Fitz:Dr Ryan,100 days of power is not really enough for nostalgia,but take us back anyway? Honestly now,when you answered the ad last year to run as an independent in the seat of Kooyong – held for the last 122 years by conservatives the likes of Robert Menzies and Andrew Peacock,and most importantly the incumbent,federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg – did youreally think you,a political neophyte,had any chance at winning?
“Even on election day,I didn’t think I was going to win.”James Brickwood
MR:Obviously I realised it was very much a blue-ribbon seat and I was up against one of the most senior members of the government,a person widely recognised as probably our next Liberal prime minister. So I knew it would be very difficult but the people I spoke with assured me there was a groundswell against the Libs,and that the modelling they’d undertaken indicated it was at least a statistical possibility that I could win.
Fitz:At what point did you realise the groundswell was a serious political tide and you were going to get there?
MR:I didn’t think I was going to get there. Even on election day,I didn’t think I was going to win.
Fitz:The fact you did was in part because of the 2000 volunteers who came forward,including some of the nuns who educated you,and their cohort. Were they handing out brochures incognito,or as nuns?
MR:They were just dressed as everyone else in a teal T-shirt,but the first time I came across any of the nuns I was at a meet-and-greet in Surrey Hills. We were just leaving when a car screeched to a halt at a 45-degree angle to the curb – it was like something out ofThe Blues Brothers. Two somewhat vertically challenged elderly ladies leapt out of the car and said,“We’re nuns and we’re here to help. But no one can know that we’re nuns!” One of them had a large wooden cross around her neck ... so they had to work on that part. But yes,many nuns are feminists,and they’re strong-minded,well-educated ladies. I was very lucky to have them on board.
Fitz:At one point in the campaign,you were asked why you were doing it,and you said something like,“I am a woman in my 50s,and it is in our nature that when we see a mess we roll up our sleeves and clean it up.” Why are all of the teals and most of the independents women,and how is the clean-up going?
MR:Same reason why when you go to the local footy club,the people behind the counter,the people selling the beers and cooking the sausages and whatever,are usually women. We tend to put our hands up when there’s a job to be done. As to how the clean-up is going,I think we’re just really beginning to get our head around the scope of the challenge. It feels like every time you open a cupboard in Canberra a skeleton’s going to fall out.
Fitz:In your maiden speech you promised to display in parliament,“Dedication,integrity and effect”. Surely,in really having an ongoing effect,there is a problem in that,as the Albanese government rules in its own right;it doesn’t actually need you teals to pass legislation?
MR:Only a small amount of government actually happens in the parliamentary chamber – there’s lots of ways you can make a contribution. I’ve been able to secure seats on the NDIS committee and the Committee for Medicine,Aged Care and Sport,and I’m already getting stuck into some important areas in those – including looking at drafting some private member’s bills on health and disability care. Also,Mr Albanese has made a commitment to a different type of politics and I think he understands that things will be more smooth and hopefully more productive if he does work collaboratively with the crossbench. We did make a contribution,for instance,to the climate change bill.
Fitz:What,instead of a 43 per cent reduction,it would have been 38 per cent or the like without you?
MR:No,but we changed the actual legislation. There were a number of amendments made by the community independents and accepted by the government,and I think they improved the legislation and tightened it up. And last week I provided the treasurer with a potential amendment to the Luxury Car Tax Discount Act,which was developed in my office,costed and drafted,and given to him pretty much as something that’s ready to go,which would improve our tax balance by $150 million in the first year and help with getting EVs out on the road and decreasing the price disparity between combustion engine cars and EVs.
Fitz:Has he indicated he might accept it?
MR:He’s taken it. I haven’t heard back from him as yet.
Fitz:But is it not fair to say that the major impact of the teals came on election night itself,simply by conclusively demonstrating that the Libs can no longer take their own heartland for granted,that in those electorates they ignore such things as climate change at their peril?
MR:The community independents absolutely demonstrated that to the LNP,but I think they also demonstrated it to the Labor Party.
Fitz:The accusation was always the teals were Labor in disguise. What would you say are your own points of difference?
MR:The 43 per cent target for emissions reductions that the Labor Party set out is inadequate. And the fact that the government’s saying they’re going to approve new gas and oil projects is extremely disappointing. The crossbench will present the government with things like my proposal around the luxury car tax discount to try and claw back as close to 50 per cent carbon emissions as we can – and beyond 50 per cent really,up to 60 per cent reduction – and I hope we’ll be able to drag them kicking and screaming towards 50 to 60 per cent.
Fitz:As they hold the majority,they needn’t kick and scream,they can simply rule. Do you have any pressure points we don’t know about?
MR:Going into the next election,the pressure on the government will be coming from the urban electorates which expressed a desire for action on climate change this May. It is the people who will be exerting the pressure.
Fitz:As you noted in your maiden speech,your grandfather door-knocked for famous Labor NSW premier Joe Cahill,and was great friends with the iconic Labor PM Ben Chifley. That would have been useful to know for your critics,who,citing your one-time membership of the ALP,were always saying Dr Ryan was a Labor stooge!
MR:You think I should have disclosed that?
Fitz:It would have been interesting!
MR:Well,that was my grandfather. My parents have been lifelong Liberal voters,at least until recently. But one of the interesting things about the last election is that many people ditched the “I’m a Green”,“I’m a Liberal”,“I’m a Labor person” thing and just voted on the issues and their values.
