WEBVTT - Senator Jana Stewart on Racism in Australian Parliament 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.520 Welcome to First things first, I'm brook Blatten. My pronouns 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:04.120 for she and her. 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:06.720 Mattie Meals my pronouns are he and him. And before 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:08.920 we get started, we'd like to acknowledge the custodians of 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.280 the land on which we record. And today that's the 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.080 Gatigal people of the urination for me. 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:15.840 And for me it's a roundering people of the cooler nation. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:17.520 Let's get it giving to it. 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:22.959 So today we have the beautiful I'm actually just going 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.480 to let you introduce yourself and who's your mob and 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:27.040 where do you come from? 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.440 So my name is Joanna Stewart. I'm a muddy muddy 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.720 wamba whamber woman and I'm a Labor Senator for Victoria. 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:41.280 So I've harassed Jana to be my friend. Now she's 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:46.000 on the podcast. I've followed your sort of politics journey 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.360 for a little bit on socials. You know, when you 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.320 just feel connected via socials and you want to get 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:53.040 to know someone a bit more closer, attle bit more. 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:54.760 We need to be in each other's lives. 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.279 A little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and a lot of it. Sorry, 0:00:57.960 --> 0:00:59.840 but so yeah, that's why I say I'm kind of 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:01.800 asked you to be my friend, and now you're here, 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:06.160 and now I'm making you come on the podcast. I 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.479 think this is also a really I want to highlight 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:11.360 it in such a beautiful way, but also be like 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.080 this needs to be better. You're one of the youngest 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.119 First Nations women to be elected in federal Parliament, which 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.280 is amazing, Like, that's incredible. Yeah. 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.240 The funny thing about is, actually, don't feel like I'm 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:24.480 that young. I'm thirty seven now. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:27.720 Doesn't look like a day over twenty. 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.119 Oh yeah, actually I say yeah. 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.399 I love when your white friends like squirm when you 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.880 say that. You're like, I can't say that, and you're 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.600 like a couple of my colleagues like, what. 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:41.920 What did you say? 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:43.679 I said what I said? 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.240 Yeah, I was Yeah, I was thirty five when I 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:48.960 went into the parliament. 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.200 I was thirty four or thirty five weeks. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.880 Pregnant too, and the youngest average woman to go into 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:59.280 the parliament. And it feels like a huge achievement. But 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.720 also it feels like I shouldn't be the youngest at 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.680 thirty five, like lots of lots of our women are 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:07.400 pretty deadly exactly. 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.600 Yeah, but that's that crazy? 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:10.040 Is that? 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.000 I guess why do people kind of have that feeling 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.400 that you join politics later, like at an older age. 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.440 Is it because of life experience? Why is it such 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.200 a thing where it's like, oh, I'll do that when 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:24.840 I'm like you know, you know what I mean? Or 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.000 is it an experience thing like you need to get 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:28.880 a certain type of experience. 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.119 I think it's different for lots of people. But if 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.320 I was to hazard a guess for our mob and 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.320 if it's similar to me, like I didn't see politics 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.280 as a pathway for me or a career path for 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.640 me at all, not until really that was when the 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:47.960 State Labor Government committed to treaty that I first became 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:52.079 interested in politics. But before then I didn't really see 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:55.320 it as a place for us for mob, and in fact, 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:57.080 it's done quite the opposite to our mob for a 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.359 very long time. Yeah, So it was a big call 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.840 for me to want to enter politics. And even before that, 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.440 if I kind of take a step back, before that, 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:09.240 politics and parliaments had done lots of really terrible things 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.200 to our mob and then all the other decisions that 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:14.600 get made in our parliament, I suppose I didn't really 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:16.720 see the connection between why you needed good people in 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.520 parliament and how that impacted our day to day lives. 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:20.680 And so I would imagine for. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:24.760 Lots of our young followers, they probably don't see that 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.920 connection either, that actually the decisions that get made in 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.560 our parliaments impact how you live your life every day exactly, 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.280 And I think COVID really brought that to the front 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:38.480 of people's minds. People seeing politicians making decisions about where 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:40.200 they could go and how long they could live their 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:42.160 house for, and I think for the first time, lots 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.360 of people really thought, Ah, this is the influence, this 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.200 is the impact politics I can direct exactly. 