Liberal Democrats candidate Liza Tazewell runs for Parramatta in 2022 federal election

She is not expecting to dramatically shift voting habits but a Parramatta candidate wants to foster Aussie values that saw her go from a working class suburb to the director of a leading bank.

She’s aware she won’t get high voting numbers but Parramatta Liberal Democrats candidate Liza Tazewell is running in the election to fight for her children’s future and show the public a girl from “South Granville High can become a director of the Macquarie Bank”.

The Harris Park interior design business owner and mother has joined the race for the marginal seat, whose contenders are Liberal Maria Kovacic, Labor’s Andrew Charlton, Greens’ Phil Bradley, United Australia Party’s Julian Fayad, independent Steve Christou and One Nation’s Heather Freeman and Rohan Laxmanalal for the Animal Justice Party.

After returning to Australia after working in Hong Kong, the Philippines and London, she was alarmed by Covid lockdowns and the toll it took on the construction industry.

She wants to uphold Australian values, pointing to her rise from working class Granville to the boardroom of a major financial institution.

“How do you go from Granville South High School to being a director at Macquarie Bank?’’ she said.

“It’s just the Australian can-do attitude. In Australia we’re not limited by hierarchy, class. We’re really fortunate that we don’t have that.’’

As a child whose late father was an Indonesian Muslim and her mother a Christian who remarried a Croatian, Ms Tazewell said her upbringing gave her a “fantastic perspective” on life and represented “all of the things I love about being Australian”.

“I never would have achieved anything if I hadn’t been brought up in Australia,’’ she said.

“I was listening to Anthony Albanese speaking about learning the value of a dollar, growing up in housing commission.

“I was thinking ‘Wow, I was working at Flemington Markets from 13 years old. I was babysitting from 11’. That’s how you learn the value of a dollar.’’

Ms Tazewell, 49, has four children aged eight to 21, including two adopted children and family has driven her to stand as a candidate.

“We really need to look after our next generation,’’ she said.

“We’ve created this environment where we’ve saddled them with loads of debt, we’ve created this environment where there seems to be perpetual fear of everything, from the environment to Covid. It just never ends.

“I’m fighting for a better tomorrow for my kids.’’

She has also been inspired to give a voice to those who do not relate to the two major parties and who are now “preferencing each other”.

“To me seeing democracy is having multiple voices and having multiple voices heard,’’ she said.

“I think I can have a seat at the table. I grew up around here, I come from around here and I’ve gone from there to this other world.

“I know the tenacity and I know the hard work and my parents came out and had nothing.

“If all I do is start a conversation and get people thinking, that’s all I can do at the end of the day.’’

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