Those familiar with Helen Conway’s time heading up the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) will be well aware of her mantra that “what gets measured gets managed” as well as her overall legacy on pay equity.
At WGEA, Conway was instrumental in championing measuring employer gender data to help understand Australia’s gender pay gaps and then work to close them. Her work directly contributed to changing how organisations report their pay data to WGEA, and ultimately then the Agency’s ability to produce world-leading benchmark data, that can enable progress to be tracked and analysed every year.
Now, Conway is running for election as an independent in next year’s NSW State Election, supported by the same “teal” group that backed Kylea Tink’s successful run at the Federal seat of North Sydney.
And she’s pushing a similar measurement mantra, calling for “leadership, focus and accountability” and a campaign that pushes for NSW to not only set bold targets, especially on environmental issues but actually leverage accountability to measure how we are tracking against them.
Conway will run against the current sitting Liberal MP Felicity Wilson in the North Shore seat. She’s seen the success of independents at the Federal election — and how a critical mass of such independents changes the tone of politics. Federally, Conway highlights the work already achieved, including Helen Haines’ work in driving the integrity commission forward. In NSW, she also credits the crossbench, including independent Alex Greenwich, in supporting good policy reform.
“I don’t believe the two-party system is delivering for the community,” she told Women’s Agenda in the lead up to announcing her campaign today. “I think there is a social movement across the country to say, this system doesn’t work.”
“Overall, people locally here are thinking we have some major concerns but we don’t see our sitting candidate much, and they are frustrated.”
Conway says climate change continues to be a unifying issue in her area — a seat that crosses into the Federal seat of Warringah, held by Zali Steggall. But she says integrity is also significant, along with biodiversity, cost of living and over development and general concern for the future. “I hear older people saying, ‘we are ok, but we are worried about our kids and our grandkids.’ That then drives their concerns on climate change, on the cost of living and integrity. They want a political system that can address these things.”
Conway adds that although there has been a “collective sigh of relief” on the climate issue at the Federal level, she says we need to push to harder to actually achieve the goals that have been put in place.
In particular, she spoke about big and grand announcements being made for the future, particularly on environmental issues and in NSW, biodiversity — but that fossil fuel projects are still being approved, alone with a dire record on saving Koala populations.
“If you vote for this government, you vote for the Nationals,” Conway says. “In a Coalition government, deals are done. That means that land clearing, koala protection, and other issues really sit with The Nationals. An independent can come in and help drive something else…. can help push the need for transparency and accountability.”
Conway joins a number of women taking on Liberal-held seats in Sydney, including Joeline Hackman running as an independent in Manly against the current environment minister James Griffin. There is also Victoria Davidson taking on planning minister Anthony Roberts in Lane Cove, as well as Jacqui Scruby, an independent candidate for the seat of Pittwater, currently held by the retiring Rob Stokes.
Conway has stepped down as chair of Women For Election in line with announcing her campaign. Conway was named a Women’s Agenda Hall of Fame Entrant in 2015, for her work with WGEA which she completed in March 2015.
Back in 2014, she told Women’s Agenda that integrity is critical in leadership — as it provides an essential framework for decision-making and helps in navigating difficult situations.