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.600 You can only leave your house for an hour. Yeah, 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:51.920 Like that's so. 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.720 I think people should absolutely be engaged in politics because 0:03:55.760 --> 0:04:00.840 it impacts every part of our lives. And you need 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.040 good people all along the spectrum. Like you need people 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.640 on the ground doing that work with people who need 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.520 it most. You need good people in our parliament being 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.240 able to influence legislation and policy in funding. So you 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.280 need good people all along that spectrum. 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.760 Yeah, I want to know what was like, I guess 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:19.919 for you growing up, Like I mean, you said that 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.640 you had no interest in it originally, but you sort 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.080 of would you say you fell into it or you 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.119 sort of were like, nah, like, this is the direction 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:28.920 I want to go in. 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.920 So my journey into politics was really interesting because when 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:35.880 I was young, there weren't any First Nations women that 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.840 I seen in politics, and so lots of the women 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:41.920 that I looked up to, the leaders that I looked 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.520 up to, were actually people in my family, in my community. 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:47.279 I didn't look to the Parliament as one of those places. 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.840 And I imagine that's similar to lots of our mob too. 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.040 You look to the people around you for that. You know, 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:57.960 my nan, my arnies and uncles had worked in the 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:05.040 systems where well bend up because of government policies and legislation, 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.400 so that for me, is where I wanted to be. 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:11.320 So like my nan had worked in child protection and 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.280 keeping family together for a very long time, so of course. 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:14.960 That's where I end up. 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:18.080 So I started working at the Victorian Amagual child Care 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.000 agency after I finished year twelve. And when I called 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:22.960 my nan and told her that I got a job there, 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.039 she just laughed because I was the generation to start 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:26.640 working there. 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.800 It's so nice, like giving it. 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:33.280 Yeah, not that I knew that that's what I would do, 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:35.360 Like I didn't know what I wanted to be when 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:37.200 I finished high school. It's part of the reason that 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.920 I didn't go to university because I don't want to 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:41.840 spend the bucket loading money on her qualification. 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.159 So much pressure as well for like people what was 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.200 seventeen eighteen to know what they want to do with 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:48.039 the rest of their life. 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:49.080 I still don't know. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:52.600 You shouldn't know what I go same girls, same. 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:55.960 So like it was just I didn't know what I 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.200 wanted to be, so I went into So I got 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.760 a job at the Victorian Amaual Tricur Agency VAKA and 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.600 started working there, taking averageur kids to supervise visits with 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.240 their parents once they'd be removed as a part of 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.760 their kind of court ordered process. And when I was 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.200 doing that, I thought, I actually really feel like I 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:19.039 need more skills, more tools in my toolbox to be 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.480 able to help these families, these kids with their parents 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.240 be able to connect to make the most of this time. 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.800 So then I thought, of course, I've become a family therapist. 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.600 So that's what I did. So it was one of 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.960 the things like I'm glad that I didn't go to 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:38.720 university straight out hig school because I don't know that 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.880 I would have chosen family therapy from that point. 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:44.360 You needed to explore it and I just. 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.479 Needed to find out what actually put the fire in 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:51.520 my belly what I really loved, and actually working with families. 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:52.040 Is what I really loved. 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:54.960 What does family therapy look like? Is it? Is it 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.760 like where the family come into therapy together and you're 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:01.320 trying to figure out how to have a family dynamic 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:02.640 and relationship or what is it? 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.480 I know which which feels so foreign right for our 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:07.240 mob topic that we were coming to these kind of 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.040 clinical settings, But it can. 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:23.240 My family need it a couple have you told her that? 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.320 But like family therapy could happen in lots of different ways. 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.600 Really it's a kind of it's a it's also different 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.880 kind of theories and frameworks and ways of engaging that 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:37.040 help you to kind of draw out feelings and experiences. 