ALP candidate for McMillan CHRIS BUCKINGHAM believes there are two aspects to being a successful politician: strong advocacy in Canberra and positive leadership in the electorate. He explains his background, beliefs and vision for the future to ANEEKA SIMONIS and KATHRYN BERMINGHAM.
ANEEKA: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? You joined the ALP in 1998.
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: I moved to Gippsland in ’97 with my partner Mikaela and my first job in the region was selling advertising for 3GG, which at that time was a pretty funky AM contemporary music station.
I’ve always had Labor values and when I was at uni I was a member of Labor students but I never actually joined the party, it was just that my values aligned.
I saw what Jeff Kennett had done to the Latrobe valley, and privatisation argument is long since gone, but I think there is a lesson you can take from what they did when they privatised in the valley.
The big thing for me was the lack of respect for community and the lack of respect for the workforce and I guess I came to the conclusion that the only way, aside from the grassroots stuff that I was doing, that I could be serious about changing the world for the greater good was to join a party.
At the time it was the only party that stood for progressive politics and so I joined the Labor party and I’ve hung pretty tough with the Labor party through the last 16 or 17 years.
I had a short break in May 2013 and I re-joined pretty recently and then this whole process or preselection has probably rolled out more quickly than I anticipated but it is what it is, and here I am
ANEEKA: So why now the jump to this position?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: I guess over the last 20 years what I’ve worked out is that I’m really good at providing positive leadership and advocacy in the community and I think what’s been missing for a long time is that positive leadership.
There’s two ways I define that leadership. One is positive advocacy to Canberra stating the case for funding, investment and strategic thinking, and then the second piece is around actually providing inclusive leadership within the community.
It’s all very well for me, from the Labor Party, to say that I stand for Labor values, I’m going to associate with Labor people.
But actually what regional communities need, and I would argue that Pakenham is still a regional community, is somebody who can work across communities, can help transcend parochialism and work together for the greater good.
There’s two sides to it, positive advocacy to Canberra, making sure that we get our share of the cake, if you like, but the second point is how do we get communities to work together in co-operation and not go down the easy path which is to allow communities to take pot-shots at each other or get fighting with each other over what is really trivial.
ANEEKA: Russell Broadbent isn’t providing that positivity?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: That’s your conclusion, not mine. I’m just saying what I’m going to do.
ANEEKA: But you’re saying that you would provide something a little bit more positive. Those holes that you’re looking to fill, is that a criticism of Russell Broadbent?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: That’s for the readers to make their call, but what I will say you is that I come from a marketing background.
I know you run a needs-analysis and identify what the community needs, but I think it’s also really important that we look at the existing strengths communities have as well.
We’ve got a great dairy industry, so how do we actually help the dairy industry grow across the region?
What I’m proposing is something quite radical but not revolutionary – it’s about practicing politics of inclusion and it’s about putting forward a positive agenda, which is why I’m not going to bag Russell in the broader sense.
We’ll have our disagreements about things but that’s not my gig.
My gig is saying, for example, we’ve got strong dairy in South Gippsland, West Gippsland and right across this electorate.
It’s no good arguing that Korumburra is the home of dairy and Leongatha is not, we’ve actually got to be thinking about how we look at the electorate working together and build on our strengths as well as identifying those needs.
KATHRYN: So is that centralization one of your key policies?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Certainly from a values approach it will be about building collaboration across the electorate.
The other two things are the traditional Labor values around a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
This is a critical issue right across the electorate because what we’re seeing is the casualization of workforce and increased use of labour hire firms.
Casualization is there for a reason, it’s about flexibility and you can see how tourism operators might want to use a casual workforce.
But if we’re talking about food processing companies, we’re talking about large scale manufacturing, I understand they need to remain competitive in an international context but we’ve got to be really clear that by creating insecurity within the workforce, a business might read it as flexibility but an employee reads it as insecurity.
If we’ve got a workforce that’s insecure and not confident about what’s going to happen next, not confident about meeting their mortgage payments, it will affect small business more broadly in the region.
When I look at that tension that exists, it’s not about white collar versus blue collar, it’s about how do we make sure responsible employers treat their workforces with respect.
That tension’s always going to exist, and it’s up to good management and good employers to work that out.
From my end, when we look at the natural resources we’ve got, we’ve got to be leveraging those strengths and we’ve got to be leveraging them in such a way that the prosperity is shared, within reason.
ANEEKA: You say you understand the multitude of challenges that face people throughout McMillan. Can you identify challenges that are faced in Pakenham?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: I think workforce stability or stability of employment is a big one.
You’ve got people who are fully mortgaged, often young families and so when the Federal budget is handed down and they say we’re going to take 30 bucks out of childcare every week, in this community that’s going to cause pain.
Some way or another, these families will find a way of paying that extra $30 that is no longer provided by the government.