Fitz:The other accusation was that you were puppets of Simon Holmes à Court’s Climate 200,which distributed huge money to the teals. You have promised that your every vote in parliament will be a “conscience vote”,but are your votes on climate change action at least co-ordinated? How often are you in touch with Simon?
MR:When you called I was actually talking to some experts for advice about the government’s safeguard mechanisms,because they’re extraordinarily complex. I’ve spoken to many experts in the last few months,and I might at some point talk to Simon Holmes à Court about climate issues – but I haven’t talked to Simon about policy matters since the election. As to the community independents:we are beginning to work together because,with our staffing levels,it’s going to be extremely difficult for us to stay over all the legislation we need to cover,as well as[the legislation] we want to without joining forces to some extent. And we’re joining together for briefings and discussions about the crossbench roles in question time – “Who’s going to take this question?” “Who’s going to move a private member’s bill?” “Who’s going to take the various speaking slots?” and so forth. So we saw quite a bit of each other in just the first fortnight of parliament,but we didn’t discuss any legislation in terms of how we were going to vote on it. Each of us made our own decision about every piece of legislation that came up,and we didn’t all vote the same way.
Fitz:Your most famous parliamentary moment so far came as you wagged your finger at the LNP members and told them to “Put your masks on!” Has there been any improvement in mask-wearing in parliament?
MR:No. And an annoying thing about that was during those two weeks,we knew that people on the Liberal National Party side had just returned from having COVID very recently. And by the end of the two weeks,three of the 13 crossbenchers had COVID. So it wasn’t just that by not wearing masks they were making some sort of vapid political point which was disrespectful of the thousands of health care professionals who’ve done it extremely hard in the last two and a half years – although I did find that really frustrating – it was also that in our own workplace they were putting their colleagues at risk. You can’t socially distance in the House.
Member for Curtin,Kate Chaney,is congratulated by Dr Monique Ryan after delivering her first speech in the House of Representatives.Alex Ellinghausen
Fitz:To be clear,you feared they might have still been infectious?
MR:Many people with COVID remain infectious after the first seven days. We owe it to each other to try to minimise the risk of infecting other people in our workplaces as best we can.
Fitz:Is your whole political infrastructure still in place? Are you already certain that you’ll run again next election?
MR:There’s enough on my plate and there’s enough that I’m thinking about that it’s hard to imagine three years will be enough. I’m beginning to flap my wings and realising what I can do,and I’m not sure three years will suffice.
Joke of the week
Q:What is the difference between an introvert accountant and an extrovert accountant?
A:The extrovert accountant will stare atyourshoes when he’s talking to you.
Quote of the week
“I am left in no doubt … I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the only rational inference[is that] Lynette Dawson died on or about 8 January 1982 as a result of a conscious or voluntary act committed by Christopher Dawson.” - NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison finding Christopher Dawson guilty of murdering his former wife four decades ago on Sydney’s northern beaches.
What they said
“We hope that one day that we will find our sister and put her to rest.” - Lynette Dawson’s brother Greg Simms outside court on Tuesday.
“More than anything in the world,I just want to be with my wife,who is still in Kyiv with my son. I want to live with them,not die somewhere on the front line. But I have accepted the possibility of my death as an almost accomplished fact. Crossing this Rubicon has calmed me down,made me braver,stronger,more balanced. So it must be for those who consciously tread the path of war.” - Artem Chekh,author ofAbsolute Zero and now a soldier,writing inThe New York Times.
“He said,‘I just need you to know:when you married into this family,we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.’” - Meghan Markle,recounting to US magazineThe Cut,the words of a black South African cast member of theLion King she met in London in 2019.
“I was conscious of the fact that there are little girls that I meet and they’re just like,‘Oh my God,it’s a real-life princess.’ I just look at all of them and think,‘You have the power within you to create a life greater than any fairy tale you’ve ever read.’” - Meghan Markle.
“This ends today. I will not have our city grind to a halt,our people inconvenienced any more by the actions of a union movement that belongs back in the 1970s. The union is using our people as political pawns. They are not going to get away with it anymore.” - Dominic Perrottet talking tough on the trains. We shall see.
“When things change,we should change. The world has turned on its head since the tax cuts were introduced. So people like me don’t need tax cuts. Not only[are we] dealing with national debt as far as the eye can see,we’re dealing with bushfire recovery,flood recovery,we’ve got a housing and rental debacle,we’ve got staffing issues and supply chain issues. We could be spending that money on social housing,defence,it goes on and on. We’re just sending the wrong message to the Australian people at this time that tax cuts for the wealthier cohort of our community are acceptable.” - Veteran Liberal MP Russell Broadbent,breaking ranks with his party,saying the $243 billion stage three tax cuts that will flow to the nation’s highest-paid workers should be abandoned and the money put back into government services.
“A craving lasts for about 15 minutes. It’s like an ocean wave that gets bigger and bigger but then diminishes. If you can ride it out,you’ll feel stronger on the other side.” - Melise Ammit,a nurse with 11 years’ experience in addiction medicine. She’s one of a small but growing number of sober coaches in Australia,and specialises in helping women quit alcohol.
“I know there’s going to be a few punches in the nose because the first person in any change in society usually ends up bloody and marred. And if that has to be me for the next generation,I’m the one. And I’m happy with that.” - Danielle Laidley,once AFL great Dean Laidley.
Twitter:@Peter_Fitz
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