At an International Women’s Day luncheon on Monday, I spoke along with seven other women on the topic of ‘Dare to Challenge’. I shared my experiences as a Noosa councillor and drew from this some lessons to help women. Here’s what I said.
When I was newly elected as a councillor, I had expectations of a pleasant experience in local government. Having had a career as a manager and consultant in change management, communications, performance management and executive development, I was used to a professional approach and felt well prepared for the role.
In addition, as my parents had come to Australia after living through the Nazi occupation and capitulation to Communism in Czechoslovakia, I have an eye for and never accept lies, propaganda and the slippery slope that leads to authoritarianism.
After the first few months were over, I began to see that things were not as I expected. I discovered the council was not very community oriented. Meetings and minutes were not transparent, decisions were being made on the basis of opinion and often behind closed doors.
Money seemed to be siphoned off for pet projects, some of which had the whiff of favouritism and cronyism. An intense environmental ideology was pursued in preference to meeting balanced community needs. ‘Spin’, rather than straightforward information, was par for the course. And I was dismayed to observe an innate nastiness towards residents and to small business.
I had not expected to have to fight for democracy. But here I was, fighting for a voice, for transparency, for evidence-based decisions, for priorities based on community needs, for merit-based selection and procurement, and for a fair go for residents.
I learned to ask penetrating questions at council meetings, how to take a stand on behalf of residents, and, against considerable pushback, how to publicly communicate facts and views about council matters. The ‘team’, as the so-called independents had dubbed themselves, were appalled by the expression of an independent view. I learned the practical meaning of ‘boys’ club’.
Other councillors tried to stop me speaking at council meetings – unsuccessfully. I was yelled at behind closed doors. At a secret councillor meeting, a premeditated attack was made on me by each councillor in turn. I had anticipated this and armed myself with a barrister’s advice about the rights of a councillor to voice an independent view.
Unlike male councillors, until I made a fuss, I was denied inclusion in Noosa Council’s media releases on serious matters. Mine were to be on ‘female’ issues such as releases about Easter Bunnies riding free holiday buses and making art out of recycled rubbish.
Then things got really bad. Some councillors and their unelected mates made formal complaints about me under the Councillor Code of Conduct, seeking to prevent me having a voice on Facebook and accusing me of invented misdemeanours. There were many such complaints and I was vindicated each time. The Office of the Independent Assessor found some of the complaints against me to be frivolous and vexatious, with the complainants warned not to do it again. Meanwhile, each time, I spent many hours preparing my defence with the assistance of a barrister specialising in civil liberties.
I must admit I found all this very stressful. But increasingly I had the community at my back. People were outraged at both the lack of transparency and the way I was treated. Gradually, I felt I was beginning to get the traction required to bring about change.
I succeeded in getting council meetings videoed and livestreamed for public viewing, getting meeting minutes to show how each councillor voted on every issue, and getting detailed financial information made publicly available at council meetings. There were losses too. Perhaps the main one was my failure to win support for public accessibility to all meetings and workshops. The amount of council business conducted in secret is stupefying.
Looking back, I believe my major lasting contribution to the community might well be that I paved the way for greater representation of women on Noosa Council. At the March 2020 elections, eight women candidates stood and three – including the first woman mayor, Cr Clare Stewart – were elected. That wasn’t quite the end of the boys’ club, but it was significantly undermined. What an important change that was!
Why is it that women often don’t dare to challenge? Women have for a long time been encouraged to fit in, play second fiddle and remain silent. This can lead to a kind of imposter syndrome – feeling inexperienced, intimidated and isolated. In this sense, I believe that three women councillors is vastly to superior to just one.
Intrinsic also, I think, is women wanting to please and to be liked. I had to challenge this in myself. I wanted to be liked and respected by my fellow councillors and council staff. But it turned out that when I challenged the status quo, many of my colleagues saw something they disliked – and they behaved that way. I constantly reminded myself that I was elected by the community not by fellow councillors, and that I had to take a stand for the community. Always.
A footnote for women wanting to serve through political office. Stay true to your values. Do your reading. Be accessible to the community. Muster your courage. Remain gracious and empathetic. And never ever sell your soul.
