It is week 9 of our series "Women in Politics". Each week I interview an inspiring female leader who has either worked behind the scenes in a leadership position in government or has run or been successfully elected into a local, state or federal position. This week we chat to a local woman who hasn't yet achieved the lofty political goals or dreams of some previous aspirants. Dr Hanabeth Luke decided on the 31st of January to put her hat in the ring as a Federal Candidate for the seat of Page, against incumbent Nationals Member Kevin Hogan, so far the only woman to opt to run this election. You can read that article here: Bali Angel and academic to run as Independent in Federal Election.

Hanabeth is a Marine Rescue volunteer, an Evans Head Malibu Club Champion, and Senior Lecturer at Southern Cross University. A survivor of the Bali Bombings, Hanabeth was once known around the world as the 'Bali Angel'.

Hanabeth confirms “It wasn’t a huge dream of mine to be a politician, but I’ve chosen to run because I see it as necessary because if people like me, who are aware of the reality facing our community, agricultural sector and environment, from the effects of climate change don’t stand up, politics just isn’t going to get any better”. 

“I’ve chosen to stand because I want to see integrity, honesty and transparency in our politics, particularly at a Federal Level’. Hanabeth reports on a local Independents site about just what sparked her decision to give up her relaxed Summer, to stand up and do the job, she kept wishing 'someone would do'.

"My tipping point? On a rainy morning towards the end of 2021, I was marking essays from students asked to describe their direct experience of drought, fire or flood. Many of my students, mostly farmers, had experienced all three in rapid succession. I cried, unprepared to read their heartbreaking losses in recent years".

"Later that day Barnaby Joyce said it would cost farmers too much to reduce our emissions, which saw Australia refuse to increase our 2030 commitments in Glasgow. Although the world was finally managing to come to a new agreement on climate action, the leader of our National Party was doing his best to hold it back. His Assistant Minister is our local MP".

"I’m a researcher and scientist at SCU, where I also started my University education, with an Environmental Science Undergraduate degree. My research is around what is important to farmers, I do social research for farmers and regenerative agriculture; Regenerative Agriculture holds so many critical solutions, such as for improving food resilience, a shelter belt and other ways to stop erosion, engaging in agro-forestry and many, many things that can be done, to improve the land, the yield, the resilience and the community's resilience from that too, which leads to an overall healthier landscape, leading as we move into more extreme weather".

"I am a Senior Lecturer. I talk climate science. We are in an urgent time, and as an agricultural community particularly. I don’t think the current Federal Government represents this region as it should. While I was teaching I realised that the biggest barriers to making these positive changes are at the government level".

"I moved briefly to Sydney, after my first degree, and then went to the UK to become my Grandmother’s carer. The NHS and Aged care system was so straightforward and simple to navigate, but when I tried recently to navigate the same here, aged care and health I realised it was so fragmented".

"I spent 4 years in the UK where I trained to become a lifelong learning teacher for ages 16 all the way through to adulthood. My love of teaching is why I came back to SCU to do an Honours- my thesis was entitled "Improving community group effectiveness using mind mapping", and was effectively about working together to get a clear message out, and what are the barriers to group cohesion, I did this by documenting the coal seam gas movement, then Bentley happened, and the coal seam gas industry was kicked out of the region".

"I got first-class honours and then got a scholarship to do a PHD- entitled "Social license for industrial development in rural areas", and after that Metagasco’s license got bought back for $25 million."

"I also documented the boom-bust cycle in SE QLD and across 3 continents, Europe, Canada and America, as well as the work I had done here in Australia. The industry showed that these licenses did NOT have a positive, social, political or economic impact. I'm the first person in my family to receive a University education and I'm proud of the work I have achieved so far, I can see its impacts first hand".

"It’s why I'm so passionate to support our regional economies from Arts and Music through to sugarcane and cattle. We have some strong local industries and we need to look after these into the future and the federal government needs to support this".

"I recently spoke to a local business owner of a cafe explaining how things just haven’t picked up yet.  We need strong support for all our local industries and small business. Similarly, we can do all these things on our farms and our land, but we need to address the reality of developing these coal and gas seam industries, and we need to create a clear and rapid transition plan to a carbon neutral economy, as the rest of the world is doing - we don’t want to be left behind".

"We could put the money from this unhealthy investment into our amazing Lismore University, affordable homes, better healthcare. Since Covid began, and even before for University’s and TAFE the funding has been cut back and cut back. People shouldn’t have to drive 1000 kms to get a ticket to become a brickie!"

