Miss Universe Australia no longer all about beauty
From a medical specialist to an apprentice, midwife, lawyer and pilot, this year’s contestants defied the stale preconceptions about pageants with their aspirations to change the world. Read their stories.
Fiona Byrne
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From a medical technology specialist to an electrotechnology apprentice, a midwife, entrepreneurs, public relations and digital marketing executives, a lawyer, a First Nations environmental advocate, a pilot and youth mental health campaigners, Miss Universe Australia is smashing through stale preconceptions about pageants.
The event is not so much about the clichéd hope for world peace, but more about amplifying a generation of women who want to change the world.
“Our challenge has been educating Australia on the evolution of Miss Universe here, it’s not the ‘pageant’ it used to be in the 1960s, in fact we don’t use the ‘pageant’ expression at all,” Miss Universe Australian National Director Sophia Barbagallo said.
“Now it’s a world class program for young women to grow their confidence and ambassador skills, while gaining the access to a global stage – a platform to be heard on issues they want spoken about.”
Twenty four contenders took part in the Miss Universe National Final in Melbourne on Friday after undertaking the MUA program which included a NIDA presenting course, networking and mentoring sessions, public speaking training, photography, social media and marketing advice, and even lessons in walking.
Traditional Miss Universe elements such as the swimwear parade and evening wear catwalk remain. Appearance is undeniably part of the equation, but beauty alone will not guarantee success.
A glimpse at this year’s finalists highlight how the event has evolved with them representing a vast range of careers and backgrounds and all with firm career goals.
Queensland’s Lily Goodare holds a restricted pilots licence and is continuing training for her commercial pilot’s credentials with plans to start her own aviation business. She owns a digital marketing business and advocates for victims of domestic violence.
Describing herself as a tradie, down to earth West Australian contestant Natasha Huisman is an electrotechnology apprentice who encourages women to work in trades.
“At the moment it feels like I live two different lives, the glamorous side at Miss Universe and then I go back to work and I am getting dirty and dusty,” Huisman said.
“I not only deal with wiring, I deal with a lot of programming as well and would like to go into the engineering side of things, as well.
“Besides the office lady, I am the only female on site at my workplace.”
Sene Maluwpi, a Sydney based model is a passionate advocate for her First Nations culture and the environment, particularly the Torres Strait Islands.
She is also a voice for Indigenous representation in the Australian fashion industry.
Initially hesitant to accept the invitation to be part of Miss Universe, she realised the opportunity the platform could provide for her advocacy.
“It felt like a calling for me,” Maluwpi said.
“This is a chapter that is going to help us elevate, it is a stepping stone to be the best version of yourself.”
Perth-based Vimbayi Hakutangwi is a member of the Australian navy and is in training to be a clearance diver.
“I thought the navy was grounding, and it is grounding, but coming into this group of girls and learning so much about myself and them, it has just been incredible. I really have no words,” she said.
Victoria’s Lauren Walker is a midwife who has helped deliver more than 100 babies and also runs a thoroughbred racing stable with her partner Mitchell Leek.
“I am still the one shovelling the poop out of the stables in the morning,” Walker said.
She said the Miss Universe experience had been life changing.
“It has been amazing meeting all the girls, but the development, particularly my confidence, has been wonderful,” she said.
“I feel so self assured, more passionate, more sure in myself, more confident and probably the most beautiful I have ever felt, because you have 23 people around you saying ‘yes, you can do this.’
“Everyone is so ambitious and inspirational, so there is no self doubt and everyone wants to see each other do so well.”
Having trained as a downhill skier in the US, Melbourne’s Moraya Wilson is an athletics, cross country and snowsports coach, a mental health advocate, a model and is in the process of launching her own fashion label.
Wilson said Miss Universe was not what she expected.
“I thought it was going to be more ‘pageantry’, but it is so not,” she said.
“It is a self development program and you meet so many incredible women who are there for the same reason, to grow and take the next step in whatever industry they are in.”
Sydney-based Farida Singatoulina is a film and theatre actor who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. She is also a model, speaks three languages and is a translator while Melbourne’s Joraya Pillay is a medical technology clinical specialist who assists with creating 3D electro-anatomical maps of the heart.
“Miss Universe Australia has become an instrumental platform for Australia’s most ambitious and educated women, celebrating all cultures, backgrounds and religions,” Barbagallo said.
“We want to ensure that every single finalist benefits from the program and leaves more sure of who they are and what they want to achieve in life both personally and professionally.”
As for naysayers who think Miss Universe is a dinosaur, Wilson said think again.
“Come and spend a day with us and find out what it is really like,” she said.
“I think you have to really meet us and see the program first hand to understand what it is all about. It is not just glamour.”
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