Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, welcome to Nick's Nuggets. Like an extended version of Nick's Nuggets. No music today. But more important, we have interviews. We have the upcoming by election for Secret Harbour and we've been interviewing all the candidates or we've. Alternatively, we have said to candidates, if you want to come on, we'll give you the time.
So it all seems fair and reasonable. And added to that, we have.
Oh, have I had a mental blank?
No, I haven't. Georgia.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: There you go, you got there. Well done, Nick.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: I don't know, I thought Sophie, but Sophie's your assistant.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Yeah, she is, yeah. But she is making it all about her, so I'm not surprised that she snuck her name into the interview too.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: So you're.
Look, if we. And we're not talking gambling, but if we were talking gambling, you would think that term having a pretty about 11%.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Is that the 11 and a half?
[00:00:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: Paul's margin.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: If we're betting, people were putting. Well, you are the favourite.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Yeah, apparently. I am. Apparently on the sports bet odds, I'm currently the favourite. Yes, but they change.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: They can do. Yeah. And it's such a. I was talking to somebody coming into the studio and they said that what's happening all around the world is that there's huge swings and some people you didn't think will get in, got in and. So do you have that little bit of a fear yourself?
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I'm not taking anything for granted, so.
You're right. It's such a different world that we're living in. There's.
For so long, there's been, you know, two major parties in a lot of democracies like ours. And you see in the UK and others, it's different now. There's. Minor parties have a lot more power.
It's a different world that we're operating in. So I don't take anything for granted.
I'm not treating it like a safe seat. It's. I'm there fighting every day, speaking to the community and hopefully getting my name out there and the kind of person I am out there and meeting people and I hope that I'll be able to deliver for them in Parliament.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Since you've been campaigning, it'd be about a week and a half, two weeks, would it be.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: It's been a blur, Nick. I don't know what day it is anymore.
I think it's been about a couple of weeks. Yeah. Two weeks.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: What would you say has been the biggest shock or surprise to you since you started campaigning?
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Wow. Well, there's been a lot. There's. Yeah, I mean some of it because I have worked in politics previously, I kind of know how a campaign runs and I've you know, volunteered on a few by election campaigns so I know they can be pretty full on.
But I suppose being the candidate is just so different. It's that not being able to switch off and I mean what has surprised me is people recognized me at the shops and I went to Pilates and you know, the lady said she knew my face from somewhere and I thought it's probably because I've been on the TV almost every night. So that's been a bit bamboozling.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Have you handled that? Like you go from working in your job, which you do, to all of a sudden you're thrust into TV land and media land.
How have you adjusted to that?
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it's bizarre.
I don't think you can or I don't know how people do. Yeah, it's very bizarre.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: And what has been, when you've been out there campaigning, what has been the topic that people most want to discuss with you, would you say?
[00:03:34] Speaker B: I think cost of living. People are doing it tough. I mean a lot of people are really happy and have done well but then are worried about their children and their future and you know, everything just costs more.
The cost of housing's gone up so much and people are feeling the pinch. So I think that is absolutely front of mind for most people.
I've been lucky enough because I'm running with Labour.
The Labour government's got these amazing initiatives like the $100 fuel support payment or student assistance payment for parents. So that's $250 for secondary school age students. Yeah. And 150 for primary and kindy. So that's awesome because I talk to people when I'm door knocking and parents are already accessed it or they're all over the service WA app. Yeah, it's awesome. It's making a real difference.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah. I've just found being a, a, a resident of Rockingham, which I know is next door to Secret Harbour.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: And, and you're getting the hundred dollar license thing. You know I found. Just digressing a little bit.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: One of the weird things is that people go I don't want to sign up to the WA app because I don't want to have my bank details this, that the other. And I'm thinking but you could use a form.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, well I'm sure the government has those details anyway.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: Number one, that's what I thought.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Or you're giving them to Facebook for nothing, anyway, so why not?
[00:05:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I suppose there's always that element of big brothers watching.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Well, that's right. And there's a lot of data, and I got. Everything's about data. You know, you can't go to the shops without buying something, and you have to sign up to the loyalty program. So I understand it, but I feel like.
