime minister now, hopefully people have come to realise that gender shouldn’t be a determining factor as to whether or not you are capable to do your job.
Did you see yourself as being leader when you first started out in politics?
It wasn’t ever something I imagined for myself when I entered politics. Brian decided he was going to retire and the caucus wanted me to take on the leadership. They unanimously endorsed me to do that so I felt empowered by their confidence in me. I also have the attitude that if you are presented with an opportunity you take it. I walk through doors if they open. Digital Inclusion in Tasmania is the lowest in the country.
What will you do as leader or as a party to change that?
The digital divide is growing unfortunately, for a number of reasons and access is a key one. That’s why we’ve been a strong supporter of the online access centres and why Labour established them in the first place. We could see a lot of services were transitioning online and we needed to provide a way for people to be able to access that affordably. It’s great to hear that Online Access Centres have received a reprieve when it comes to funding but it’s still a short term commitment and there is still a lot more certainty that we need to be able to provide.
What vision do you have for the State?
I’m a sixth generation Tasmanian, and very proud of that, so I’m very invested in making sure that we have good policy settings that build on our strengths. I think Tasmania’s foremost strengths are our sense of community, our connection to one another, those natural advantages we have with primary production, agriculture, aquaculture, renewable energy, and the opportunities to attract people here because of the natural beauty of this place as tourists and then hopefully as residents. To do that we need to have good essential services to support people, good health system, good education system, good training pathways into employment for people who want to find a job in this State. So I see Tasmania’s strengths being built on around how inclusive we are, how smart we can be using renewables and adapting to climate changes, new technologies that we can depend upon to create new jobs and promoting the liveability that we enjoy here in Tasmania that makes us different from other places.
If we continue to promote and invest in those things we can build confidence in Tasmania even further… I think we are still a little bit of a hidden gem whether it be nationally or internationally. The more that we provide opportunities for our businesses to engage with the rest of the world the greater the economic and social benefit will be for Tasmania.
Photo | Mike Moores
