In this episode, we talk to Mr Llew O’Brien MP, Federal Member for Wide Bay and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, about engaging the Australian voters in the political discourse.

Topics covered include:

- What kind of person can become a politician
- The nature of a political career and a career of service to the community
- What it means to be open and transparent about mental health in Parliament
- The challenge of secure employment in Australia both now and into the future
- The need for greater focus on road safety in Australia
- Parliamentary Friendship Groups
- How Parliamentary service offers opportunities to influence global policy
- Understanding the history of the age pension
- The role of a backbencher in government
- The history of the dollar milk issue
- The responsibility of corporates in economic, social and environmental sustainability
- A politician’s advice to activists about how to affect political change in Australia
- How to have productive conversations with someone who has a different opinion to you
- How major political debates can bring us together as a society
- The process to have a politician represent a constituent in the chamber
- The process of e-petitioning to Parliament House
- How to balance economic and environmental sustainability in such a diverse electorate
- The future plans for Wide Bay
- The importance of good relationships with media
- How social media can help politicians


About Mr O’Brien:

Llew O’Brien is the Federal Member for Wide Bay.  He was elected to the Australian Parliament at the 2016 Federal Election, and re-elected in May 2019.

Before entering Parliament, Llew served as a police officer in the Wide Bay region for 16 years and specialised in criminal intelligence and traffic accident investigation.

During his time as a road crash investigator, he became a passionate advocate for road safety. His experiences motivated him to stand for public office in Wide Bay where he could continue to campaign for improved roads, particularly the Bruce Highway.

Following his election, Llew took his fight for safer roads to Canberra, and in 2018 he convinced his colleagues in Parliament to fast-track delivery of the $1 billion  Section D of the Cooroy to Curra Bruce Highway upgrade, which will save countless lives.

He continues his work to reduce road death tragedies in his role as chairperson of the Joint Select Committee on Road Safety.

Llew is a very strong advocate for aged care and mental health, and has worked with the community to secure Federal funding for more than 721 new aged care places in Wide Bay, as well as new headspace youth mental health services for Gympie and Maryborough. He is also a keynote speaker for mental health charity BeyondBlue.

He is committed to strengthening the economy to create jobs and has delivered significant projects to drive job growth in Wide Bay, including:

* $28.5m for the Nioa Rheinmetall projectile forging plant in Maryborough creating 178 jobs
* $18 million to secure a water supply to sustain Maryborough’s cane industry securing 600 jobs
* $1.75 million to create new jobs at DTM Timber
* An Industry Training Hub to be located in Maryborough
* A $5 million towards the Nolan Meats upgrade at Gympie, creating 200 jobs
* $267,000 for Teys Murgon Beef cattle hide processing facility expansion, creating jobs in the South Burnett
* $2.5 million to reconstruct the Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club boosting local jobs in Noosa
* $2.5 to expand the Digital Hub at Peregian Beach to foster creativity and entrepreneurship.

Llew works hard to engage with all levels of government and deliver better services to Wide Bay to ensure that every local family, household and business has the opportunity to share in our nation’s prosperity.