But after every setback or stuff up or poor judgement call, as I’ve lifted my face from the dust and rubbed my eyes open, I’ve looked up to see that I’ve moved the ball forward.

Through Council elections, State elections and the long, painstaking process of modernising our local political culture, it’s been a case of two steps forward, one step back. It’s like a roller coaster with ups and downs, but always forward momentum.

That’s my knack.

The alternative is to play it safe. And that was our previous approach to State politics. For more than a decade we had played it safe with an old-school adversarial party that was increasingly out of touch, and substituted smear, slander and scare tactics for a modern policy agenda.

And it was getting us nowhere.

We were hopelessly stuck in political irrelevance. The numbers didn’t lie. Not just on the funding scoreboard, but in the big symbols of having Victoria’s only privatised public Hospital and being the only major regional city in Australia without a passenger train.

But in just 2.5 years, we’ve changed the game. And my opponents HATE it. It makes their blood curdle. Because it has shown them up. It has exposed their weaknesses. It has shone a bright light on the limitations of their zero-sum adversarial game, and the rigid, locked-in nature of their coalition agreement.

By contrast, independent politics is inherently collaborative. It’s also nimble and fluid. And it’s bloody effective.

Since November 2018, collaborative politics has brought our hospital back. We’ve secured around $230 million in investment for roads, schools, TAFE, public housing and business support. We are opening exciting new frontiers for our farmers in industrial hemp, securing big dollars in drought relief, adding hundreds of thousands of dollars of value to local blockies’ income and retirement funds through planning amendments in the MOIA and we’ve negotiated important concessions in water trading rules and a moratorium on new plantings to help our smaller farmers compete in a crowded water market.

We’re setting ourselves up for the future.

None of that would have been possible without collaboration. And collaboration is what I do.

Despite leaving the party a decade ago, I’ve maintained a close and respectful working relationship with the ALP. In 2013 and 2016 I campaigned with the Liberal Party in support of their excellent candidate, Chris Crewther. When our social fabric was being torn apart in 2020 by the NSW hard border closures, I collaborated with Fishers and Shooters dynamo, Helen Dalton. For the last five months I’ve collaborated with Victoria’s most effective policy negotiator and balance of power politician, Fiona Patten, on regional rate reform. During the draconian SA hard border closures, I reached out to my western border neighbour, a National Party MP, to propose a joint pitch to the South Australian Government for a more proportionate approach to cross-border towns like Murrayville. She declined. Can’t say I didn’t try …

I work with everyone and I’m beholden to no-one. Through it all I’ve been an independent free agent, always pursuing new and creative ways to maximise the power and influence of our region.

By joining a coalition for regional rate reform, I went out on a limb, but as bruised as I felt on Thursday night, I still believe it was worth a try.

We didn’t lose anything and we gained a significant foothold in our statewide campaign to fix the scandalous divide between rural/regional and metro rates. That’s a cause worth fighting for …

Our residents, business owners and farmers are paying up to ten times the rates of their metro counterparts. Tell me how that’s fair? Would ratepayers have preferred I didn’t go out on a limb?

Last week Coalition Leader Michael O’Brien said city ratepayers shouldn’t have to help us out, shouldn’t have pay a subsidy for their rural and regional cousins who are fighting against the odds, in a rate capping environment, to maintain services without going insolvent. Gee thanks Michael.

Bloody hell, at least I’m trying.

Some elements of our coalition worked. Others didn’t. In the end it was the party political games of the National Party and Reason that were the deal-breaker for me. I don’t have time for that and neither does my community. Risk. Review. Reset. It’s the secret to my – and our – success.

Am I perfect?
No.

Do I have bad days?
Yes.

Do my opponents have bad days?
Yes. But they just don’t admit it.

For 12 years I’ve been the comeback kid. Through triumphs and setbacks, I’ve held my ground. I’ve worked hard and delivered results. My opponents can take their best shot. I can handle it. I’m a fifth generation Mallee girl. I come from tough stock. And I have a job to do. Not every quarter goes perfectly, but I have 18 months to go.

Head up. Eyes forward. Play on.