‘I did feel like vomiting in that first two weeks’, with Independent MP Kate Chaney

It's the first and last six minutes or so bridged together , of my very first conversation with Kate Chaney . Kate was to become , just a few months later , the seventh new community independent and Western Australia's first elected to Australia's parliament at the 2022 federal election .

Well , on Saturday week , the 3rd of May , Australia's next election takes place and Kate is standing again amongst all able incumbents and many others . We heard on last week's episode of the continued burgeoning community independents movement , along with the escalated personal assaults , generally negative and often false campaigning being waged against them .

Kate was mentioned as being particularly targeted . To say I and so many of us have had a gutful of that is to put it lightly . It made me think of this first time Kate and I spoke by Galup / Lake Monger in Perth .

, artly for the start , where she described her gut-churning time deciding whether she'd step up into this maelstrom in response to the community's call , and partly for the end , where I asked about her vision for the country and if she had a rallying cry of sorts for us locally and nationally .

Her answer feels all the more poignant now , given how many more independents are standing this time . I've also never forgotten Kate's story behind her music choice to close A fortuitous moment , both deeply personal and now still uncannily political . I offer my suggestion for her too .

If you're inspired to revisit the rest of this conversation , I'll put a link to what was episode 110 in the show notes , along with our conversation after she won for episode 121 and our most recent from just before we left Australia a year ago , on some of the enormous outcomes during her term for episode 203 . There are some photos on those webpages too .

And of course , to get behind your community candidate in Curtin with Kate or elsewhere , see today's show notes . But right now let's go back to these touchstone moments from the very beginning . Here's Kate . So I'm curious where you were when the call came to stand .

We were heading off to rottnest that day for five days of camping at Rottnest and um , and I actually took a call , or took a call at the ferry , um , and then the next day had a video conference with six or seven people from the campground , um , and really it was .

I um realize it was going to be changing the course of my life at that point and probably for the first , and then I spent a lot of time in the next couple of weeks on the phone talking to different people , um , having a good hard think , really examining for myself too is this something that I could do with integrity ?

And , be true to myself , I had a good hard think about am I actually aligned to one or the other of the major parties , and was quite methodical about trying to understand what do I believe about this and what do each of the major parties believe about this , to really get a sense of whether it's the right direction .

And I did feel like vomiting for a lot of the time in that first two weeks , just that sense of , um , this , there are a lot of reasons not to go into politics and , um , you know it comes at some personal cost .

But that , that feeling that , uh , it needs to be done , the time is now , and the slow realisation that I probably am quite well positioned to represent that groundswell that's arising .

So , yeah , I felt pretty nervous about whether it was the right decision and then , since launch , it has really affirmed that it is the right decision because it needs to be done . The energy is there , um , the opportunity is now and it's quite that . That's quite an exciting thing .

I think to to to realize that change is possible , it can happen and that I can be part of . That is really um , it's invigorating . And if you're feeling frustrated and like there's , you know there are problems but there's nothing you can do about

it , actually being given a channel somewhere to channel that energy is a very positive step , I think .

So climate change is a big part of my why I'm running and the and probably seeing the independents across the country who share some things in common , and realizing that there was the potential in this federal election for independents to make a real change to Australian climate change policy , I did think how can I have that opportunity and not take it ?

So that was a big part of it . Also , I suppose the number of people that I spoke to confidentially before I launched , who just expressed hope and relief at the idea of it , made me feel like there's a need here to be filled .

I mean , on the personal front , there are lots of risks and you don't know who's going to throw what sort of mud , which is part of the problem . The people that we need to be going into politics are the ones who wouldn't do it because it's a horrible game , and I know lots of people who I think would make a great contribution to the country who

are not in a position to do it for various different reasons . I'm luckily in a position where I can take four months off work . I have a supportive husband and family got good mental health and physical health pretty strong in terms of my sense of who I am .

So I think I have the fortitude to do it and really it was not one particular thing , it was a whole lot of things lining up together that made me think I'm going to regret not doing this more than I'll regret doing it .

I mean , certainly one of the things that hits me increasingly these days is the how , how people are feeling everything you've described really strongly , and so we can talk about the young people , we can obviously talk about indigenous peoples , and I even just think the fact that we've we still call ourselves battlers you know the aussie battler thing we're the

richest civilization and country , for that matter , that's ever lived how can we have as a norm the idea that we're battling and that life is that way and that that's to be then exploited politically ? You know , it feels like it's in keeping with the whole thing .

Again , you know , and you talked about the people that wouldn't stand , and historically that's probably included a lot of women , and that's obviously been a flash point with parliament in the last year or so . Yet most of the independent candidates coming up are women . So there's something , there's a response , it seems in the air to the moment across the board .

I've got less to prove and more interest in just using my one wild and precious life for something worthwhile , and I do think that there's something about women in their late 40s you know 50s who just want to get on and get it done .

So there's a sort of a renewables aspect , a shifting of the energy system , the industrial energy system , and then there's this drawdown aspect that puts carbon back in its place , sort of thing that there's a taste of even more opportunity .

And when I have some of the discussions I'm having around the country , they include First Nations with what they're coming to call therapeutic , even , and certainly cultural economies , where there's a way of expressing value and receiving value from their enormous knowledge and skill , either through what we might glibly call tourism or bush products .

But there's actually so much more . There's actually a broader context which is all derived from who do we want to be , where do we want to be ? How well do we want to be in that 10 , 20 , 30 years ? It's that real intergenerational focus . So when you say opportunity , I just see it flashing up everywhere .

If we're prepared to make the leap , entertain it , back it in .

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But healthy communities has got to be at the heart of that , and that includes our relationship with land , our physical health , the health of other species as well , because ultimately that's what people really care about , that's what influences your life and some of the shifts we see in mental health and social isolation and loneliness and these issues that go beyond

GDP but have a big impact on our happiness . So we've got to look at the system as a whole and we've got so much potential as a country . So really trying to build , trying to work towards that flourishing society is what I think government should be focused on the whole time really .

They might be moving towards one , but certainly for your campaign as much as any an invitation you'd like to put out to people .

Broader , outside Curtin , my call would be less about the independent movement per se and more about political engagement . So , whatever you stand for , take your responsibility as a citizen seriously , because the system is broken and we are the system , so it's not someone else's problem .

Look at what's on offer , think about what you can do about it and don't underestimate your ability to have an impact , because it's only through people standing up and saying I expect more and I want to be part of that change

, but we will see change , so don't wait for someone else to do it .

And then , when the campaign started , I was at the Rottnest pub and this song came on and I looked at Bill and said , not not only are they playing our song , but this kind of sums up where we are in this campaign . And that song is Stuck in the Middle with you Clowns to the left of me , jokers to the right .

Hopefully it doesn't evoke memories of Pulp Fiction and the scene from that movie , but I did think that it could be our , our sort of informal campaign theme song totally good .

I do remember Rocky and you remember where Adrian doesn't want him to fight because he's getting hurt , and then there's a moment where she gives him permission to fight , but on one condition that he wins and the bell tolls . May you win . Power to your arm , Kate . Thanks a lot for joining me .