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:42.120 And really it's about I suppose, articulating that to the 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:44.560 people around you, and that might be the first time 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.520 they've heard about what your particular experience is and that 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.080 in and of itself, being able to talk in that 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.360 environment and also then kind of seeing some of the 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.200 dynamics saying you know, Brook, when you do this, this 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.440 you know, Maddie does this. Can you see how that 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.360 kind of can be a bit unhelpful to what it 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.400 is you're trying to achieve. What are the things you 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:06.720 think we might need to do or be conscious of 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.000 so that doesn't happen next time I think. 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:11.600 We've got a few things you want to talk about, we. 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:16.440 Have literally entering out dirty law and red. 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:18.960 OK, enough about this. 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:21.040 I don't actually like. 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:30.120 Him, So it's and but it's interesting because actually the 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:32.480 therapeutic work actually doesn't happen to have to happen in 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.079 the kind of purest clinical spaces. 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.560 I've done that work too, so I did some of 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.839 that work at VACKA, but I also went to the 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.199 Bowery Center, which is where you do the in the 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:45.640 room work with families, and I did a clinical Masters 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:48.200 while I was there too. And like you sit in 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.280 a room with a family, you've got one way mirror 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:52.800 on one side. This is part of my training. You've 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.520 got five other people from your class watching you with 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.480 the supervisor. They're watching you work with the family and 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:00.920 kind of seeing how you respond because they've heard all 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.280 about your family of origin and how it impacts you 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.120 and the decisions that you make. So they're like watching 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.319 your work and every now and again they'll call in 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:10.720 and say. 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:11.680 Ask them this question. 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.040 So like, sure, so ask that question. And then afterwards 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:18.440 you have a conversation. Well, the family goes behind the mirror, 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:20.679 the rest of your kind of supervision group comes into 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.880 the room. They talk about what they observed in the family, 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:27.120 and it's actually really quite powerful for the family. 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:31.720 The family watch what you guys observed and discussed openly discussing. 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:32.199 Yeah. 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:33.760 Yeah, so you're kind of having a session in front 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.920 of them, right, Well, I'm not. I'm behind the mirror 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.240 with them, and then you swap back over again and 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:39.280 then they can talk about. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.760 What that felt like, that's interesting. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.000 Incredible, And then there's a session on you writers the therapist. Yeah, 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:48.520 and so then the class asked you, why didn't you 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:49.360 ask that question? 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:50.080 Yeah? 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:53.040 Okay, So then you unpack your own Oh yeah, bias, 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:57.040 like not that you do. Yeah, it is biased, and 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.719 so it's not so bias isn't necessarily a bad thing, 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.760 but actually about understanding it and understanding how influences the 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:04.640 decisions that you make. 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.040 Yeah, Because I feel like if I was a mob 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.440 therapist kind of thing, like I would have things that 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:16.640 I would probably know unconsciously what not to approach about 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.520 certain things. I guess in the therapy world, you'd have 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.080 to challenge that. I can imagine, you know, like because 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.720 you would, Yeah, you would. You'd be thinking that you'd 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.320 respecting the family, but you actually need to get under 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:29.640 it and like unpack it. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.240 Hey, so absolutely absolutely So that's fascinating and. 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.520 That's how you get assessed type thing as well. 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:37.520 Yeah, oh my god. 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:37.880 Yeah. 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.000 And so you do like a big presentation on like 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.840 your family genogram, and you talk about your growing up 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.079 and kind of about what I might do today, and 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:48.520 you kind of talk about how that impacted you and 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.000 how that how you think that's made you the person 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.640 that you are today, and you have a better understanding 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.640 of the different things that influence you for better or 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:57.960 for worse. 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.680 Well, let's go into that. Let's go into Swan Hill. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:03.679 You grew up in swan Yeah. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.960 I did tell us about your childhood, Like, what was 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.760 it like paint a picture for listeners close with. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.520 Your grandma's Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, my. 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:13.800 Nan was. 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.520 She was a backbone about our family, like lots of 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.320 average women are for their families really, so in that way, 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.800 like she was. She was no exception to other Aragual 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:25.400 matriarchs in their families. 