Getting back on the horse

By Rod Bruem

This week I’m making my third attempt to enter politics, this time as an independent candidate for Ballina Shire Council.  The first two attempts were spectacularly unsuccessful, to the point where after last time, I vowed never to try again.

That was in 2017 when I ran in a community pre-selection organised by the Nationals for the NSW seat of Lismore.  The final showdown in that pre-selection came just weeks after the death of my father, who’d introduced me to politics as a boy. Together we went on the hustings for various candidates and I loved it. He supported me into believing one day I too would serve.

In my cloud of grief following dad’s death I crashed and burned in that Lismore race and decided politics was not for me after all.

I have two people to thank for turning that decision around.

The first is former long-serving Lismore MP Thomas George, who was there from the start urging me on just days after my dad died. When I failed in spectacular fashion, he was there with a not-so gentle kick up the bum reminding me, as my father would, to get back on the horse and stop feeling sorry for myself. It was medicine I needed, even if I didn’t appreciate it at the time.

Then this year, the respected former MP called again urging me to participate in the upcoming council elections. It was like a wake up call.

For a long time I’d been despairing at the hopeless state of local government here in our region, particularly in Lismore where my business is based. I’d already realised Ballina was faced with the very real prospect of going down the same dysfunctional path. As they say, sometimes you just have to step up.

Soon after I received a phone call from Ballina Shire Councillor Sharon Cadwallader.

At that point I didn’t know Sharon well, although I knew she’d taken a huge amount of flak over the previous year when certain councillors caved into demands from wealthy lobbyists and effectively derailed the proper legal planning processes underway to identify new water sources in the region.

As a journalist I admired Sharon’s courage for standing up for due process and staring down the lobbyists and (mostly male) bullies.

Now I know Sharon better, I realise this is nothing new. She’s been fighting for so many causes and helping people in Ballina for two decades. One of the first women to be elected at Ballina council, Sharon’s used to taking on blokes who think a woman’s place is definitely not in a council chamber. (Yes, sadly there are still some who think like that.)

So I’m proud to say I’m on the hustings again and this time I’m not on my own, I’m with Sharon!

We have four other outstanding candidates on our team and you’ll find more information on our campaign website sharonforballina.com

I look forward to sharing more on this campaign blog as we head to the council elections on December 4.