BEING a Ngemba woman from Brewarrina, Greens candidate for Parkes Trish Frail has said it’s given her an intimate understanding of the Parkes electorate which influences her key campaign pillars and commitment to community.
Ms Frail is not just a candidate for Parkes, but a councillor on Brewarrina Shire Council, author, and co-founder of the Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre, and co-convenor of the Australia Free Nuclear Alliance.
“I grew up on the river, I know exactly what it’s like to be living out here in dry, dusty times and in floods,” she said.
Ms Frail also said she’s also passionate about improving river health.
“That is a really huge issue for me because growing up on the river we didn’t have that (algae) when we were children,” she said.
“We could go and swim in the river at any time and now we can’t.
“The introduced fish species have a lot to do with it, and they’re putting so many weirs in that we don’t have a lot of water flow.
“It affects all of us, and us as First Nations people because we live off fish – these are major issues for us.”
The Ngemba People are known for a connection to the Barwon River that runs through Brewarrina, and Baiame’s Ngunnhu – also known as the Brewarrina fish traps – which are listed on the State Heritage Register, the National Heritage List, and believed to be anywhere from more than 40,000 to 65,000 years old.
The cost of living is also high on Ms Frail’s agenda, with the Greens planning to supply free school lunches if elected, with the aim of reducing grocery bills, and ensuring children have a healthy lunch.
“They have free lunches at schools in a lot of countries,” she said. “We should be able to do that too, and that will assist families with the cost of living.
“It’s only a little bit, but it will help.”
Ms Frail said the Greens are also asking larger questions around why the country can’t afford school lunches.
“The billionaires, they don’t pay taxes, and large corporate companies, they don’t,” she said.
“If the billionaires and big companies, if they pay their taxes instead of being given handouts all the time, it would assist the cost of living.”
Ms Frail said that one of the other big costs to families is dental care.
“That’s one of the issues that the Greens are trying to push for is dental coming onto Medicare; so people don’t have to stress so much about it,” she said.
“A lot of people don’t go to the dentist for the simple reason that they can’t afford it.
“Out of these country areas sometimes you look at people and they’ve hardly got any teeth.
“Even when they have a lot of rotten teeth, they still can’t afford to go to the dentist.”
Support for women in violence, which Ms Frail said is intertwined with ongoing housing issues, is also a priority.
“I used to work in domestic violence, and I’ve been through it; we need people that know what they’re talking about and can understand what other women are going through,” she said.
“We need more projects for the men who are perpetrators because a lot of them have been able to change their life around after a lot of training.”
