This weekend Australians vote for members of the federal parliament — we have heard lots of campaigning but we want to know if they are the right people for the job. So the Sun invited two year 12 students from Glenwood High School to grill Greenway political candidates for the position of Member of Parliament. Annie Lombardi, 17, interviewed Chris Brentin from The Greens. Here is what Mr Brentin had during his ‘‘job interview’’: ■ Annie Lombardi: Why do you think you are the best person for the job? ■ Chris Brentin: I have a connection to the area. I know the electorate and I have a connection with the electorate. That’s from being born and raised in Blacktown. Secondly, the line of work that I do, which includes working as a business manager for a disability employment service. I’m fortunate enough to be engaging with the community on a daily basis. And thirdly, the backing of my party. The Greens, are a really strong party. They have good policies and principles and they have a really good vision where they want the country to be going. ■ AL: Why do you want to pursue a career in politics? ■ CB: I’m a member of The Greens and there is no other greater honour than to be able to communicate and stand for that party and communicate to the electorate and explain their policies to the electorate. ■ AL: What are your greatest strengths for the job? ■ CB: It’s my ability to listen. Obviously that comes from the line of work that I’m doing. As I said before, I have the opportunity to be out there and engaging with the community and a big cross section of the community. Also from my training in psychology in university. That’s where I developed my listening skills. If you listen to people, in the case of the candidate to the electorate, you are essentially getting an understanding of what they want. ■ AL: What are your weaknesses? ■ CB: There is a flip side of being a good listener. When you are a good listener and you are listening to people, it’s important to know that if there are issues that come up that you would be wanting to help those people with those issues. As I do in my line of work or if I was to be elected I would obviously help those people with those issues to the best of my ability. I think for me I have to remember that there are other support networks that you able to draw on to assist that person. ■ AL: Why have you chosen to work for The Greens? ■ CB: I think I chose to work for The Greens for one main reason - it’s because their vision of where the country should be going is in line with where I believe where we should be going as a nation. I believe we are the party of the future. We are the party that understands that we need to invest in all levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary) because this is really the key to our future as a nation. The Greens have an understanding that the economy and the environment need to work hand in hand. If we have a good environment that inevitably creates a stable and good economy.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 04:54:10 +0000
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