20 questions with Labor’s Tracey Price

Brisbane Times asked 20 questions of the leading lord mayoral candidates.See all 5 stories.

Tracey Price was preselected as Labor’s lord mayoral candidate in August last year.

Price was admitted as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2007, owns a small business – a sewing shop at Chermside – and lives with her husband and three children on the northside.

This is Price’s first campaign for office.

Brisbane Times asked all three viable lord mayoral candidates the same 20 questions, which were designed to give voters a feel for both their policy positions and their personalty.

LNP candidate Adrian Schrinner’s answers can be found here, while Greens candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan’s answers are here.

Labor Brisbane lord mayoral candidate Tracey Price answers 20 questions from Brisbane Times ahead of the March 16 council election.Credit: Matt Dennien

1. Why are you running?

“Well, that’s a good question. I have grown up in Brisbane for pretty much the most of my high school years.

“I was born originally in Ipswich, but I came back after my dad was travelled around with the Air Force, living in many cities around the world, and we settled back in Brisbane in 1988.

“I’m raising my family here, I think it’s an amazing city that’s got so much potential.

“When I returned to Brisbane in 2001, after living overseas again where I met my husband, everyone was like, ‘why are you going back to sleepy town Brisbane?’ and I’m like, ‘no, Brisbane has got so much going for it, there’s a lifestyle there, it’s a city that’s just got this massive growth and a massive future ahead and I think that it’s a really opportune time to actually live here in Brisbane and create my businesses and raise my children here’.

“That’s what I’ve done.”

2. Who is your political role model, and why?

“Oh, I’ve got a few.

“I’m not necessarily going to name any particular person, but through my legal career, I’ve worked for various people who have either gone into political life or have come from political life, and so I have met a lot of people through that, that have had significant influence in how and where I’ve ended up.

“I joined the Labor Party in 2019, after many years of working out where I fit best.

“So without naming any particular person, there have been a few and there’s also been some civic sort of people that have worked in council that I have had mentor me through my MBA program and things like that, that have had an influence.”

3. And your biggest role model outside of politics?

“There’s a few. You can have the cliche ones, where you say famous people and all of that sort of stuff, but probably the first person I ever worked for who gave me a life opportunity.

“She’s unfortunately passed away now, but when I was a young girl coming out of high school and really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, I applied for a small job in a newspaper, which turned out to be an amazing opportunity in the world of advertising.

“She was a lady who was very unwell, working in the advertising industry, and she took me under her wing to become basically her right-hand person while she was going through treatment.

“That set me on an amazing opportunity and a life career of opening up the world and seeing what was ahead and what I could actually do, so probably that.”

4. Sum up your philosophy to governing in three words.

“Always with the people at the forefront of my mind, so people first, community first.”

5. What was the moment you decided to pursue a political career?

“Probably my early years in law, when I was working a lot in domestic violence and the areas of youth justice and really understanding that there were a lot of things that needed fixing in and around community that I felt a lot of politicians were completely out of touch with.

Tracey Price: ‘I joined the Labor Party in 2019, after many years of working out where I fit best.’Credit: Matt Dennien

“So I started to explore the idea that maybe, one day, I would run when my kids were a bit older, because I had young children when I was doing my law degree.

“I wanted to make sure that my kids were a bit older, and I could focus on what I thought was good for youth and domestic violence and all those really important areas of community that really need to be dealt with at a grassroots level.”

6. What do you see as the three biggest issues facing Brisbane and what plans do you have to deal with them?

“Obviously, public transport is a massive issue in and around the city.

“Everything is very central-focused, city centre-focused, and I think that we need to create a public transport system that actually goes around our city as well and also connects local communities to local shops and increased frequency.

“People will never get off cars and off the roads unless they’ve got a better option, so that better option must be better frequency, safer, more reliable transport. That’s probably a massive issue.

“Brisbane is on a floodplain. We’ve got an increasing amount of development going in and around our city and I think it needs to be smart.

“We need to upgrade our drainage and our infrastructure to support what is coming in the future with climate resilience and making sure our city is resilient.

“And also connecting people around our communities. I think we’ve come through the other end of COVID, where a lot of people are now working from home, and they haven’t come back to being in and about.

“I really want to bring that sense of community spirit back to each other, where we really connect again, and we come out and our city becomes alive through connecting with our arts and culture policy that we’ve released.

“It’s about really connecting people in the community, because when people have an opportunity and connection, they have an opportunity to thrive and I think that that’s really important in making sure our communities come alive again.”

7. On population growth, how big is too big for Brisbane?

“You can’t just say we’re going to cut numbers at this point, right?

“We need to make sure that our infrastructure and all of our networks and everything grow in just one step ahead of our population growth.

“All the cities around the world are always growing.

“It is natural for that to occur. It creates industry, it creates further opportunities, there’s opportunity for multiculturalism, all of those sorts of things.

“So it’s making sure that we’re one step ahead of the growth and we plan for growth.”

8. What’s more important to you – service delivery, or keeping rates low?

“If people see their value for their money, then rates don’t become so much of an issue.