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:27.800 And I often get told that I'm. 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:32.640 Like my nan staunch and deadly, which. 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.960 You know, well, like I do, wear it with a 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.200 badge of honor. Yeah, my kind of growing up had 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:39.920 ups and downs, I suppose, like I grew up in 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.240 a home where there was family violence and drug addiction. 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.720 I went to thirteen different primary schools, so I had 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.840 a lot of kind of disruption and trauma I suppose 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:51.520 in my life, so much so that my nan removed 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.440 us from my mum when we were younger, like us 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.440 three older ones, and she would say her biggest regret 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.120 is not actually taking the three younger ones with her too. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.080 Have you alive? Gone in different directions the three older 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:03.080 and three younger. 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.240 Because eventually my mom kind of got her shit together 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:08.080 and then come to Swan Hills, so like they're not 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:09.599 like they're not on that path anymore, which is I 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.199 think attested it to their kind of strength, strength and 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.000 determination really to want to kind of keep the family 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:19.400 together and do the right thing by her kids. She 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:22.000 eventually got got herself back on track and we lived 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:23.640 with my nan for a couple of years in swan 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.040 Hill before my mum realized that she needed to kind 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.640 of get her shit together. But it's kind of what 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:31.880 made me who I am, right, Like all those kind 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:36.480 of experiences teach you and help you to grow. And 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.079 like me and my kind of younger siblings, there's six 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.760 of us, I'm the oldest of six there the oldest. 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.160 Oh wow, yeah, so you held probably a lot of responsibility, 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:46.880 I guess. 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.400 Absolutely, absolutely, Like I shielded my brothers and sisters from 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:52.760 lots of the violence in the home, locked them in 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.800 the room so I could go and deal with it. 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:56.720 Like I think it's made us. 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.240 Well, it feels like a norm, right, And Maddie and 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:02.240 I talked about this often without what was happening in 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.600 our household was just the norm, and that probably felt 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.840 so normal in a way, like quotation normal to you 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.720 to do. But then also you're a child at the 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.240 same time, so it's kind of also like you kind 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.040 of think you parent yourself pretty much and your parent 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.360 your siblings as well, which is such a responsibility because 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.120 if I was seeing a ten year old now and 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:29.440 I'm nearly thirty parent their siblings and also parent themselves, Yeah, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.840 you'd feel for them and you don't think about that 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:34.359 for yourself sometimes. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.199 Yeah, well I think there's like there is some research 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.280 that suggests that having some kind of responsibilities as a 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.280 key in terms of parenting maybe seems like a too 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.800 big a word for it, but kind of responsibilities goes 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:47.719 to you having some roles and responsibilities in your house 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:52.800 is actually good for you. Yeah, Like maybe not the trauma, 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.920 but actually the resilience. 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.280 And I think this is the thing right independence. 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.000 That you know, it does like I think it kind 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.160 of it taught me a lot and it did go 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:08.960 a long way to kind of making me who I am. 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:10.719 And I think about you know, I think if that 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.440 just one kind of example, you know, the thirteen different 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.199 schools that I went to, I think that's what makes 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.960 me so good at creating and developing new relationships because 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:21.640 I had to so many times as a kid. 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.000 That is why I'm so good. Yes, yeah, I like, Hi, 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:25.720 how are you? 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:27.000 I'm on repeat? 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:28.360 I'm sorry. 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:29.520 Yeah, I. 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:35.920 Went to so many different schools too. I was always 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.440 the new girl and money. I think you're the same, 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:43.200 Like we're just so good for people, and you know, 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.000 you're so warm and welcoming and approachable, like that's that's 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:48.560 what you want as a person, but. 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.480 That's also what you had to be to survive exactly. 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:52.360 Yeah, survival skills. 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.440 And I think it does like against all odds really, 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:57.800 And this is the thing I suppose for. 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:01.400 Me that all the city stics tell you. 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:03.720 You know, I remember being in a classroom when I 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.040 was I don't know, like fifteen. I remember them reading 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:07.920 out they're closing the gap statistics. Right, if you grew 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:09.520 up in a home where as family violence, you're more 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:11.600 likely to up at home with family violence, You're not 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:13.600 you're less likely to go to university, you're not going 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:14.520 to own your own home. 