Yeah, the government's probably already got that anyway.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: I think so.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: And that's speaking like a. You know, like, I want to say normal. Like a citizen. Like you see it as I see it, you know, and there's no. Well, I've got it anyway. You know, it's just a fact of matter, really, isn't it?
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: So what if you get elected and I ask this.
Actually, no, there's a question I always have asked the other people as well, Georgia, why did you decide to get into politics? Why?
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Sure.
So I have always been somewhat political because my dad's always been rather political. He's like a staunch union member, and he got involved in the union movement in the Pilbara in the 1980s and.
And saw, you know, people die and, you know, believed then in justice and the collective and working for better protections for workers. So that was. He had always instilled a bit of a political mindset in my brother and I. So then when I went to uni, and so I was one of five who graduated from Warnbury High that year that got straight into uni out of 200.
And, you know, a lot of the people I studied with all sort of knew each other, and I felt a bit like a fish out of water.
They kind of instilled in me that just because you go to a public school doesn't mean you get the same opportunities, which I think is unfair in this. In a rich country like ours. I just don't think that that should be the case. And that's what drove me to join the Labor Party and get involved, because for fairness, I just want people to do the best that they possibly can. And I believe in equality of opportunities, so. And I think labor as a movement is the best vehicle for that. Labor governments can make real, tangible change for people.
I mean, one of the things I've been talking to people about in the context of this campaign is $2.80 capped transperth fees.
Before living in our community, living a bit further away from the city, you had to pay more just to sit longer on the train.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: A lot more.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: That's ridiculous. Right. But that's a change, a tangible change that the labor government has made to make it more fair.
And that's what I believe in that, in essential services being paid for by the state, like healthcare. So, yeah, Medicare, public hospitals and investment in public schools and public transportation.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Was it hard?
Because I think we can ask this some questions here, which, you know, I understand. I think sometimes it's sometimes more interesting for the audience out there to find out more about the person. Like, you know, you said about uni. So how hard was it to promote your ideas in the Labor Party movement to get where you are?
[00:08:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I've always been a bit outspoken, I suppose. Yes.
Yeah.
In terms of. I mean, I think it's a really great place to share ideas and I've really enjoyed it. I mean, I've been a party member for 13 years now and been in a few different branches and I was in the University party as well, the Curtin Uni Party. And I've been to conferences over on the east coast and met people all over Australia, which has been such a lovely experience as well, because so many people have been in touch supporting me in this by election. Friends who are now MPs in South Australia or in New South Wales, you know, calling me and. Well, they're over at the national conference at the moment, so I think they're all talking about me, so. Hi, guys.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Hopefully in a positive way.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Yes, yes, of course. I got a cheer, apparently, at the dinner last night, so.
But, yeah, it's been. I've really enjoyed it. I've really enjoyed the Labor Party as a way to share ideas because we might differ on some nitty gritty policy things, but, you know, our values are there, which is for fairness and justice and equality of opportunity. And that's what drives me and that's why I joined the party.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: That's great. And one more question off ssa. I think it's important to note, just off air or off camera, you mentioned that you'd written a book. Now, see, people out there like me would not have put you down as an author. But you've written a book, which was called.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: That's right. So it's Oldboy, which is a memoir about my dad. So he was a heroin addict in the 70s and 80s. Oh, get out of here. And dealt with mental health insurance.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Seriously.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: Found himself in Fremantle Prison.
Really? Yeah, he did. And then he turned his life around. He went up north and, as I said before, found purpose in the union movement and got an adult apprenticeship and then met my mum and moved our family down here. And yeah, he turned his life around, but his drug dealer was hanged in Malaysia for drug trafficking. Yeah.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: And that's what I think. Sorry for interrupting.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: No, not at all.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: That's what I think.
Good that people hear, you know, like, it's not like a lot of places throughout the world, you're. You're born to rule or. You know what I mean? But your dad being heroin addict, I think it's good for people to know that. That it's like a nuts and bolts background you came from. It's not a, you know, privileged.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: No. Yeah. I was the first in my family to go to university and, well, my mum died when I was little, so my dad raised my brother and I on a single wage working as an electrician at Alcoa. So, like many people in the community,
[00:11:24] Speaker A: I think it's great, I really do, because there's the people, it's the person behind the thing and I think it's great that people get to know that, you know, rather than the, you know, as I say, you've been ordained and you'll be next, you know, and I think it's great. So what.
