Madam mayor: Change in the chambers

ON INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day, we talk to some female regional mayors about their experiences in local government.

Standing up: Regional Victorian mayors Anna Speedie, Pam Clarke, Sam McIntosh and Margaret O’Rourke are part of a new era of female representation in local government. Picture: Dannika Bonser

DURING Anna Speedie’s first term as a councillor for the City of Wodonga she attended a council training session.

There, the Gippsland-born accountant was speaking with a fellow Victorian councillor — an older bloke, perhaps twice her age — when the conversation took an unpleasant turn.

“He called me ‘girlie’,” says Anna. “I remember being horrified, I thought, ‘did I hear that correctly?’, it made my mouth drop open.

“I just called him an old coot.

“He was a bit taken aback, but when he started protesting I said, ‘if you’re going to insult me, mate, you have to be prepared for it to come back around’.”

More than a decade later, Anna is serving her fourth term as a representative of the Wodonga community.

She is also the city’s mayor, the third woman to hold the title, and the second female mayor to chair Regional Cities Victoria (an advocacy group comprising the 10 largest councils in Victoria) in its 17-year history.

“It can be hard as a woman,” Anna says. “You have to be a bit tough.

“I was a single mum when I first got on to council and it was a big challenge to juggle parenting a three-year-old with full-time work and council responsibilities.

“At the last election I approached several women who I thought would be fantastic councillors — incredibly smart, with great careers and families, but they were reluctant.

“While being called names like ‘girlie’ isn’t usually part of the landscape any more, politics can be a very robust, male-dominated environment and they didn’t want to subject themselves to that. I’m not sure that men have the same barrier to overcome.”

But it seems change is afoot.

Six of the 10 member councils of Regional Cities Victoria this year are represented by a female mayor — there are Anna at Wodonga, Kylie Gaston at Warrnambool, Pam Clarke at Horsham, Samantha McIntosh at Ballarat, Margaret O’Rourke at Bendigo and Kellie O’Callaghan at Latrobe.

Warrnambool City Council mayor Kylie Gaston

Latrobe City Council mayor Kellie O'Callaghan

Geelong’s council went into administration last year, but it, too, is being led by a woman — Kathy Alexander — while Wodonga and Ballarat have female chief executives.

“When you think four years ago that the only woman sitting around the RCV table was our CEO, it’s amazing to see how much has changed,” Anna says.

“I see the difference when both men and women are sitting at the table, the difference of opinion brought and the nature of the conversation.

“It adds a more holistic view from the community and if you didn’t have it, councils would be far poorer for it.”

And it is not only in the major regional centres. Municipal Association of Victoria chief executive Rob Spence says the rise in female representation in local government is being reflected across the breadth of rural councils, with 38 per cent of mayors being women.

“We’ve seen a small but steady rise in the number of women councillors getting elected, with 122 women councillors recently elected to represent rural and regional communities,” he says.

“Thirty-five per cent of all current non-metropolitan councillors are women, an increase from the 2012 council elections when 32 per cent of all rural and regional councillors were women.”

One of these women is Amanda McLaren, a first-time councillor — and mayor — at the shire of Strathbogie, where three of seven councillors are women

Amanda, who raises meadow-grazed chickens with her husband in Graytown, about 140km north of Melbourne, stepped down from her board roles and full-time job as chief executive of the Shepparton-based Fairley Leadership Program, to take on the role.

Strathbogie Shire mayor Amanda McLaren. Picture: Chloe Smith

“I remember when I was first interested in stepping up into local government — it was 2011 and my youngest was 18 months old at the time,” Amanda says.

“I was at an Australian Women in Local Government meeting in Euroa and a woman told me that now might not be the right time for me — it was very frustrating.

“Now they’re seven and 10 years old, so it is easier to manage, but being mayor is almost more than a full-time role, you never really switch off.”

But she says there have been some unexpected benefits.

“There are a lot of hours as mayor, but there’s a lot of flexibility, too. This year I was actually able to attend my son’s swimming carnival for the first time in five years — now I’m not always the mum that’s not there,” Amanda says.

“It’s not always easy though. I’ve spoken to a lot of other female leaders and sometimes leadership feels like a life choice — either you don’t have kids or you need a great support network. I’m very fortunate to have a community behind me that allowed me to put up my hand.”

It’s a view shared by Ballarat mayor Samantha McIntosh.

This year is Samantha’s ninth as a councillor and her first as mayor, although she has previously served as deputy.

Before becoming mayor, the Stawell-raised businesswoman was the marketing manager for a pathology organisation with offices spread across several states.

“I don’t think there would be many women who would step into leadership roles feeling wholly confident, but it’s the words of wisdom, the advice and support from others that gives you the confidence to succeed,” she says.

“My Dad died when I was little so I grew up in a family very much led by females, with a mum who worked, who led a business.

“When you grow up in that environment, you know there’s no limit on what you can achieve. But still, when you step into this space and are surrounded by so many men, it’s a bit daunting.”

Samantha says while the changes she has seen have been positive, there is still a long way to go.

“The Ballarat council might be a great example of women putting their hand up, but when I attend a Central Highlands mayors’ meeting, I’m the only woman there,” she says.

“Fifty-one per cent of our community is female and it’s so imp-ortant their voice is represented in local government, and that happens most naturally — and effectively — with a gender-balanced council.

“Of course, there should be merit-based selection, but as a community we need to ensure women are in a position to discover and use their potential and we in leadership roles need to be available and to inspire the younger generation so they know what can be achieved.

“As much as there has been change, and it has been great change, we need to keep the foot on the pedal.”