Courtney is a local business owner and Hughes resident, she recently penned an article for The Women's agenda titled:
"Sex, drugs and cover ups: toxic culture pervades the Australian political and justice systems"
Courtney's article was written in response to the alleged rape allegations of Ms Higgins by a parliamentary staffer. Since her article there has been a renewed focus on the office of Hughes Federal MP Craig Kelly and the investigation of alleged inappropriate behaviour by his staffer Frank Zumbo. This follows the provisional AVO applied for by police to protect a teenager. This was first reported in The St George Shire Standard by Eliza Barr in July 2020. More women are coming forward now reporting on their experiences in the office in Hughes.
We are linking Courtney's article at the end of this blog. We are thrilled Courtney is adding her voice to We Are Hughes to work for better representation.
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Hi, My name is Courtney.
I'm a wife, mother, lawyer, business owner and resident of Hughes.
My husband and I chose Hughes (in particular, the leafy suburb of Como) as our new home in 2018.
We both grew up right on the other side of the bridge in Oatley. In fact, we lived on the same street for 20 years without ever meeting. It was a happy accident when we met over drinks at Skeeta's Local (the older brother and inspiration for Skeeta's Southside wine bar in Jannali) in 2015.
Since then, we've welcomed our son, Jesse, now 18-months-old.
Between Jesse and our 2 virtual businesses in the legal industry, we have a very busy life. I decided to become involved in the We Are Hughes movement in early 2021.
I'm a very happy local resident – I love our beautiful bush surrounds, our sense of community and our vibrant small business economy - but I think we can do better in terms of our political representation.
I'd love to see Hughes represented by someone who has a real presence in our community. Someone involved with local business owners and attuned to their needs and wants, supporting them to flourish.
Someone who listens to locals about their issues – big and small – whether that's roundabouts that need to go in to prevent road accidents, intervening in planned acquisitions of homes or getting vocal to protect our waterways.
I've been disappointed by the portrayal of Hughes in the media. Pollsters and pundits seem to think our electorate doesn't care about politics enough to think carefully about who they vote for at election time. But I disagree.
In my experience, the people of Hughes do care. They care about each other. They care about the environment. They care about their families and community. They care about broader issues like immigration, education and arts and culture. I believe that we can work together as an electorate to have someone who truly represents us in Canberra, advocating for the things that are important to us. And that's why I'm supporting We Are Hughes.
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Link To Courtney's article in The Women's Agenda