What it will mean is $30 less in the shop, it will mean $30 less for discretionary recreational activity, it will mean kids wearing second hand uniforms.
For Pakenham, it’s about looking at the Federal Budget and saying that it’s great that small business operators get a 1.5 per cent cut, that’s good.
The big issue here is how do we maintain and strengthen average weekly income so that people can have a reasonably comfortable existence, but it’s also how do we build confidence within a community like Pakenham?
I think one of the challenges Pakenham faces is massive population growth, change in culture, change in values.
How do we make sure that the community is resilient and connected with each other rather than developing in silence?
ANEEKA: Are there any others?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Another is the recent move towards marriage equality.
It’s not specific to Pakenham and it’s tricky because it’s a competing issue.
You’ve got part of the population saying ‘no big deal’, get on with it. You’ve then got another big part of the population who, four or five years ago, would have said ‘not interested, don’t go there’.
I think we’re in a situation now where the mainstream has moved, so the mainstream is saying ‘Ireland’s voting for it, live and let live’.
Then the next question is why are we getting distracted in debates about marriage equality when I’ve got a mortgage to pay, I’ve got a job to protect, all of those sorts of things.
ANEEKA: So it does have the same sort of priority?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: It does in my mind because it’s values based, it’s about a fair go for all.
But in a climate where increasingly people are just fighting to get their mortgage and bills paid, we’re asking them to concentrate on a higher order social issue.
I, personally, have a very clear view which is get on with it.
Let’s not use it as a political football when we’ve got people who are genuinely struggling to make ends meet on a week-to-week basis.
ANEEKA: So if you are correct and more people are for marriage equality than they were years ago, do you think that will be a drawcard for you since Russell Broadbent is against marriage equality?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Not necessarily. As I say, I’m inclusive and believe in a fair go for all.
With marriage equality, I look at it and think it’s an issue of discrimination and not a matter of religion.
No-one is asking the churches to marry people they don’t want to marry, this is about people having the right to get married.
For me, it’s a straightforward process and I sincerely hope that by the time the election is here this issue is done and dusted.
From an electoral point of view, sometimes politicians have to stand up for what they believe in, so I believe in marriage equality therefore I will make my views clear.
ANEEKA: If it isn’t sorted out by the next election?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Then it will be on my ticket
ANEEKA: Do you think that would be a major reason why someone would vote for you?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: No, I don’t. I actually think it’s down to much more basic issues around social equity, employment, family income.
Those are the things in Pakenham on which the election will be decided, and I think the people will make a clear choice in terms of energy, drive, enthusiasm and values between the candidates.
KATHRYN: You’re a business professor with a minor in Women’s Studies…
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: I’m an adjunct professor at Victoria University, and that’s recognition that I have a very good understanding of how tourism works and I’m an advocate for Victoria University. I also did a minor in Women’s Studies.
I’m the son of two teachers and they were both passionate about education.
I got into uni and I had a dream of doing law but I got nowhere near the marks required.
My seventh choice was arts at Monash and my Dad said it doesn’t matter what your degree is in, but you should get a degree.
I took him on his word, and I studied my minor when I was about two years into the degree.
I was really interested in gender politics at the time, matters of equity and equality of opportunity.
I got on well with women but I thought I better understand some of the theory.
I think I was the first man to get a minor in women’s studies at Monash and I was one of the first to enrol.
It was values based and it was one of the best parts of my degree because I got to understand a whole range of issues, whether it be sociology, economics, semiotics, English lit, philosophy.
I got to study these things through the filter of women’s studies.
For me it was a really supportive environment, and I’d like to think that those things about respecting women and equality of opportunity for women are things that I’ve stayed true to since then.
KATHRYN: Will issues such as domestic violence and gender discrimination in the workplace be something you’ll target?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Wherever I can. Family violence is, for me, one of the biggest social issues of our time.
In many respects it represents as a symptom of the malaise as much as anything else, and I think what I can do as a community leader from now right through to the election and beyond is advocate for a better understanding of what causes family violence.
I always thought it sat around things like underemployment, mental health issues and poverty, and they are elements that are associated with the matter, but the root cause of family violence is gender inequality.
KATHRYN: How do you go about fixing that?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: The path is around encouraging community understanding and awareness of the causes of family violence, being active in the community, promoting positive relationships with women and encouraging men to build relationships based on trust and equality of opportunity.
When we talk about those things that constitute family violence, it can be controlling behaviours and manipulation.
To me the currency of family violence is fear, it’s not anger.
So if people say ‘he lost his temper and he hit her’, that’s not right. The whacking bit comes out of a desire to intimidate, control and manipulate so, as a bloke in a community setting, the role I can play is communicating the need for men to take responsibility for their behaviour and to treat women with respect, whether it be their partner, their mother or the extended community.
I think what we’re seeing now is these recent campaigns within the electorate are gaining momentum – Gippsland Women’s Health are doing some really good work at a regional level.
