In this episode, we talk to Ms Peta Murphy MP, Member for Dunkley, about engaging the Australian voters in the political discourse.

Topics covered include:

- The history of Louisa Dunkley
- The inspiration to start a career in politics
- The importance of experience in areas of policy as a policy writer
- How making a joke in the public sphere can somewhat backfire
- The platform politicians have to talk about personal issues which reflect similar issues experienced by those in the broader community
- The need for an equitable healthcare system
- Dealing with ongoing health issues
- The importance of politicians engaging with their community
- The issues with Newstart and NDIS
- How important it is for young girls to have female role models in Parliament House
- How young people can engage their local politician around climate change
- The need to revitalise our education and training system in line with the developments to automation
- Why human connection is so important
- Why Australians should have hope for the future

About Ms Murphy:

Peta Murphy is the first woman to represent Dunkley, a seat named after a pioneering women who achieved equal pay for women in the 1902 Public Service Act - Louisa Dunkley.

Peta is proudly a public school graduate from the country.  Her love affair with Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula dates back to the turn of the century, when she was introduced to the region by her husband, Rod Glover, a Baxter boy through and through.  Following a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2011, Peta and Rod made the decision to move to Dunkley permanently – a decision they describe as the best one they ever made.  They are proud Frankston residents.

Prior to entering Parliament, Peta’s career was defined by a commitment to social justice and strong communities. In the decade and a half she worked in the Victorian justice system, Peta volunteered at her local Community Legal Centre, was a solicitor advocate, a Senior Public Defender at Victoria Legal Aid, a Barrister and a Team Leader at the Victorian Law Reform Commission. Peta has seen the corrosive effect that intergenerational disadvantage can have on people, families and communities and the way the operation of the legal system can cause further distress and damage to people when they're at their lowest. She understands that we need services—legal, social, health, employment and education—that work together to tackle disadvantage. It's that task that motivated her to move from the law into politics.

Peta also put her legal qualifications and personal experience of the health system to good use, serving as a Director on the Board of Peninsula Health. After running as the Labor candidate for Dunkley in the 2016 election, and motivated by witnessing the damage that cuts to public services and a lack of job opportunities cause individuals and communities, Peta took the position of Chief of Staff to The Hon Brendan O’Connor, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in 2017.

As part of her life long involvement in sport – as an athlete, coach and advocate for equality for girls and women - Peta has served as the President of Squash Victoria, Vice President of Squash Australia and member of the World Squash Federation Governance Committee.  Locally, she volunteered on the Peninsula Waves Netball Club committee, and has represented the Mornington Peninsula a number of times at the Victorian country squash championships.  She still tries to play squash when time permits, but is more or less resigned to the fact that her best days of competitive sport are behind her.


Peta’s ambitions for her time in the Federal Parliament are to be a strong voice for her community and to be part of a generation of Australian politicians who work to recover the public's faith in our democratic system. Peta believes that politics should be a vehicle for increasing opportunities and enlarging our national imagination.