Energised by youth and education

STAWELL’S Maurice Billi has championed those who feel as if their voice has never been heard, over the last 20 years.

In his work in the health and education sectors, he has supported people at risk, particularly youths disengaging with education, who have mental health concerns, are at risk of homelessness, have experienced family violence or are in out of home care.

“That’s my passion, working with young people, where I also get a lot of energy. Our young people are amazing now,” he said.

“Sometimes they get a bit of a bad rap, but I see a really different side… what energises them, what passions they have and what a valuable asset they are to our community and to our future.”

Dedicating multiple aspects of his life to supporting youth, Mr Billi has been a foster carer for 20 years. It’s a major privilege and honour of his life.

“It’s been one of the best things that I’ve ever done. I would honestly say I’ve learnt more from the young people who have been in my care than they’ve learnt from me,” he said.

“I have loved being able to provide just something for young people who, for no fault of their own, aren’t able to live with their own families.”

Mr Billi said the system desperately needs more foster carers to take the leap, at a time where he walks into a new era of challenge and responsibility.

Feeling humble and grateful, he was recently selected as Labor’s candidate for the federal seat of Wannon, where there are plenty of local issues to address. Last year, he contested the state seat of Lowan.

He’s always taken an interest in politics as an observer, but after some advocacy and policy work, joined the Labor Party, finding a way to bring his thoughts forward differently.

“A lot of my priorities broadly do associate with providing a voice and an opportunity to people who don’t really feel like they’ve got a seat at the table and haven’t had an opportunity to have their issues canvassed broadly.

“We have areas that are obviously thriving, but we’ve also got pockets of the electorate that are losing population, they’re losing infrastructure, they’re losing resources,” Mr Billi said.

“We need to really have a broad rural and regional recruitment and retention strategy to get people and families to come to our area for opportunities.”

He said there are areas of Wannon with high youth unemployment, but those people should be supported to stay and find work rather than move away.

“Labor’s commitment to TAFE is one that’s been needed for quite a while and I’m so excited about that because having a strong TAFE sector is critical in getting opportunities locally for our young people to be trained and employed.”

Mr Billi is committed, more than anything, to education.

“I spend a lot of time in schools in my work and just see our government schools, who have wonderful teachers, kids and families, really struggling sometimes to meet the day to day needs in terms of resources, support, infrastructure and upgrades to the basic stuff,” he said.

“The gap between the haves and the have-nots in the education sector is growing and we need to really look at how we can get better funding, better support, better resources for our government schools that do an amazing job.”

Securing reliable telecommunications and internet access, and maintaining “fit for purpose” roads is also on the agenda.

But the campaign isn’t everything, and Mr Billi’s favourite hobby is certainly a calmer change of pace from politics. You’ll often find him bush walking or hiking.

“I love to travel and explore, but I sort of like to go off the beaten track. My interests are certainly around connecting with the environment and the land,” he said.

“I like the basic stuff, good food, the ocean and the beaches, spending time with people that I really like being with, and unfortunately, also being a cricket and football tragic.”

Moving from Western Australia 25 years ago, he always had an affinity to Victoria and what Wannon had to offer.

“It’s a wonderful part of Victoria. I was always attracted to the south coast, the Great Ocean Road and I’ve always had a soft spot for Port Fairy,” he said.

“Moving into the Grampians area, the mountain range and the open living… Just the diversity of what Wannon offers culturally with the food and wine, tourism, agriculture, the changing landscape, I just think it’s got everything.”