It’s about blokes in leadership roles having a voice and empowering men to make the right decisions and take responsibility
ANEEKA: You said that’s one of the biggest social issues at the moment. Would you also say ice is a big social issue?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Yes ice is a big social issue and I don’t have a magic solution, but what I do know is that some of the contributing factors towards drug abuse are underemployment, boredom, lack of engagement, lack of self-esteem and lack of social equity.
I understand that there was a report released last week saying that the number of users is not actually significantly greater than it was 10 years ago but the consumption has significantly increased and so what we’ve got is a situation where we’ve got drug abuse that is affecting people’s capacity to work, and it’s an insidious thing because a lot of people become completely dysfunctional, so the solution is going to be born of a number of things.
All three levels of government need to be engaged in the narrative.
We’ve got to create that social equity within the community but we’ve also got to have government taking responsibility.
ANEEKA: Have you had any personal experiences with it?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: No I haven’t. I’ve been lucky. With ice, you’re not just talking about the user, you’re talking about family, extended family.
I’m 46, so I’ve seen how other drugs have impacted the community, how drugs impacted on people at university who weren’t able to complete their degree, who weren’t able to hold down jobs, whose mortgages went bust.
So there’s a whole range of implications to drug abuse.
KATHRYN: Are there any Labor policies that you don’t agree with?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: No
ANEEKA: Anything lacking in this area?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: I’ve outlaid the principles by which I’ve got to approach the community.
So the first thing I’m going to focus on will be listening to what the community wants and needs and what’s important to them.
ANEEKA: How are you going to do that?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: I’m looking forward to engaging with local government, engaging with community and attending community forums, and I hope that people know they will be able to approach me.
I’m certainly looking forward to having conversations with councils, including Cardinia, about what they see as being priorities for their communities as far as the Federal Government’s concerned.
ANEEKA: So you’ve got a bit of flexibility with your current job?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: There’s some really clear rules around electorate officers and their work, so if I’m an electorate officer for a State Government politician, once the election is called then I have to cease work. That’s the really clear arbitrary line.
ANEEKA: But you might have to taper it off beforehand?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Absolutely, I’m aware of that. The decision to enter politics has been something that’s been a while coming and, thankfully, my partner Mikaela, who is a councillor at Baw Baw Shire, has been very supportive.
I think if I’d ask her three years ago she would have gone ‘really? Are you sure?’ but this time around she said yes. We’ve got a mortgage, we’ve got kids at school…
ANEEKA: In what other ways will you have to change your lifestyle if you’re elected?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: There’s at least 10 weeks in Canberra every year, so that’s going to be a challenge.
ANEEKA: Will it be hard to be away from your family? Have you spent a lot of time away from them until this stage?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: At the moment I’m really enjoying spending more time with my family, but when I was CEO of Destination Melbourne I was a five day a week commute out of Warragul to the CBD of Melbourne and then there was interstate and international stuff.
As a rule, I was working a 60-70 hour week five days a week but my weekends were mine. What I’m fully expecting is to be working each day of the week, but I’m really determined to make sure there’s balance in my life.
One of the reasons why I like working in this role is I’ve got to start addressing a part of my life that I’ve pretty much ignored for the past 7 years which is engaging with community.
That means that there’s got to be some other things that will have to give in order for me to do that.
It’s about being really aware and trying to keep things as balanced as well as I can.
I’m not afraid of hard work, I can talk underwater and I can argue a point.
I think I’ve got the core attributes required to be good at what I do and that’s the reason why I’m standing.
I think this region needs good, strong, positive advocacy in Canberra and good leadership closer to home. It’s what I do.
ANEEKA: Your twitter handle is @GippslandSurfer. Where do you surf?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: Inverloch. It was something I always wanted to do and a few years ago a relative of Mikaela’s said they had this house in Inverloch that needs housesitting, and so I started surfing there.
That first year I probably surfed two or three times a week right throughout the whole year and didn’t get any better.
I’ve probably only been in three times this year, which isn’t good enough, but if I make it to Canberra I’ll make sure I have a set of roof racks and I’ll put the board on top. That would be part of keeping things in balance.
ANEEKA: Russell Broadbent has been in for a while, first elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2014. Is that intimidating?
CHRIS BUCKINGHAM: No. McMillan’s actually been a Labor seat for 19 out of the last 35 years as I understand it. It’s sat with the incumbent for a decade.
McMillan’s an interesting seat, as often as not it goes against the general trend.
While it looks like a 10 per cent swing on paper, when you look at the changes that have occurred across the electorate, including Pakenham, it’s not intimidating.
It’s a challenge and I’m looking forward to it and, at the end of the day, I’m in it to win it.
If we make McMillan marginal it means that whoever’s in power has to listen, has to pay attention and so the bigger the contest I can make it now the better.
It gives me a chance to really understand what the needs of the community are but also to create a bit of tension.
