By Parker McKenzie
After the resignation of former Streeton Ward councillor Cathrine Burnett-Wake triggered a by-election, the Star Mail explored why no women nominated for the Yarra Ranges Council ward despite winning the majority of the votes at the 2020 council elections. This story was originally published on 1 February.
The Streeton Ward by-election nominations have shown a noticeable shift in proposed councillor representation.
In 2020, women won the majority of the first preference votes in the council elections, but fast forward two years and no women nominated for the 2022 Yarra Ranges’ by-election before the deadline closed 18 January.
The by-election was triggered when former councillor Cathrine Burnett-Wake accepted a Liberal party vacancy in the State Legislative Council.
Now six men are vying for the position: Andrew Fullagar, Wil Mikelsons, David Hill, Gavin Wooten, Doug MacDonald and Jarrad Page.
Ms Burnett-Wake and Amy Muratore both ran in the 2020 Council election for Stratton Ward and have spoken to Star Mail about women’s representation in local politics.
Ms Muratore said it was “a little bit heartbreaking” to see no women nominate after Yarra Ranges broke records for the number of women who were nominated in the 2020 Council elections.
“I’ve had about eight women contact me asking, who do I vote for? Do you know anything?” she said.
“They don’t see themselves represented in that ballot.”
In the 2020 council elections, 272 women were elected to local councils around Victoria – the highest amount ever, with 43.8 per cent of councillors being women.
Ms Burnett-Wake said she would have “loved to have seen a woman put their hands up” for the by-election.
“The last two years have been difficult on families and finding that balance if you have young children, so maybe the timing wasn’t great,” she said.
“The reason I did put up my hand was to ensure that there was diversity in the council because at that point, there was only one woman out of nine councillors.”
Ms Muratore agreed the timing of the by-election may have influenced some women’s ability to run.
“A by-election pops up when no one suspects it, so it’s harder for women to drop everything and give it a crack,” Ms Muratore said.
Women received the majority of the first preference vote in 2020, with a combined total of 57.18 per cent.
Ms Muratore received 17.91 per cent of the first preference vote in 2020 and was undecided on nominating for the by-election until the last moment.
Ms Muratore said there are several barriers women face when entering local politics.
“I think the rules are different for men. The biggest question I was asked last time I campaigned was who was looking after my daughter, not what I thought about things,” she said.
“Not what I thought about climate change, not the things I wanted to do, not the skills I had as a teacher and a communicator.
“We look at men and we automatically see leadership qualities, while we don’t look at women and see what I feel are leadership qualities: passion, communication skills, organisation. No one’s more organised than a stay-at-home mum.”
Ms Burnett-Wake said while there are a lot of politically-engaged women involved in politics on a local level, there are still ways representation could be improved.
“A lot of councils do consultation and put together committees, we always have great representation on those. They’re not as time commitment heavy as being a counsellor, which is quite a big commitment,” she said.
“Perhaps we need to do more in respect to mentorship programs through the council to encourage more women. I know that there are independent programs, but it would be great to see council foster and develop programs too.”
The Victorian State Government has set a target of reaching 50 per cent representation of women in council by 2025 and formed a Gender Equality Advisory Committee to help promote the push.
On a local level, Ms Muratore believes Yarra Ranges Council is making positive changes for women.
“I think the current CEO of the Yarra Ranges council, Tammy Rose, is fantastic, she’s a huge gender advocate,” she said.
“She’s made a lot of changes and has done a lot of things to change the culture at Yarra Ranges. I think they are taking a step in the right direction.”
For women interested in a career in politics, Ms Burnett-Wake recommended a yearly course she took, Pathway to Politics for Women at Melbourne University.
“Anyone looking to enter politics should seriously consider taking the course; it is non-politically affiliated and helped me when I made the move to State politics.”
Streeton Ward includes Upwey, Tremont, Ferny Creek, Sassafras and Mount Dandenong and parts of Olinda, Upper Ferntree Gully, Kilsyth and Montrose.
