Kezia Purick: 'Some say I'm to the right of Genghis Khan, which is OK by me'
|
Version 0 of 1. She is a champion of women’s reproductive rights but not a feminist; a former chief executive of the Northern Territory mining council who supports anti-fracking campaigns; and a colourful critic of Liberal ministers’ social conservatism who nevertheless says she is “to the right of Genghis Khan”. She is also a big fan of the Phantom. Related: Northern Territory plays musical chairs in late-night fiasco over Speaker Kezia Purick, the sharp-tongued, social media-loving parliamentary Speaker for the Northern Territory, has presided over a parliament even more controversial than she is. Even before she survived an attempt to oust her from the seat over her use of Facebook, Purick had made national headlines. In response to November 2014 comments by then federal minister for families Kevin Andrews that married couples stayed together longer than de factos, Purick posted a scathing attack on Facebook,labelling him a “pooncy, pasty-faced person from some pissant place that no one cares about”. She then threatened him with a green rubber ring – a cattle castration device – if he tried to tell her rural constituents how to live. In July she told then treasurer Joe Hockey to “go get a life” when he made dismissive remarks about the territory’s bid for statehood. That same month, Purick quit the Country Liberal party over what she said was a lack of integrity and transparency. She remained as Speaker as the independent member for Goyder, until late one night in November, when her former colleagues tried to unseat her for, among other things, posting about her colleagues on social media. The bid failed when an anonymous party member changed their vote between the public and secret ballots and Purick returned to the chair. So after such a fractious relationship with Country and Liberal colleagues, does she still consider herself part of the Australian conservative pack? “There’s no doubt about that,” she tells Guardian Australia across the table at her parliamentary chambers. “But if people say inappropriate things about the Northern Territory then I’m going to hold them to account. Especially these do-gooders from Canberra or wherever they’re from.” Parliament is done for the year, and Purick is working from her office in shorts and a polo shirt, her hands blinged up with a number of large gold rings. She speaks politely and sweetly, in a voice you would think more likely to offer a cup of tea than threaten a minister with farming tools. If people say inappropriate things about the Northern Territory then I’m going to hold them to account Andrews, she says, was telling “furphies” about de facto couples and upset many people in her electorate. So she responded. “I got lots [of letters] from my redneck country up here, saying ‘Good onya Kezia!’” she says. “Then I got about six emails from interstate. Judging by the tone of the email – nothing bad, no one was abusing me – I would say they were more mature people of Christian standing. One person … he said I was against Christians or against Catholics or something. I wrote back to him and said, ‘Actually, I am a Catholic. I was born a Catholic, raised a Catholic, done all that stuff. And I said I do know my Bible reasonably well and this is not about that, this is about this. Love Kezia’. “Never heard back from any of them.” Purick, 57, joined politics in 2008 to fight for her rural home and neighbours against encroaching development. Both her parents were politicians. She joined the CLP because she is “very conservative”. “Some people say to the right of Genghis Khan, which is OK by me!” She laughs, and says “not really”, but conservativism appealed to her so she could “make the playing field even such that anyone who wants to have a go can have a go”. Her politics have not wavered, but her loyalty to the party she joined has. Purick says she gave ample warning of her concerns before quitting the party, but the government did not listen. Her resignation sent the CLP into minority government – no mean feat after winning 16 of the 25 seats at the 2012 election. “It doesn’t help – midnight coups where you haven’t done your research properly, or you want to slap people, then you move a motion against the Speaker and it spectacularly fails,” she says. “That was all national news. We seem to be at some kind of crossroads where no one is happy and they’re not holding together very well at the moment. I’m not sure if Labor would do it any better.” Related: How the Northern Territory government went from landslide to 'laughing stock' Purick’s mother, Noel Padgham, had a similar career path as a CLP member who turned independent. Padgham retired in 1997 and lives on the same large block of land as Purick and her siblings. Ironically, Purick’s mother supported the now-treasurer Dave Tollner, a man Purick famously and frequently disagrees with, in his first tilt at politics. Purick slaps the table. “My mother is on my side, let’s put it that way. I should say we’re on the side together. She did a lot of work trying to support him.” Tollner is a top performer in the CLP government’s list of controversies. In 2014 he was forced to resign as deputy chief minister after it emerged he had made homophobic slurs against a colleague’s staffer. More recently, when the attorney general, John Elferink, was under fire for saying he was “really tempted to give [Labor MP Natasha Fyles] a slap”, Tollner stood to defend him, telling parliament he would have told Fyles to “toughen up, princess”. “My mother was very disappointed, and she’s been disappointed with him for a few years now, about his behaviour and his attitude,” Purick says. “I think Dave Tollner has a problem with women in positions of power. I’ve watched him in this job and I couldn’t say he’s respectful of women. I wouldn’t say he’s disrespectful, but he’s not respectful.” Elferink apologised and was forced to give up his White Ribbon ambassadorship after the slap comment, one of many controversies to dog the past year of NT politics. Midnight leadership spills, frequent infighting, failed media stunts, scandalous resignations of the police commissioner and corrections commissioner, and the defection of several ministers from the CLP, have all contributed to a poor national image and low satisfaction among Territorians. “I was really surprised