Landry visits old school to discuss leadership challenges

Landry claimed there was a group of older men who made “dreadful, slanderous” allegations about high-profile women.

Hannah Goodwin and Brooke Adams With Michelle Landry MP at Rockhampton Girls Grammar School

Brooke Adams and Hannah Goodwin, senior students at the Rockhampton Girls Grammar School, are preparing to go out into the world and help people.

Neither of them aspire to become a politician; Brooke and Hannah intend to study medicine and dentistry, respectively.

On Tuesday morning, they met with a woman who also left their school, albeit some years ago, with no plans to become a politician.

Today she – Michelle Landry – represents our region in the federal parliament as the Member for Capricornia and Assistant Minister for both Children and Families, and Northern Australia.

Ms Landry visited the school to speak with the Year 11 and 12 students about the rewards and pitfalls of leadership.

She said she was proud of having attracted billions of dollars of infrastructure to the region, often fighting for what she knew was important to her electorate.

Brooke and Hannah said it was heartening to have a role model to speak to.

Hannah Goodwin and Brooke Adams at Rockhampton Girls Grammar School

“Going to a girls school, we have a better idea of our place; we know that we’re capable and worthy of taking up space,” Ms Goodwin said.

Asked what she would change about society, Ms Adams said she would make health care, including mental health care, more accessible.

“It’s terrible some people have to wait for two years or more to see a specialist,” she said.

“We’ve got to make sure the money has a direct impact on people who need help, not just to figureheads.”

Although they’re happy to see more gender equality in parliament, the girls say they are “astonished” at how women leaders are treated.

Ms Adams said the attacks on women such as Julia Gillard “shocked” her, and she had no doubt it was something Ms Landry had to contend with as well.

The Member for Capricornia said she burst into tears the first time she read slander about herself online, but she had grown “tougher” over time.

She advised the girls not to engage with “trolls” but admitted she had seriously considered taking court action against her defamers.

She claimed there was a particular group of older men in Central Queensland who made “dreadful, slanderous” allegations about high-profile women.

“It’s gone far too far, and I’m pleased the Federal Government is taking action to put strict codes into place to make media such as Twitter and Facebook accountable for their actions.”

Ms Landry’s final advice for the Rockhampton Girls Grammar audience was to treat everyone the way they expected to be treated themselves, something she learned working in her parents’ casket agency from the age of 12.

She said getting involved in the local community and council was a good way to begin a political career, before tackling the challenges of federal parliament.