Perth Voice Interactive

ALANNAH MacTIERNAN says she misses being Vincent mayor and has mixed feelings about her new job as a federal backbench MP.

The veteran pollie—formerly a WA planning minister—stood down as mayor in September after winning Perth for Labor at the federal election.

“I knew when I took the job that it wouldn’t necessarily add to the quality of my life,” the 62-year-old grandmother says.

“But I felt a sense of obligation because so many punters in the street were pleading with me to run and the party felt that I was their best chance of winning.

“So on a personal level it may not have been the best decision for me, but it was best for the party.

Huge privilege

“But don’t get me wrong, this job is a huge privilege and I’m 110 per cent committed—I’ve been throwing myself into it, like I always do.”

Ms MacTiernan is the deputy chair of parliamentary committees on education and employment and Northern Australia.

Her first speech (actually her third, after WA’s Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly) bristled with trademark wit and passion, with Ms MacTiernan vowing to tackle climate change and fight for more federal funding for WA.

Four months into her new role on the opposition back benches Ms MacTiernan concedes she misses having the power to make immediate changes on the ground.

“Being mayor of Vincent was fantastic fun and a great opportunity to be creative and change the local landscape on an almost weekly basis,” she says.

“Federal opposition politics is a longer-term game, but it’s a great opportunity to fight for a progressive Australia and raise the profile of climate change and other important issues.

“I’m content in the knowledge that Vincent is in safe hands with my successor John Carey.”

She says was surprised that federal parliament is less sophisticated than the WA chambers when it comes to debating.

“There’s not the same opportunity for debate on new legislation. For instance, there’s no response from the federal government on a grievance debate.

There’s a lot of set speeches,” she says.

“In that regard, the processes in state parliament are far more robust and interactive.”

Ms MacTierna has struck up friendships already with eastern states Labor MPs such as Joel Fitzgibbon, Stephen Jones, Sharon Claydon and Michelle Rowland.

“There is an amazing diversity and depth of talent in the Labor ranks, it ranges from concert pianists to anthropologists,” she says.

“Although at a federal level those qualities do not often shine, because pollies tend to be stereotyped and are under more constraints.”

She says there is no conscious anti-WA agenda amongst MPs in Canberra: “I think it’s more a question of geography—people over there are more knowledgeable about the eastern seaboard because its on their doorstep. “We’re like a foreign country to some of them.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK