Growing up with my four brothers on a dairy farm near Colac in Victoria’s South-West, surrounded by the best of rural Australia.  

Ours was a small farming community, where school, sport and neighbours were at the centre of life, and where I learned early the value of pitching in and looking out for others. 

Like many young people from the regions, I moved to the city to study, training as a nurse and midwife at St Vincent’s Hospital. But the pull of regional life brought me back to North-East Victoria, where I settled in Chiltern and, at just 26, became matron of the Chiltern Bush Nursing Hospital.  

I later worked at Wangaratta Hospital, where I led midwifery services and helped build one of Australia’s longest-running rural midwifery programs. Over three decades, I’ve worked across rural health as a nurse, midwife, researcher and academic.  

Lifelong learning has always been central to me, and while raising our family and working, I completed a master’s degree in public health and a PhD in Medical Science. 

It was here in the North-East I met my husband Phil, an agricultural scientist. We raised our three children here, and we continue to live on a small cattle farm outside Wangaratta.  

In 2019, I stood for election as part of a community movement that believed politics could be done differently – more honest, more transparent, and more focused on people. After the retirement of Cathy McGowan, I became the first Independent elected to succeed another Independent in the Federal Parliament.

My background in nursing guides my work. As a nurse and a midwife, you’re with people in their most joyous and difficult moments. It’s taught me that life is precious, that everyone deserves dignity and respect, that good policy starts with listening, and – as a health researcher – that facts matter. 

Every day, I work to be a strong, independent voice – guided by common sense, decency and a commitment to delivering for our community and your family.