THE immediate resignation of former Member for Ipswich West Jim Madden to run for Ipswich City Council threw out the smooth transition Labor’s Wendy Bourne had planned.
Labor announced Ms Bourne as their candidate in the by-election for Ipswich West days after Mr Madden’s resignation.
Ms Bourne said standing in her first election campaign as a candidate was a bit daunting.
“It is pretty nerve-racking putting yourself out there,” she said.
“I’ve just been a bit of a worker bee for a very long time. I’ve worked in government for about 25 years, so I’m just a behind the scenes type of girl. I just live in Rosewood with my son but then you decide to do this, and I think you’re not quite prepared for it and certainly things moved very quickly when (Jim) Madden resigned.
“I had hoped to take long service leave for about eight months on half pay and just start talking to the community. As a candidate I had hoped to do that but it hasn’t worked out that way.”
She said the door-knocking had been an “eye-opener” for her with cost of living pressures impacting on households.
“I knew people were doing it tough and I have certainly done it tough in my lifetime. I raised my son on my own, but I was very lucky, I had a really strong, supportive family around me and I was able to go back to work when he was a little older.
“But some of these homes I am going to it is a bit of a shock.
“I think the average person is finding it really difficult to pay for petrol and groceries. As a single parent now I know your dollar doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, so particularly in the housing commission areas, these people don’t have a lot and it fires me up to want to help them and do as much as I can to make their lives better.”
She said criticism of the Government not keeping pace with the rapid growth in Ipswich with infrastructure supply was “unfair”.
“There’s been a lot happening in Ipswich. We’ve just opened a $128 million mental health facility at Ipswich Hospital and there are 200 beds being built there.
“I honestly don’t get that (criticism) when I am out door-knocking.”