"There is a public interest test when testing for where funding should go, but I feel it’s going far too far. Universities were one of the only industries which got no Jobkeeper; 20% of Universities lost their staff, both before and during Covid. For a regional University community like Lismore, that’s highly significant, as a lot of those employees would then have had to move away, meaning we lose that specialised, experienced staff".

"I truly believe as a community independent I can represent this community in Canberra. I have been here for 26 years, this is where I completed my high schooling and went on to SCU for my Undergraduate degree, and I’ve seen many different elements of this region, so I can have that greater awareness to advocate for and represent a larger proportion of the community through that lived experience.".

“I’ve lived in and experienced housing services, and seen what it can do to improve the lives of young people, it's really sad to hear how many of the local services we have are going downhill through reduced funding or fragmentation of servicing, as well as increased outreach and travel expectations”.

“I want to see more holistic and accessible healthcare and also an increase in regional specialists. Looking at the whole person and working with the whole family. I am a Mum of a 4 and 7-year-old, my partner teaches at the local school and as a family, we are volunteers, a part of the community. I'm part of Marine Rescue and he is a volunteer with Fire and Rescue, we feel it's so important to contribute to the community."

"An important part of what I want to stand for is representing THIS region. Decision making is so often centralised in cities. I chose not to run as a party politician for this very reason. As an independent, I can represent this region and stand for what IS important for our communities. This is a really important issue, and I can ensure that. In parties, this is not always the case as candidates and MP's are expected to toe the party line, sometimes at odds with their communities values and needs".



I will never forget the day on my 16th Birthday away camping at Inskip Point in QLD, when I saw the front page of the newspaper, I turned on my phone to see multiple messages from friends, confirming that many of our friends from the area I grew up in (Bondi/Bronte) had been at the Sari club too. Many didn't make it home. It shook our local community to the core. 88 Australian's died as a result of that explosion.

Hanabeth courageously, and humbly, without falter, tells me of that night saying "I was at the Bali Bombings, holidaying with my boyfriend Marc at the time, we were dancing in the Sari Club, he left the dancefloor, and somehow he was closer to the bomb and I was in the middle, which ended up being further away, it missed me, though the sound of the bomb going off is something I can never forget; to find my way out, I scaled a 4ft wall using fallen electrical cables, I also carried a young man out, who sadly also didn't make it, and in action, was photographed by a journalist. The photograph got international media attention, but at the time, it was so inspirational seeing humans, no matter who they were, helping each other, going back in over and over, even if it meant burning their feet". Hanabeth buried Marc with his family two months later.

"Afterwards when I was contacted, I was so confused by why the media wanted to speak to me, then I found out about the circulation of that photo. UK's ITV- Tonight with Trevor McDonald, flew me over to speak to Tony Blair, as there were a number of Women at the time, who were quite cross with him actually," Hanabeth laughs, "and I spoke to him; it was a difficult time politically, and I felt strongly they shouldn't link the Bali Bombing and Iraq War, they were using their minds and not weapons of mass destruction, what needed addressing was a deep systemic change for the way people are treated, for the poverty that led to the bombings, and it was important to me that we ask 'why do they hate us so much". 

"As for being a woman in politics, I am certainly inspired by Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame, it takes such courage to talk openly about an experience like that. I particularly love the line Grace used “When you act with integrity the tide rises with you”.

"We need more women to stand up so we can transform all this bad behaviour and clean up the halls of parliament and all of our politics. As a woman in federal politics, I would like to leave a legacy of a politics that is more fair, more kind and one that has integrity."

"I would like to leave a legacy where politics is as focused on the health and prosperity of the regions as it is the cities".

"I’ve had a couple of older gentleman tell me that success is not possible, but the only thing that makes it impossible is not trying at all. Mostly I’ve experienced overwhelming support. Every day that I’ve walked on the street so far I have been greeted warmly by both men and women who say they are very pleased to see a young(ish) woman throwing her hat in the ring". 

"My research shows how farmers are on the front line of Increasingly erratic seasons and extreme weather. The most important thing to them is to be able to pass on a healthy farm to their kids. A ‘gas led recovery’ from Covid does not serve the interests of farmers at all, we need to be supporting them to take up the opportunities that a planned transition to a carbon-neutral future will bring".

"We need to be doing everything we can to ensure that we are building the resilience of our local communities and farms, for the future. I have an in-depth knowledge of this area and I plan to fight for farmers, as well as set an example to encourage more young women to step up into politics, and for any women considering stepping up to run too, I say GO FOR IT!"