Karen Andrews: Meet Gold Coast’s first female federal cabinet minister in The Interview
IT shouldn’t matter how you look when it comes to politics, but the fact is — it’s different being a woman. And our newest female federal pollie has experienced this first hand.
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ARMED with a blonde bob and bright lipstick, Karen Andrews is wearing the very GC uniform of a professional woman.
Of course it shouldn’t matter what she looks like. But, of course, it does. For women, looking the part has always been part of the job.
However, the Member for McPherson and newly appointed federal Minister for Industry, Science and Technology doesn’t want your sympathy — although she’s happy to take your vote — but the fact remains that being a woman in politics is … different.
And being a politician in a city that celebrates skin-deep beauty means that your skin had better be built extra tough.
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Fortunately, this 58-year-old mother of three has had plenty of practice.
“I was on a polling booth a couple of elections back, handing out how-to-vote cards, when this younger guy came over to me,” she says.
“He looked at the how-to-vote card and made this big deal of looking at the card and looking at me and he finally said, ‘are you Karen Andrews?’
“I said ‘yeah’, thinking he wanted to talk to me … and he said, and I’ve never forgotten this, ‘geez, sometimes we have good days and sometimes we have bad days’…”
Somehow, I just can’t see that Steven Ciobo has ever had this reaction.
And full credit to Karen for her own reaction: “I just said, ‘well, every day when I get up, I try my hardest’.
“I am what I am. Being a woman on the Gold Coast is not the easiest place to age and being in the spotlight does make it more challenging, but that’s not an issue for me.
“It’s true that some days are better than others … big deal. I’m happy with where I am. I have three fantastic kids and a wonderful husband and if I don’t meet everyone’s ideal of how I should look … so be it. I can’t do much about it, can I?”
That’s the crux, really.
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Karen would much rather focus on what she can do and what she can change. As the first female federal cabinet minister, not just for the Gold Coast but Queensland, she’s in a prime position.
And as a mechanical engineer who’s already proven her ability to forge her way forward in a male-dominated industry, she’s at a distinct advantage.
Emerging from the wreckage of the Liberal leadership spill, Karen’s ready to get this show on the road — and that’s actually exactly what she wants to start with, transportation infrastructure.
And with, in her words, “eight to nine months until the next election”, she knows it’s time to fast-track her plans.
“The Gold Coast has never had this level of federal representation and I’m going to do with it everything that I can,” she says a huge smile on her face.
“Most importantly, I’ll be pushing for better transport infrastructure. I’ve already secured the money for the M1, now I’ll be doing all that I can to push that through faster.”
While Karen was a major force in securing the funding for the stage three extension of the light rail to Burleigh, she believes that should be the end of the line. Instead, she has bigger plans for the southern end of the Gold Coast.
“I’m very supportive about light rail going to Burleigh, but I understand there are concerns about it so I do want to see the business case so that I’m reassured this is the best option.
“The concern of residents and businesses further south is that if you take the light rail down the Gold Coast Highway, you’ll reduce the traffic to one lane without parking. From my understanding, their concerns are correct.
“I’d like to see a comparison between light rail versus rapid bus transportation down the Gold Coast Highway.
“I actually think the priority should be getting heavy rail linked to the Gold Coast Airport. At this stage it stops at Varsity Lakes, which just doesn’t make sense.
“The heavy rail extension has previously been on the agenda for discussion and I want to build that momentum.
“It’s not cheap. The last costings were about $100 million per kilometre — there are some big bridges to build over Tallebudgera and Currumbin creeks. Mind you, the costings for the M1 are not that much less.
“The fact is that by not doing it, we’re just delaying the inevitable. You can already see the Gold Coast is tying itself in knots. We also need the help of state and local governments to improve arterial roads so that we can get people making short trips off the M1, that’s not meant to be its purpose.
“If we’re serious about building this city as a place that our children can live and work in, we need to think long term and we need to think big. A bit of pain now will mean a lot less later.”
Karen says we need to be realistic too about just how fast our city is growing — and what that means for our lifestyle.
She says while many residents on the southern end of the Coast would like to retain the village atmosphere of their suburbs, demand may mean that’s not always possible.
“We generally use the statistic of 500,000 when it comes to the Gold Coast’s population, but we’re ignoring the base level of tourists that are always here. They are also using our roads and our health systems — so we really need to talk about a population of 7 or 800,000 when it comes to planning,” she says.
“We can’t really close the door to people who want to come here. And as technology progresses, people will be able to make their office in any city they want — and why wouldn’t you want it here? The more industry and business we can bring here, the better.
“I know that many residents of southern suburbs would like to keep that village feel but I think that, long-term, we need to cement a design plan for the city so that when we do build, we build it right.
“Inevitably, there will come a time when we will have high-rises stretching from the northern end to the southern end of the Coast.”
Karen says it’s not just residents but tourists that we need to cater for.
To that end, she believes a dedicated science museum would be the perfect addition to our city for locals and visitors. Conveniently, it would also work towards her mission of encouraging children between the ages of 8 and 11 to get more involved with STEM.
