Lucy Bradlow has worked in and around politics and gender equality her whole career, and while she’s always had a desire to be a politician, she always believed her lifelong friend Bronwen Bock would make an excellent one.
And when Lucy approached Bronwen with her idea to campaign together, it was a no-brainer.
“When Lucy approached me with the idea, I’d been working in investment banking in the corporate world for a long time,” Bronwen told Olivia Cleal in the most recent episode of The Women’s Agenda Podcast, “and coming up against the challenges of marrying flexible work and leadership.”
“And this is one great way to do that.”
The pair are Victorian candidates for the Senate in next year’s federal election – not as individual candidates, but together for the one Senate seat. Lucy and Bronwen from the newly formed Better Together Party are Australia’s first ever job-sharing candidates.
They originally launched their campaign in the lower house for the electorate of Higgins, and while their campaign made national headlines and gained significant attention, the AEC decided to abolish the electorate earlier this year. Now, they have relaunched their campaign for the Senate.
“It’s been a really exciting journey,” Lucy said on the podcast. “There’s definitely been ups and downs.”
“But I think having someone else to do it with has made it really much more enjoyable, and also much easier to take the hard times.”
Bronwen agreed. “I think there’s some magic in sharing the highs and lows together,” she said, “and it probably makes the highs seem higher, and the lows not so low.”
Job-sharing is something we often come across in professions such as teaching, but it is rarely – if ever – seen in leadership roles.
It’s also never been done before in Australian politics and is a whole new ball game not just for parliament but for voters as well.
“I think job-sharing roles allow for meaningful change in terms of diversity and inclusion,” Bronwen said.
“The roles of a parliamentarian today – they’re always on, always available, 24/7… they’re in Canberra 22 weeks a year.
“So doing them in different ways to bring different people who aren’t willing or able to work both full-time, but also to the extent of the demands of the role is naturally going to make parliament more inclusive, and therefore more representative of the people it represents.”
Sceptics of the Better Together Party have argued that Australians traditionally vote for one person to represent them, not two. Lucy emphasised that the key word there is “traditionally”.
“When we first started voting, we elected white men – and we’ve changed, and we’ve evolved,” Lucy said.
“And now we elect people that represent a lot of different communities. So why shouldn’t you be able to elect two people in one seat?
“Politics has to evolve. Otherwise we’re going to be stuck with the same people representing the same interests, the same parties shouting in Question Time… and I think that if people want to see real action and real change around climate, cost of living, housing affordability, childcare – issues that are really affecting people today – then they have to change who they’re electing to make those decisions.”
Another criticism that has been thrown their way is how the pair would manage disagreements between one another. While she admitted it’s a good question to ask, Bronwen wondered if there’s a gendered lens to this criticism.
“Is it really hard for people to imagine two women working together without disagreeing?” she asked.
“But I think what I keep coming back to is Lucy and I have been working on this campaign for job sharing in federal parliament for nearly two years together. And yes, there have been small things we haven’t agreed on, but as you would in any corporate environment or the broader public service you discuss and debate and come to agreement on things and that’s what we do.”
Listen to the full interview with Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock on The Women’s Agenda Podcast – wherever you get your podcasts.