The Ballina electorate’s representative in NSW state parliament has had an eventful year. The Echo caught up with Tamara Smith at Ballina Seabird & Turtle Rescue to talk about the political highlights and lowlights of 2021.
‘In my job, there’s the community work, and then there’s the parliamentary work,’ explained Ms Smith. ‘In terms of parliament, I was very proud to be a co-sponsor of the voluntary assisted dying bill. And we managed to get that through the Legislative Assembly. It was pretty full on.
‘The religious right invented hundreds of amendments, which really threatened the integrity of the bill. The important thing is, we were the last state or territory to have any kind of dying with dignity laws. So we’re really proud that got through, for people who are at end of life and have their full competence to be able to make that decision.’
The bill now has to go to the upper house, with good prospects to pass. Ballina was a focus of the issue internationally in 2021 with the film about Laura Henkel’s story in cinemas and on the ABC. Tamara Smith said she had strong support from within the electorate for her stance on the dying with dignity bill.
‘Yes, and Cathy Barry is a very strong advocate here. It was her brother’s terribly sad story, who was among those 5% of people at end of life, with terminal illness, for whom morphine will do nothing to alleviate the suffering.
‘So it was a very momentous occasion to be standing with all those advocates who have been working towards this for decades. There was huge support, almost nobody was against it.’
Reforms to sexual consent laws
‘Another huge thing this year was the consent laws,’ said Tamara Smith. ‘I was so very proud to work with my colleagues. We saw thousands of people taking to the streets, demanding greater reform and an end to violence against women.
‘So we have successfully amended the criminal laws in New South Wales to change the whole concept of consent. Now it is about affirmative and enthusiastic consent that’s ongoing. That’s been a long time coming, but it’s a very important reform issue.’
She said the new law will have significant effects on sexual assault cases. ‘The onus is now on both participants to communicate, and communicate well… if someone is inebriated, then they are not consenting.’
Ms Smith credits the ‘incredible work’ of women campaigners for getting this far. ‘Now we need to focus on schools and educating young people about consent.’
Could you talk about some of the things that have happened around Ballina this year?
‘This year has been very difficult, obviously, but we’ve been able to facilitate quite a lot of grants at the state level, and some of those have been the community building partnership grants, to support great things like the new Men’s Shed in Ballina. We were able to support I think 27 community organisations.
‘Today we’re here at Ballina Seabird & Turtle Rescue, and it was fantastic to be able to facilitate $80,000 for the new turtle facility, because this is a volunteer-run organization. And they do such incredible work.’
The Echo asked Ballina Seabird & Turtle Rescue’s President Anna Dicker what the money would be used for. She explained that the turtle hospital has been at its current location beside North Creek since 2004.
‘And we put through about 8,000 litres of salt water a day through our tanks; we have to empty, then refill them. There’s a huge amount of corrosion, and the cost of doing repairs was not that much greater than the cost of replacing the whole building, and we need to expand as well,’ she said.
‘So we decided we would undertake putting in a brand new hospital that is state of the art. And we’re also building a special sea snake room because we’ve had 81 sea snakes over the last three years. We’ve got one in here today.
‘Not a lot is known about sea snakes, so we’re putting up our hand to say we’re going to be specialists. And the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, they’ve been a game-changer for us too,’ said Anna Dicker.
‘Our water filtration system has degraded over time as there’s been no money and it’s been patched together. It’s in poor condition. So this is our chance for a massive makeover and new facility.’
Tamara Smith said, ‘The health of our ocean and waterways here is in dire crisis, so anything we can do to support, we will.’
Pork barrelling versus genuine community assistance
‘Despite the way the rules are jigged by the Liberals and Nationals with the Stronger Country Communities Fund, we were able to see some good grants for organizations in our area,’ said Ms Smith.
‘But certainly one thing that we’re really trying to change is this corrupt relationship between the Liberals and Nationals and grants – public monies – with bold-faced pork barrelling, and worse.
‘In round three of the Stronger Country Communities Fund, you had the local Nationals wannabe guy – all of them are quarantined, for him to announce. But we also discovered through GIPA [Government Information Public Access], that he was the assessor!
‘So volunteers spend hundreds of hours putting in grant applications, they put all that time and effort and it’s already rigged, it’s already going to be based on the political aspirations of whatever wannabe out there.’
Ms Smith says she and her colleagues are working to put forward a different model, one that is at arm’s length from politicians.
Do you have any comments about the new Perrottet Government?
Tamara Smith says she finds the lurch even further to the right quite depressing. ‘You’ve got a right wing premier, and you’ve got a full right wing front bench, virtually.
‘The personalities don’t interest me in the slightest, and neither does my own personality. What interests me is that they’ve got just over a year with this new look of the Libs and Nats, and I don’t see a lot of talent.
‘I was part of a press conference about this grants issue with a very weird coalition; Labor, The Greens, The Shooters and Fishers, and even One Nation. But when it comes to corruption, and this pork barreling culture, and this entitlement culture, we’re all in lockstep.
‘I think their days are numbered, I don’t see them being retained in a year and a half. One of the good things is that Matt Kean has made some big announcements about renewables. I just hope that the federal government can get their act together, because we’re running out of time. And I think we’re all just over it. They need to get on with it.’