that one senior government member, up until three or four months ago, didn’t know we had a members’ code of conduct as a piece of legislation,” Purick says. Purick declines to name the member, but is critical of a number of her former colleagues for their behaviour and their approach to legislation. There’s a lot of women out there who will fight for what is right for other women She says she has been forced to resort to freedom of information applications to find out about government plans for a development in her electorate, and accuses ministers of allowing ideological values to trump the wishes of constituents. In February Purick hopes to table her private member’s bill to bring the NT in line with the rest of the country and make the abortion drug RU486 available. Purick is frustrated with the Territory’s failure to move on the matter until recently when “a couple of real champions” began campaigning. “Why didn’t Labor introduce it four years ago?” she says. “I’d say the current government in cabinet knocked it down because one, they probably perceived it as controversial, and two, I think there was lack of sympathy in the room because of their personal Christian values and ideological positions. But you should be listening to what your constituents say, not whether you ideologically agree or disagree with it.” Purick says providing the choice is a “basic fundamental right of a woman”. “There’s a lot of women out there who will fight – which is something I’ve come to realise – for what is right for other women,” she says. It’s a topic that comes up several times in the interview. Purick does not call herself a feminist and does not believe in the glass ceiling, but says there are obstacles in business and government that need to be removed so women can reach the same heights as men. The continued celebration of “firsts” – first female or Indigenous head of state for example – is annoying, she says, pointing to the Territory’s history of diverse representation. The family of her Dutch father originated in the Croatian region of Dalmatia, and she jokes “you never hear about the first Croatian-Dalmatian speaker, do you?” She “fights for the rights of people, man or woman”, and champions ascension via merit over quotas. “However, sometimes you have to do something, create an action to allow women to get in,” she says. Doesn’t that all sound like feminism? “Oh, does it?” she laughs. “Well maybe I get worried and think ‘oh if I say I’m a feminist they’ll think I’m a lefty’. We can’t have that!” It’s among the contradictions of Purick. Her path to the Speaker’s chair included being chief executive of the NT minerals council for almost 20 years, but she is now a staunch supporter of the coalition of pastoralists, environmentalists and Indigenous groups fighting against fracking in the territory. However, she repeatedly refuses to be drawn on her own views. “I understand where the industry is coming from, that I do know. And I do believe industry when they say they try and do the right thing, however, mistakes do get made,” she says. “Whether I personally agree with them, that’s my business. Do I personally think fracking can be done OK? Yes I do. However [residents] have fears, so that’s what I have to address.” She says the government missed an opportunity to get on the front foot with fracking and speak to people before they became scared. It’s a common theme – this government, particularly Tollner and chief minister Adam Giles, do not consult people, Purick says. She gives credit to Elferink for getting out and talking to his constituents while he championed an online public register of sex offenders for the Territory. But the consultation on the bill – dubbed “Daniel’s Law” after the murdered son of Bruce and Denise Morcombe – did not extend to stakeholders. The proposed law was roundly criticised or dismissed by legal groups, victims’ advocates, other state and territory governments, and the former prime minister Tony Abbott. Elferink defended it regardless, claiming experts would give “all the reasons in the world” not to establish the register, but “then you sit down and speak to the Morcombe family and you realise that you are in fact compelled to do these things,” he said. “No one takes away from [the Morcombe’s] tragedy, but was he proposing good law for Territorians? All those people out there who were experts in their field said no,” says Purick. “He’s meant to be basing his decisions on fact and evidence and particularly given he’s legally trained himself, you’d think he’d base things on evidence.” Elferink was the main instigator in the attempt to unseat Purick in November, claiming she was increasingly biased inside and outside the house. Related: Joe Hockey should 'go get a life', says Northern Territory Speaker Kezia Purick “It is not unusual for you to make a number of Facebook posts during the course of the sitting day and at other times,” he said. “You sit there and tweet and make Facebook posts critical of members in this house while debates are going on.” “That was a nonsense,” Purick scoffs. “Adam Giles tried to say that as well, that I’d been critical of ministers as people. I said, ‘No I haven’t, go back and show me where’.” Elferink told Guardian Australia: “The Speaker is entitled to her own opinion.” Purick’s Facebook page is a mixed bag of parliamentary business, being out in her electorate, and photos of her family, pets and rural life. She freely shares her opinions – including a suggestion she is against halal certification – and of course has the odd blow-up about federal politicians or the NT government. Social media is “an incredibly useful tool to communicate, as long as you do it properly,” she says. Purick denies she has ever abused it, or used it to attack other NT ministers. She is not averse to a cheeky retweet of comments from the press gallery, or replying in agreement to constituents on Facebook who criticise the government. A tweet Elferink read out as an example of her posting from the chair turned out to have been sent during a break and did not refer to any individual. “Government wants to sack the Speaker as they disagree with my member for Goyder motion,” it read. Purick says: “If the government’s done something I don’t like, you find where I’ve been critical of an individual minister.” Kevin Andrews? Purick laughs. “Oh yeah, but he’s fair game. And Joe Hockey.” |