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About me

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I live in Springvale and am an active member of the local community.

I believe in low rates, fair expenditure of council funds across the municipality, and better management of traffic and parking.

Starting out

I have promoted ideas since the age of 16 when I was elected Student President with an 80% primary vote. I learned at a young age that there is great knowledge and success to be gained by listening to and helping people.

My passion for representation grew during the Hawke and Keating political era.  I was impressed by the way both leaders confidently advocated for ideas that were not popular at the time but were the right thing to do for the long term.

At the age of 21, I joined the Labor Party and became active in Young Labor. I was a candidate in the 1997 Glen Eira Council elections but lost by two votes.  I remember this experience profoundly and have never taken community support for granted.

I spent three years working in Ireland and England. The greatest thing I learnt while living overseas was how fortunate we are to live in Australia and that we must make sure that fairness and equality of opportunity are paramount.

Elected as school councillor

My children attended local schools and I was a school councillor on Springvale Rise Primary School Council from 2008 to 2022.

I was President of the School Council from around 2011 to 2022.

School council
Springvale Rise Primary School Council meeting

Elected as local government councillor

In 2012, I was elected as a councillor for the City of Greater Dandenong. I received the highest primary vote in the municipality.

Springvale City Hall
Councillors outside Springvale City Hall, 2016

Elected as mayor

In 2015, I was elected Mayor. This gave me an opportunity to engage deeper with a broad range of residents and community groups.

Elected Mayor in November 2014

Elected to the Municipal Association

From 2018 to 2021, I was a board member of the local government peak body, the Municipal Association of Victoria. I represented Greater Dandenong, Casey, Frankston and Monash councils.

Committees

Committees I am currently on are:

Springvale Benevolent Society

CEO Employment & Remuneration Committee

Community Partnership Funding Grants Advisory & Assessment Panel – Sponsorships

Alliance for Gambling Reform

Young Leaders

What does local government do?