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:15.080 Whatever, whatever. 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.200 There's all these statistics to kind of try to reinforce you, 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:22.000 as a young amagal person that great things aren't possible 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:23.720 for you because I'd distacked against you. 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.360 Yeah, actually that's not true. Now some of those old 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:27.760 will tell you that you might end up in the Senate. 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:29.880 Yeah exactly. 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:32.960 I'm just whiz my way past them and I've like 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:33.640 see it later. 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.360 But you know what, like I believe like and I 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.880 think that Brook you can attest to this too. It's 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.040 that like, as young people, when we go through a 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.480 lot of like adversity, especially as First Nations MOB, like, 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.240 there is something about that that is like that it 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:52.520 creates this motivation in yourself to break cycles or to 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.840 you know, make change. And I think that obviously what 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.200 you're doing is by being in politics, is you know, 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:01.240 using all those experiences that you had and wanting to 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:05.440 create change, especially for MOB. When you think about those 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.920 experiences and then bringing them into like the now and 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:12.200 being in parliament, do you believe that they are helpful 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:13.240 or hindrance. 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.160 No, I think they're incredibly helpful. 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:20.760 Nobody's walked a day in my shoes, and I think 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:26.560 that having a diversity of experiences in Parliament can only 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:28.440 make the decisions that we make better. 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.440 Yeah, exactly, because there's too many clones of each other 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:35.600 in that place. Are just you know, clone cut copies 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.640 of privilege. And I think that when you have people 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.000 who come from our community, no matter what walk of life, 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.360 because you know, as First Nations people that everyone has 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.840 dealt with a level of disadvantage, you know, if it's 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.120 not directly, it's from family. And I think, you know, 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.479 having that experience in parliament, I always say it's about representation, 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.600 like we need people in those places that reflect society 0:16:56.640 --> 0:17:00.880 and not everyone in society has privilege and has advantage, 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.600 you know, or one step ahead. So having people with 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.120 those life experiences in there is so important, especially when 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.640 it comes to you know, your background of working in 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.000 the family sector. Is that something that is what you're 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.159 pushing for most change with in terms of policy or 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.160 where is your passion right now? 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:19.840 That's a really great question. 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.560 Like, certainly the work with families is a part of 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.600 the drive for me wanting to be in this place. 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:28.520 One of my core beliefs is that we absolutely need 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.840 to invest in women and families. That's where the change happens. 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.760 You know, our families, our women in particular, have a 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.879 huge responsibility of raising our next generation. We know how 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.119 critical first five years are of a child's life. So 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.160 if we can make that the very best experience possible 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:48.960 for our kids, then that will set them up for 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.760 life through school and through high school. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.679 Absolutely, my dad says that, actually, my adopted dad, he 0:17:55.880 --> 0:18:00.280 says that women are our first educators because like a 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.879 man who educated another man, but he educated woman to 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.239 educate the family. Like that's what his mentality is, like, 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:10.040 you know, because the yeah, like and I'm not I'm 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.720 not that that's you know, not saying that the men 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:14.600 have don't have their part as well, but. 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:17.760 That it's definitely an interesting perspective. And I think that 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:21.480 that's why it's important to have female voices in institutions 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:24.119 and policymaking, because they do come from a different lens. 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:29.320 There is that there's this caring nature to women that 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:32.200 is less than you know, this conquering nature of men. 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.520 So it's like, I think it's so important that women 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:36.720 are in these places and all the ones pushing for 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:40.040 change because it does come from a different perspective, better perspective. 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:40.240 You know. 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.359 Now, women have been change makers for a very long time, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:45.439 and so you know, I certainly do stand on the 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:47.600 shoulders of giants in this in this place. 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:50.840 We love that saying, yeah, absolutely, because it's true. 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.040 And I think it's so important to acknowledge the people 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.040 that have come before you because I think, you know, 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.399