“Yes, we have great beaches and theme parks and the Hinterland, but we always need to be looking for ways to add attractions and value for visitors. A museum is something that would obviously benefit locals as well.
“Science museums are a huge draw overseas, places like San Francisco’s Exploratorium.
“I’ve worked with (Gold Coast City) councillor Glenn Tozer on some plans for a science museum in the Hinterland and I’m really keen to get it on the ground.
“Our tourists would love it and our kids need it. We need to encourage them in any way we can to get involved in science and STEM applications. It’s their future.”
Karen says while employment remains a high concern for her constituents, energy costs are the real crisis.
She says her office fields a number of emails and phone calls every single day from both residents and businesses struggling to pay their bills.
“By and large, the energy crisis is actually a state issue. The State Government needs to step up and look after our ageing coal-powered stations.
“A lot of these stations in Queensland, specifically, have been operating for 30-plus years; as they wind down they become less efficient.
“We need to look at what we can do to extend their lifespan, as well as looking at new technologies. We need to put money into research for alternative energy generation, we need to get the mix right. Resources means jobs in the north of Australia, we need to look at all the areas that are affected.
“Scott Morrison has given some very positive comments about getting things fixed. He’s charged Angus Taylor with getting prices down and they’re eager to work with the states.
“Really, we need to set the politics aside. There is a solution if we stop the grandstanding and the blame game. People don’t care who fixes the system, as long as it’s done. They find it disappointing when we’re just arguing, not doing things to fix the problem.”
And speaking of the blame game, while Karen clearly landed on her feet in the aftermath of the leadership drama, she says it was a horrible week that she’s still recovering from.
However, she says both she and her colleagues are now working towards a common purpose — getting stuff done.
“I actually voted against the spill motion. I was very mindful of the fact that even though our system says that you don’t vote for the person who is PM, that’s not how Australians feel.
“But then of course, Malcolm Turnbull didn’t stand.
“I did sign the petition to call for the extraordinary party room meeting, but even that wasn’t easy.
“I was chatting to Kathy Border from ABC Gold Coast and she asked me why, if I thought there should be a meeting to resolve the issue — which I did, had I not signed?
“I hung up from that chat and just thought, I have to do this. But it was in no way an indication of who I was supporting. That’s why I annotated my signature. It was a matter of resolving the leadership question.
“If we hadn’t done that, we’d still be talking about it now. Parliament was going on a two-week break which means that the party room meeting would not have happened until next week.
“It was just unacceptable for the people of Australia.”
Karen says she believes Turnbull’s downfall can be traced to the Longman by-election.
She says expectations were unfairly raised that the Government could pick up the seat, and the disappointing results were extrapolated too far.
“There was a strong view that we needed to take on board the Longman result, to listen to what people were saying and act on it.
“There’s no doubt that we needed to change what we were doing, but in my view that did not have to mean changing the leader.
“It was a horrendous ordeal to go through. It’s the way the game is played, but my heart did break for Malcolm. I gave him a little smile as he left the room to go to Lucy but it wasn’t the time to talk. It wasn’t about me.
“I haven’t spoken to him since.”
Karen says she has long enjoyed a close friendship with Scott Morrison, who visited her in April and attended the Anzac Day ceremony at Currumbin.
She says despite the “rough and tumble” nature of the job, she and her colleagues are determined to move forward.
“We’re focused on getting the job done and winning the election, which will be in eight or nine months,” she says.
“It was a rough time, but I have to say that everyone I dealt with was courteous. I’ve heard the claims of bullying, but that has not been my experience.
“You only have to look at Question Time to see how things happen. Politics is not a place for people who aren’t prepared for rough and tumble, that’s always been the environment.
“But yes, it would be good if it was different. Sometimes I admit that I cringe in Question Time, especially if I have a school group in the gallery.
“I’d much prefer the debates to just be about the issue, but I have to work with what we have.”
Working with what she has holds true for Karen’s home life as well. With three daughters aged 15, 18 and 22 and a husband who works full-time as director of human resources at Bond University, she says it’s a struggle to balance work and life.
“To be honest, I don’t think I always have the balance right. Nor does my husband. We work as a team, we co-ordinate pick-ups and drop-offs and yes, I’ve missed my share of birthdays.
“It’s impossible to be a full-time mother and a full-time worker, whether you’re in politics or not. It’s all a compromise. The key for me is that I have three fantastic kids. I just got lucky there.
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“But this life has its advantages too. My youngest was seven when I entered politics, the state of the nation is as familiar to her as what’s happening on the school playground.
“We have some pretty interesting dinner table conversations.
“When Malcolm Turnbull was PM we were looking to go to Canberra and my youngest asked me, ‘are we going to Malcolm’s place?’ And yes, they have been to the Lodge.
“The PM is just Mum’s boss. I’m not sure whether they’ll call Scott Morrison ScoMo like everyone else; I’ll have to ask them that tonight.
“What I do like is that they see their mum and dad working hard and working together and loving each other and them.
“I’d like to think too that maybe I’m helping to pave the way to a future when my daughters will be judged on merit, not their looks or their age.”
This trailblazing engineer might have swapped her hard-hat for a blonde bob, but she’s determined to complete this passion project.
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