On 2 April 2025 at 10am, Kate Lockhart was guest in Loretta's Front Page on 94.7 The Pulse. You can listen to the 20-minute interview here, and read the transcript below.

Transcript

Loretta Hart:
Joining us in the studio this morning is Kate Lockhart. Kate is the Community Independent candidate for Corangamite and it's wonderful to have you joining us this morning as we head and hurtle, it feels like, Kate, towards this federal election.

Kate Lockhart:
Hi Loretta. Thanks for having me.

Loretta Hart:
That's great. Now we're seeing a rise in Community Independents around the country and they're asking voters for their vote because they feel like they can represent the community better potentially than the big parties that are out there. Tell us why are you asking for people's vote? Why are you running in this election?

Kate Lockhart:
So there's two factors there, I think. Yeah, the Community Independents absolutely have done a lot of listening tables and listening to their constituents. So they are really very confident that they can and will be able to represent their constituents because they've listened and they've articulated what the constituents want. So there's 35 independents that have been backed by Climate 200, pardon, that have been supported by Climate 200 - they've run their own campaign and then Climate 200 gives them the boost at the back end. But they'll do really well. And so I'm running as Community Independent based on one of those pillars. It's about equity. Our incumbent is a woman, but all of the other candidates are men. So I'm literally just trying to elevate the gender debate even on the ballot paper.

It's important to me to have our women's voices heard.

Loretta Hart:
That's you, that's partly where you're standing. Kate, you're a local of the Bellarine. Now, the Corangamite is shifting and changing in its boundaries. It no longer encompasses parts of the Western District or all the way down the Great Ocean Road. In one way, you must be thankful that your electorate isn't as big to traverse as maybe Wannan.

Kate Lockhart:
Yeah, no, absolutely. And to be honest, when after the local council elections and the shift to the right here in the city of Greater Geelong, the good female candidates that came second in eight of those wards were shell-shocked, to be honest. And it was from there that a group of us sort of thought, what can we do? How can we shift this swing to the right? And so we started to sound out the voices of Geelong and find out what they were doing.

In actual fact, I went with a couple of other unsuccessful but very capable women to one of their meetings and it was my intention to push them forward. Absolutely. But then with the redistribution of the electorate, the Karangamait electorate, which pushed out Bannockburn across to Wannan and half of the Surf Coast Shire back to Wannan, and it really focused on Armstrong Creek, Torquay and the ballerina, it became more obvious to the voices and to me that a strong local ballerina candidate might actually be a good investment. And so here I am.

Loretta Hart:
Congratulations on stepping forward and I mean it is lovely to hear that there is support across the candidates as you say from the local elections that we had here supporting each other. Kate, how does a community independent stack up against big parties that have money for billboards from, I've got to say, from Torquay right through to Indented Head?

Kate Lockhart:
I know, there are lots of billboards out there. And yesterday, we had the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in Drysdale with Libby Coker, handing out money.

Loretta:
The Liberal Party are also promising lots of money. How do you combat that? How do you get around that? Does that make sense? You don't have the bucket of money for either the campaigning promises or the paraphernalia, so how do you combat that?

Well, it's about being community connected, I think, and that's about, and that's again what the community independents are about, it's about getting to know your community at a grassroots level and developing that big volunteer base to have those conversations one on one. And I know absolutely can't compete. That's again why the community independents are so big, they're running on integrity and they're running on equity. And so in regards to integrity, you know, someone called it a financial gerrymander that's happening with the two major parties, know, totally backing themselves in for disproportionate funding after the next, after this election, makes it really questionable to be backing major parties when it's not really, no longer democratic. So it is tough, but you know, if I was lucky enough to get into parliament, I'd be asking the questions about was that?

$5.5 million for the Drysdale Netball Club, which I confess I love netball. My daughter was in the photo, so we were there and we saw the all power of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. But I'll ask the question, is that actually the best investment for the women of the ballerina? Should it be going somewhere else to a women's football club or to the Drysdale soccer club? So it's about integrity and it's about equity, funding women in sport, I've gained tremendous confidence from being able to play community sport all through my childhood and now. So I believe in it, but it's got to be equitable and it's got to be done transparently and fairly.

Loretta:
So as you move around the community and I'm sure you you're doing you did that a lot through the local elections so you obviously were speaking to people and we're speaking to Emilie Flynn last week she's obviously standing for the Greens in Corio and my question was the know the concerns you were hearing at a local level about say things to do with local government are those concerns similar to what you're hearing now and you're talking in a federal sense with people?

