MUNDARING deputy president Trish Cook has been chosen to be Labor’s candidate for the new federal seat of Bullwinkel and says her experience in collaboration will be her greatest strength for delivering the community’s requests.

Ms Cook pointed to her four years off council as an example of her ability to mobilise people and help them achieve what they want through collaborative work.

“In my four years off I (learned) what people wanted, and I knew how things worked, and I got involved in the community,” she said.

“I chaired a group called Darlington Community Recreation Advisory Group.

“We had this huge, big area in the main centre of the Darlington Village.

“As chair of this group, I got together and I did a year-long community consultation with my local community all the groups, all the residents nearby, including the fire brigade who are based there, and said, ‘What do you want for this area?’

“‘We can’t leave it like this — it’s just barren and looks like a disused mine site.’

“The shire at that time was saying they had no money, so in Darlington we just go up and do it ourselves, and that’s what I did.”

Ms Cook said she utilised the abundance of retired professionals in her area and secured a local architect to turn the local community vision into a plan.

“We had a plan, we had agreement, and all we needed now was money,” she said.

“It was election time, and we backed both horses, and Ken Wyatt was the successful candidate at the time against James Martin, but they both supported the community vision.”

Ms Cook was able to secure $375,000 in federal funding and deliver a pump track and revitalise the Darlington Village centre.

“I’ve worked with politicians from all parties, and I must say I’ve never met a politician whose heart wasn’t in the right place.

“I’m not the combative type, I’m the collaborative type and that’s always worked very well.

“I always say to the community my superpower is really getting the right people in.

“I don’t actually have those (expert) skills, but I know how to explain and communicate with people and get them on board.”

Ms Cook said her family and work history gave her reason to speak up for the vulnerable and also noted the nursing connection between her and Vivian Bullwinkel, whom the new seat is named after.

“My father, as a youth, was quite an exploited worker and he worked with a lot of immigrants,” she said.

“He was abused, and we had a strong sense of justice and equality in the house, so he eventually became a union secretary.

“Not that I’ve had much association with unions myself, but I’ve got those values of speaking up for people that can’t speak themselves and I think that comes from being a nurse as well.

“As a nurse you advocate for patients when they’re at their most vulnerable.

“It’s been a natural progression for me, and I think the next federal level will be exactly the same.”

Ms Cook said she looked forward to bringing all the concerns she had learned about from the community, from telecommunications to housing, to a federal level.

“I love where I live, I love the shire, and when Bullwinkel opened up it was just such an opportunity,” she said.

“Some things we don’t have control over in local government, and that does frustrate me, so if I’m in federal government, I’ll have more of an opportunity to handle those issues.”