Tracey Price: ‘Obviously, public transport is a massive issue in and around the city.’Credit: Matt Dennien

“I wouldn’t like to see rates increase more than what a CPI increase would be because it’s really important to keep downward pressure on rates, but I think people reach a point where if they see that they’re getting value for money, then there’s less complaining about the rates.”

9. Is Brisbane City Council well served by the party political system?

“Brisbane City Council at a grassroots level needs to have their first and foremost focus on community, regardless of where your political alliances are.

“I love the Labor Party, because I feel that they are for the many, not the few, and as long as we drive our level of community for the many across all our suburbs, then that’s kind of in line with where we are as a party.”

10. What has been the most enjoyable thing about your campaign so far?

“Being out and meeting some of the most incredible people across the city.

“I have been to events and met people that I never would have had the opportunity to do before and I have absolutely, 100 per cent enjoy that.

“I’ve gotten so much energy from meeting so many people from so many different backgrounds across the city.”

Tracey Price: ‘It’s making sure that we’re one step ahead of the growth and we plan for growth.’Credit: Matt Dennien

11. And the least?

“Can I be honest and say the lies that the LNP are spreading?

“I really think that as, as people, when we represent the people of Brisbane, we have an obligation and a duty to have honesty.

“My policies have been lied about, me as a person has been lied about.

“I find that that is just the most frustrating part.”

12. If elected lord mayor, could you work with councillors from other parties – or independents – if your party does not get a majority in City Hall?

“Yeah, the reality is that that could happen.

“I would obviously like to see my 26 candidates get up. The reality is that that’s probably not going to be the case where I get 20 seats.

“They’re amazing people, they come from so many backgrounds and have so much to offer and obviously, we’re all on the same page when it comes to policy.

“But if I’m forced into a position where I have to work with other party members, or independents or whatever, then obviously the people of Brisbane are what matters most and, as the leader of council, that will be my priority.”

13. How would your administration leverage the Olympics?

“The Olympics is exciting.

“I’m old enough to remember going to World Expo ’88 and what World Expo ’88 did for our city.

“The Olympics coming to Brisbane offers so much opportunity for small business, tourism, these young kids that are absolutely screaming to be on the world stage as far as sport that may would need might not necessarily ever get the opportunity.

“I want to see a legacy for these kids across all of our communities. Small businesses out on the bay where people can go, tourism enhancers where they see a benefit. So I really want that legacy across our city.”

14. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it?

“Biggest mistake during the campaign period or in life?

“Oh. I don’t know. As you’ve learned from a mistake, I don’t really consider them a mistake.

“We’re always going to go on a journey where we might do something and, in hindsight, we think we should have done something else.

“That is not necessarily a mistake if you learned from it.

“With a mistake, I don’t really have a regret, provided it’s given me a lesson to do something better.

“Could I do better? Could I make another 10 phone calls? If I don’t win the election, is there something that I could have done better to make the people of Brisbane believe in me and what I want to do for this city?

“I think it’s just learning, learning from mistakes.”

Tracey Price: ‘I love the Labor Party, because I feel that they are for the many, not the few.’Credit: Matt Dennien

15. How do you commute to work?

“A mixture. It depends on what I’m doing for that particular day.

“I live on a bus line, my bus stops at the bottom of my street. I will often catch the train if I’m coming in to do that, it just depends.

“If I’m coming to court, I drive because I’m carrying copious amounts of paperwork, but I just I would like to have a better use of public transport.

“I lived in London, where public transport was incredible. It was reliable, it was cheap, it was easy to use.

“So I would obviously like to use public transport a lot more and there’s reasons why I don’t use it all the time, but it’s about a balance.

“I’ve also got to get kids to school every day.”

16. What’s the best concert, artistic or sporting event you’ve been to?

“My son works in the creative arts industry, so I’m a little bit biased.

“I went to and really enjoyed the Anywhere Festival over the last couple of years because that was where shows were put on in unique places in and around Brisbane – so the water tower, or down in the paint factory – and I just thought they were really unique.

“But I also loved Paul McCartney, I loved Pink, I loved Bon Jovi.

“I also love going to the cricket and the rugby, so it’s about being able to enjoy it all across our city.”

17. What is your favourite meal?

“Oh, I just like food. Ice-cream? That doesn’t really count as a meal.

“Maybe stir-fry? I like a good stir-fry. And I like Mum’s lamb roast.”

Tracey Price: ‘If I don’t win the election, is there something that I could have done better to make the people of Brisbane believe in me and what I want to do for this city?’Credit: Matt Dennien

18. What three words best describe you?

“Passionate; dedicated and I like to think I’m fun.”

19. Do you have political ambitions beyond City Hall?

“No.

“My primary focus has always been local council, because it’s where you can connect with community at the grassroots.

20. What positive things can you say about your main two rivals?

“I think Adrian has got a lot to offer, as far as his dedication to civic life.

“He’s worked very hard, albeit I don’t necessarily agree that being just in council your entire life is a benefit – I think that having outside [experience] is also a benefit. But he’s definitely dedicated to the job.

“Jonno, as I’ve said previously, he’s very enthusiastic. He thinks outside the square.

“I don’t necessarily agree with his ideas. I think a lot of them are extreme, but that’s his view and I think he brings a passion to what he advocates for.”

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