Kate:
Well yes, the cost of living is still front and centre and I think for a lot of people it is hard to work out what is a local government issue versus a state issue versus a federal issue and you do see that they're integrated although the state might have the lead on education for example but the feds tip in at least 25 % of that money and so working well with all levels of government is really important and yeah, the cost of living is right front and centre.

Again, the equity line, there's lots of things we can do that make life better for women, improving wages within their dominant fields, getting early childhood care centers in the right place so that women can go back to work freely, getting good public transport, getting good connected footpaths so that kids can actually get themselves to after school extracurricular activities and to and from school. Let's drop the drop off. Let's empower kids to move independently and let primary carers get back to work.

Loretta:
We had Libby Coker a couple of weeks ago and I suggested to her that we have a bit of wasteland, a desert down in North Bellarine. I know of people who are living in Portarlington and there actually isn't any childcare in that space at all. Portarlington is a fantastic location, love it, but it is really geared for the older community member. There's senior six, there's men's sheds, there's really great access for older community members. But as we see more and more young people move down to that space, what can we be doing around child care in that area?

Kate:
Yeah, we should be doing more. Portarlington doesn't have a childcare centre and St. Leonards doesn't have a childcare centre either. Those people have to take their kids into Drysdale to get care. Again, that's an extra 15 minutes that they don't really shouldn't have to do. They should be able to drop their kids off to childcare, their other one off to primary school and get back to work. I think there's an absolute desert out there and we need to shift that.

Loretta:
Do think, though, in Corangamite that the focus is going to be largely on Armstrong Creek and what's happening in the explosion of population over there and the services that they need?

Kate: (08:59)
But there's an explosion of population on the ballerina as well, you know, and I'll be honest, I didn't fully appreciate how the North Ballerina has really grown and it is a magnificent part of the world, so don't tell everyone. But basic public transport and stuff like childcare is just absent. know, can't even, there's a whole cohort of kids that can't get a bus from Drysdale to Ocean Grove every day of the week. And these kids want to be into their 15, they're working, they want to be independent but they just cannot do it.

Loretta:
We raised that matter last week with Alison Marchant. Yes, that's one of my questions. How do we get these kids, and anyone really, crossways across areas? I'm sure as you move through the community, I'm sure there's lots of public transport issues in and around the whole of Karengamite. Kate, I'm interested in the support that you're getting locally. I'm wondering about, are you feeling there's a disenchantment with the big parties? Are people relieved that there's a community independent and coming towards you? Or are you having to really get out there and wave all around and come, come help? What are you feeling? What are you noticing in the community?

Kate:
Without being too, I'm not sure what the right word is… No, absolutely, there's a genuine disenfranchisement with both the major parties and even the Greens to a certain extent on, they seem to have all moved away from their core values of what they might have been 10, 20, 40 years ago. They're all getting dragged… probably to the right.

And it is very frustrating that those, particularly the major parties, aren't what they used to be. And so yeah, people are coming to me. People are very excited.

That's amazing. And what sort of support are you receiving? Are there people door knocking with you? Are you out and about putting up lawn signs? What's the support actually turned into for you?

Yeah, so lots of fence posters and we've got a few t-shirts going around as well, but we've been running some screening, some film nights as well, and that's been really positively received. So we've got one in Ocean Grove on April the 16th at the golf club, so that'll be a great opportunity to get to know the more about the local Ocean Grove people.

Loretta:
What are you screening?

Kate:
So it's 'No Safe Seats'. It is a story about the Community Independents and how they are rising up on the back of integrity and equity and not always climate action. Not every independent has the same three pillars, but climate action is important to me. So it's just a good film about the value of genuine community representation and that people want change. Young people want to be heard. Older women want to be heard, everyone wants to be heard, it's about better representation.

Loretta:
One might suggest that there'll be a part of the community that thinks that a vote for a Community Independent when you had such big Liberal and Labor candidates in the seat is a wasted vote. Is it a film that potentially will challenge that?

Kate:
Yeah, and I can also say that it's not a wasted vote because if you have a look at what the community independents have done, they are holding both sides of the major parties to account and they are making effective change in legislation. And the great debate about a hung parliament

Well there's talk that the Gillard government, although it wasn't very long, was the most effective government in terms of passing legislation, predominantly, to be honest, for the benefit of women around education and health, that this country's ever seen. And let's not forget that the coalition too is actually, you know, it's a shared decision-making process. They are already, the Liberals and the Nationals are in coalition already.

