The Australia We Want

“The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made. And the making of those pathways, changes both the maker and the destination.”

Those words comprised the final statement in Cathy McGowan’s valedictory speech to the House of Representatives in federal parliament in April 2019.

In an amazing show of support, more than 200 people from Cathy’s electorate in north east Victoria travelled to Canberra to hear the Independent member for Indi’s final parliamentary speech.

A rural consultant and farmer, Cathy first came to national recognition when she won the seat of Indi in 2013 — a seat that had been a conservative party stronghold since 1931. The community backed her again in 2016 and she became the first female independent to sit on the crossbench.

During her time as a politician, Cathy actively worked with the government to develop policy around regional development, a national integrity commission and a code of conduct for members of parliament.

She was also a strong advocate for constitutional change for first nations people and a solution to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers.

Cathy holds a masters degree in agriculture and regional development and a bachelor degree in economics and history.

In 2004 she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia ‘for service to the community through raising awareness of and stimulating debate about issues affecting women in regional, rural and remote areas’.

She is a proud graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, a Churchill fellow and lives very happily on a farm in the Indigo Valley in north east Victoria.

At this Melbourne Forum lunch, Cathy will draw on her experiences over six years in federal politics as well as her role as an advocate for regional development and rural communities to explore her vision for “the Australia we want”.