There's a few questions here. We can either touch them or not. I. What's your passion, you know, that we. We talk about in that. Those questions there about mental health. There's a little bit about penguins and the environment's another big one. What's your passion, would you say, Georgia, out of the subjects, you know, if you. If you had to pick one, Saylor, really, would it be cost of living?
[00:12:08] Speaker B: Well, I guess addressing it, absolutely.
And equality of opportunities, social mobility and cost of living is part of that. But so is education. Just ensuring that everyone in our community has access to essential services and the opportunity to grow, to study if they like, or go to TAFE and get an apprenticeship, but be able to provide for their families and have people prosper and be able to enjoy, you know, this life that so many, so many of us are just to bring people who are struggling up, you know, and to be able to succeed like the rest of us.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: I think it's good we get to see or we get to hear now, a lot more, as I call it, nuts and bolts, because I think people get a misconception of people through the TV and the media and I do grabs. But here we get a chance to chat to you and what your beliefs are.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Yeah, go on. No, you. You go.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: No, you're right.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: Yeah. It's been pretty amazing being able to speak to our community as well, I've just really loved it. I valued it. I've had so many interesting conversations with members of our community about what they want to see. I mean, I spoke to someone recently who was a bit.
Well, you know, politicians are like the least trusted profession, right? Or just above used car salesmen and media people.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: Whoops.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, exactly. So, yeah, we're the scum of the earth.
And so I was speaking to a gentleman who said, you know, I just, I don't trust any politicians. They're only in it for themselves. And I said, well, I must be a bloody mug. Why am I here? Because this is really difficult. It's. It's a lot of hard work and most people are positive, but there's been a few negative people too, and that's a lot to deal with.
[00:14:07] Speaker A: How do you handle that?
Say, like, say something like a staunch person and I won't name any parties because that's not fair. But a staunch person who disagrees a lot and slams the local government.
How do you handle that now? Like, do you listen to, to what they say and try and be calm, or do you fight them back with facts? How do you handle that?
[00:14:34] Speaker B: It's hard because sometimes the people who are the most aggressive or most negative don't even give you an opportunity to discuss.
They'll yell something out and then withdraw, or it'll be behind a keyboard or whatever, which I try to avoid.
But when you can engage with someone, sometimes they do start off angry or disenfranchised, and then I just hear them out and talk to them about the issues. And by the end of it, generally we are on the same page. You know, we want people to do better. We might have differing opinions of how to get there, but in the most case, people just want to be heard. And I'm happy to listen.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: I think that's the thing, isn't it? Like. And I think people get angry when, A, they're not hurt. I think that's a big thing. And B, I think too, if they, they don't understand, like, you know, you. Whether it be whatever issue we say, whether it be transport, whether it be cost of living, I, I think some people don't realize that if you maybe fix one problem, there might be an offshoot of that problem that raises its head. So if you fix, like, education and give people money, then other people go, why not give me some more money? But you say, I want to give you some more. You know, it's really difficult.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: I would suspect that's why education's so
[00:16:09] Speaker A: important, I think it is, for people
[00:16:10] Speaker B: to be able to engage on public policy issues, be it environment or climate change and things that we're trying to address more broadly. The more that people are educated and can engage with those things, the better for everyone.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: Okay, Georgia, well, we're getting the. From the big boss there. Well, he's not big to wind it up and it's been great chatting. Is there anything just before we cut off that you'd like to say to the listeners or people who access this broadcast? Is there anything you'd like to say as a, as a final, a final piece?
[00:16:54] Speaker B: I'll just say, to inspire radio. You guys do such important work in the community. And thank you so much for having me on. It's been an absolute pleasure. I've loved seeing all your workers here and everyone pitching in. And thank you. It's just been great.
[00:17:10] Speaker A: And I think, firstly, as. And as I say this to all the candidates I've interviewed, I think it's so important, you know, in politics and is politics. I understand that, but it's great to hear the backstory.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Because you'll never hear that. I dare say you wouldn't hear that on the main media, but to hear about your father and, you know, single parent, it puts a human voice to another placard.
So I appreciate you being able to share that. It was really, really, really, really great. So thanks, Georgia.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: No worries.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: Okay.