There's no concerns about a hung parliament. think an hung parliament means better negotiating, better consultation and more diverse and fairer representation. I don't think anyone really would honestly think that was a bad thing.

Loretta: (at 13:36)
When it comes to preferences and if we were to walk up to you on a booth and pick up a how to vote card, is that something that you've made decisions about yet? What's the stance from community independence around preferences?

Kate:
So it's an interesting one. Running on integrity and fact-based decision-making means that it's been a great question, preference voting. I honestly don't think as an independent that I can actually tell anyone how to vote. I really would appreciate a first preference and then you make an informed decision. That's why I'm running. You make an informed decision on who else aligns with your values. You can be blue or red or green or something else, but I'm in between and I'll make every vote, if I get into Parliament, will be a conscious vote. And I think that's a vote that is worth delivering to me. And so it's highly unlikely that as a Community Independent, I will even write how to vote card because I really want people to make their own informed decision based on their values and who they think will better represent them, represent them and I think that's me.

Loretta:
And that sounds like an ideal world. Yeah, it does. It really does. But I think politics is in a way an ideal world. And I'm sure there'll be, you know, approaches from different parties saying, if you put us as number two, we'll put you as number two. Surely that all happens in the background.

Kate: (at 15:07)
Yeah, but where's the transparency, integrity and that happening in the background? So I can't see how any preference deals will further assure the electorate that I'm acting with integrity and transparency.

Loretta:
Good point, well made. Well, I just think you could, well, there's a grubbiness, I think, to politics which people distrust.

Kate:
Yeah, absolutely and I totally resent being called a politician. I'm not, I'm a community candidate and I want to and it's actually really interesting how easy it is to navigate when you just sit with that value of integrity and honesty to actually steer a very straight ship and Loretta can see I'm placing my hand. Navigate a straight line.

Yeah, so it's really very simple. And I think people are very caught up in this. well, where's your preferences going to go? Well, you tell me. I've got one vote as a voter. You've got one vote as a voter. Vote the way you want to vote. Don't listen to the parties. They're in it for their own benefit. Not necessarily for you. So vote with your heart and vote how you think's best.

Look out, you've been listening to this morning. She is the Community Independent candidate for Corangamite and a lover of the Bellarine as you said before. You don't want too many people to know about it though. I did notice, is my last question before we do head off to the news, some of your banners say: 'Scientist. Mum. Independent.' Is that right?

Kate: (at 16:55)
Yeah, all of my banners say 'Scientist. Mum. Independent.'

Loretta:
And so if we draw a Venn diagram and you probably you sit in the middle where it all overlaps. How important are those three things for you?

Kate:
Pretty cool. I'm a scientist. Did agricultural science. I've got a good scientific background, but being a supporter of farmers, we can balance the science with the business as well. And that capacity to translate, to facilitate, to negotiate, to collaborate is really an important part of the skills that I've got from that degree and continued in my work life. And yes, I am a mum. I've been a primary carer for a long time.

And I think putting that at the centre of some of my skill set is meritus and some might appreciate the irony of it as well and I'll leave that at that. And yes, I'm independent.

As we've been speaking about, independent, independent. And we love independence here, community radio, that's the independent voice that we have in Geelong. don't take sides, we're not taking money from big people that impact what we say and our voice and our position here at The Pulse.

Loretta: (at 18:16)
We're going be having some candidate forums, Kate, coming up. We do this each time there's an election cycle. And we're going to be one for Corangamite, one for Wannan and one for Corio, where we get to all our candidates together. I hope you got your invitation.

Kate:
I did get my invitation then it got changed but yes I'll be here on the Tuesday I think.

Loretta:
It is on the 22nd of April, we'll be live broadcasting here. So you get an opportunity to sit amongst all the other candidates and have the same amount of time and the same air time to answer questions. Looking forward to it. Are you interested to see the conversation that ensues?

Kate: (at 19:02)
Absolutely. For sure. And there's another candidate forum happening on April the 10th out at Leopold, at Club Italia. So it'll be interesting to have another round. No, look all the candidates from what I've met are reasonable people. That's not my issue. My issue is with how their capacity to vote, not with their conscience, but their obligation to vote with their party. And I think that's, I think it's, was probably doing all the party-based candidates a disservice.

I think if they could all vote on a conscience vote every time, we'd be in lot better position and I might not have to be here.

Loretta:
There you go. Kate Lockhart, thanks so much for your time this morning.

Kate:
Always a pleasure. Thank you.