Workers a priority for Central Ward’s Simpson

AS an academic and policy advisor, Kumuda Simpson has worked behind the scenes, supporting students to make a difference to their world.

“Over my years teaching, we’d discuss climate change, global war and poverty. Students would want to go off and work for the UN, but my advice was to always start locally,” she said.

“Some politics students were interested in government roles and I said, big things happen in the State and Federal governments, but some of the most important changes need to be made in local government for the community.”

With issues like climate change and the rights of working people front of mind, one day Ms Simpson was “despairing.”

Her husband suggested she take the advice she had given to others, and jump at the opportunity to become a candidate in the upcoming City of Ballarat council elections.

“I thought, I’ll throw my hat in the ring and see what happens.”

A Labor endorsed option for Central Ward voters, Ms Simpson wants to be an advocate for publicly owned services.

“We really need to make sure that the City of Ballarat continue to deliver the services that the community needs, and that we don’t start to cut things when there’s an economic downturn.

“When we lose those services, it’s very hard to get them back,” she said.

As the municipality recovers from the economic impacts of COVID-19, Ms Simpson wants the focus to be on working people.

“We need to make sure we support those facing disadvantage and doing it tough, through a whole range of measures. Councils have a lot of tools to think creatively about how they support the community.”

She will aim to push for more transparency in local government, and find new ways to speak affectively with ratepayers so their voices are reflected in the actions of councillors.

“That’s a constant two-way conversation. I just want people to have a voice, including people who don’t normally feel that they are represented,” she said.

“There are a lot of people who get missed, so if I’m lucky enough to get elected, I want to work with the next set of councillors collaboratively and speak to everyone.”

A university academic for more than 10 years, Ms Simpson ventured into public policy advising in the natural resource management sector last year.

“I work for the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations. We work with Traditional Owner groups to advocate for tradition owners’ rights in policy.

“I’m particularly involved in water policy at the moment, and my passion is for using policy to achieve tangible outcomes on the ground for communities,” she said.

Recently developing a love of nature photography, Ms Simpson is a “new twitcher” that gets out in the morning to snap shots of birds in lake and wetland areas.

Moving to Ballarat three years ago, she loves the city’s history and has two children; a four-year-old and a high schooler.