When the pork barrelling is so shameless, how do you fight it?
‘I think people are voting with their feet,’ said Tamara Smith. ‘The thing is, we can do politics differently. And the level of contempt that people have for politicians is at a record high.
‘People are really sick to death of the overt entitlement, the overt feathering of your own nest. It’s just grotesque. And I always say, I’m here at the will of the people, and when it’s time just boot me out.
‘I’m not a career politician, and we’re getting more and more people who are there for their community, at a federal level, and that’s exciting.
‘Don’t forget the LNP are only there with the smallest of majorities. These by-elections probably won’t shift anything, but I think the government needs to be on notice. Chris Minns is very determined. I think Labor are finally getting their act together.’
Is he a Labor leader The Greens could work with?
‘We will always work with Labor,’ said Ms Smith. ‘Always, and we do. Sometimes you sit there and you think God, they’d rather work with anyone but The Greens! But at the end of the day, there is a trust, and let’s face it, they don’t don’t get into government without us and vice versa.
‘We saw the Greens in Germany have just done so well. And of course in New Zealand, I’m close buds with a lot of the Labor women there and The Greens of course. So the model is there. It’s time for us to go, let’s let’s get into a minority government, that’s what we want.’
Do you have any comments about the recent council elections?
‘I want to acknowledge Keith Williams did an amazing job as a councillor. It’s very disappointing that he’s not there. But I’m just so thrilled that Kiri Dicker is, we’ve got a Green woman, and we’ve got Simon Chate as well. It’s about time.’
Speaking about Byron and Ballina, Tamara Smith thinks councillors will be rewarded for speaking collaboratively and positively. ‘Mind you, the new mayor of Ballina [Sharon Cadwallader] did a lot of that hate campaigning and seemed to do quite well from it, which I think is a short fix. It doesn’t last long. People end up just rolling their eyes and saying ah, more of the same.
‘I’ve got a lot of respect for Sharon, she’s very hard working. And, you know, five terms. She shows up at everything.
‘But in terms of the politics, we will have very strong disagreements, and if they think they’ve got a mandate about the dam, now, they’re really underestimating the community. We’re strongest when we’re in opposition. The No Dunoon Dam campaign is very sophisticated, and that will just get ramped up.’
But what if Rous County Council falls under the control of pro-dam councillors?
‘They’re still going to need state funding, and I will make it an election issue in a year and a bit, if necessary,’ said Ms Smith. ‘The thing is, we’ve got to make sure we’re not cutting our nose to spite our face. We need to have the plans for what we’re doing, for water security. And there’s lots of good heads in the community that have planned that.
‘We just need the chief scientists and the minister to say, “All right, let’s really look at all options, and put some money into it.” I’ve been told by people very high up in Water that they don’t believe a Dunoon Dam is necessary.’
Do you have any comments about the COVID situation?
‘First of all, I think we’re so privileged to live in a country that has vaccines. There’s so many people around the world who don’t have access, and we really need to step up and help people around the world, particularly in our own region,’ said Tamara Smith.
‘I think the way the public health campaign has been run has been a debacle. And it has played into people’s fears. Those with the responsibility for that are the Prime Minister and other leaders. I also have compassion for them. They’re human beings, and they’re doing the best they can with the information that they have.
‘What’s really sad is the division in our community and the”othering. I think it’s really, really sad. And I look forward to getting past that,’ said Ms Smith.
‘We’ve got two decades of supporting vaccines and science. But we also do not support coercion and control methods of public health. If you talk to any public health expert in the world, they’ll say the worst thing you can do is threaten people into vaccinations. I get it, there’s a pandemic, but I think that hardens people’s positions.
‘The last thing I want to do is tell someone else what’s right for them. At the same time, we support vaccines and we always have, it’s very disturbing to think that a right wing lunatic like Craig Kelly, whose policy positions on every other kind of front are so ultra-right, it’s a joke that people would think now that they should throw their hat in with people like him.
‘So I’m dismayed by that lack of nuance, but on the whole I do get it. I do get why people who are vaccine-hesitant have been hardened. We just have to start treating each other with compassion. This idea of asking unvaccinated to pay for their own medical treatment to me is a rock bottom. That is appalling…
‘The question is always, can you live with the illness? And I think that’s a very hard decision for people. So whilst I feel very privileged to have the vaccine, I don’t believe that we should be demonizing anyone for their choices.
‘I’m glad that we got Byron to 84%, or whatever it is, fully vaxxed. Because we’re in a pandemic. Otherwise it would be very grim because it’s a numbers game, it really comes down to the hospital system. And the other thing is, of course, that our hospital system has been laid bare, with poorly paid nurses, poorly paid teachers, and so on.
‘People are exhausted and underpaid, and there’s nowhere for them to live, so we’ve got a housing crisis as well. All that has to change.’
MP Tamara Smith also has her sights set on cleaning up the river and the beautiful local environment, helping advance the Bundjalung Cultural Centre, and supporting her fellow Greens. Sounds like 2022 is going to be equally busy.
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