Carol Sparks, the former Glen Innes Severn Council mayor who attracted national attention during the black summer bushfires, will challenge Barnaby Joyce at the federal election with a clarion call on climate change action.
With one eye on the nearby flood disaster in the northern rivers and the ongoing impacts of the 2019-20 bushfires still causing anxiety in her region, Sparks says she will be standing up for the voiceless in the National party-held electorate of New England in northern New South Wales.
“With all the climate catastrophes that we’ve had, people feel lost and they feel depressed,” she says.
“We need a voice that’s on the ground and knows what’s going on.”
The former nurse has served as a councillor since 2016, and in 2018 became the first female mayor in the town’s history. But it’s her reminders about climate change during the 2019-20 black summer fire crisis that she’s remembered for well beyond the local government area.
Sparks gave the world’s media eyewitness accounts of the unprecedented Kangawalla fire that burned through her home town Wytaliba east of Glen Innes, claimed two lives and destroyed homes and infrastructure.
She is undaunted about standing for the Greens in National party heartland.
“I have no aspirations to win this. Being a Green and being a very lonely Green out in the country in a very National party seat, it’s a bit cheeky; but I feel it’s worthwhile and at my age I’ve still got the energy and the passion to do this,” she says.
The issue of inadequate health services in the bush has long been a political driver for Sparks, who moved to the Glen Innes region with husband Badja and their young family in 1980.
“I’ve been very much involved in the health system, and trying to get better healthcare for our rural areas, and it seems to have fallen on deaf ears,” she says.
“My question is, what are the ministers doing?
“In the last few years we’ve lost so many friends it’s unbelievable, and that’s caused by lack of healthcare, lack of mental healthcare, bushfires, floods, just the stress of all that, it makes you think ‘what are we living here for?’.”
This month’s NSW bushfire coronial inquiry into the deaths of two of Sparks’ friends and neighbours – Vivian Chaplain and George Nole – is a stark reminder.
“That’s really bought it all back to us, and you just never get over those things,” she says.
Sitting National party MP Barnaby Joyce was accused of politicising the Wytaliba deaths at the time (Joyce subsequently said his comments had been misrepresented).
“I’m at an age now when I just deal with that sort of stuff by not making any comment, because he has since apologised for that,” Sparks says.
“But to me that shows his attitude, and it’s blatant, it’s out there and everybody sees it.”
Sparks also wants to tackle the abuse women face in politics.
She cites the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House as an example of the type of political culture she’d like to change for the sake of young constituents.
“What she had to put up with afterwards has just disgusted a lot of women, and in rural areas it’s not like we don’t know about these things.
“We’ve been absolutely disgusted at … some men’s behaviour, and I really want them to know that I support women, I support gay people, I support Aboriginal people, and children. Things are getting worse, not better.”
Inspired by the recent election of progressive Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, Sparks is prepared to push for fundamental reform.
“We have to get action on climate change; reducing emissions is the key, and we have to have government that supports that.
“We want to save the planet. It’s bigger than just New England.”
As part of the New England Joint Organisation, Sparks advocated for intergovernmental solutions that are pivotal to the state government’s adoption of renewables industries.
“We instigated a lot of things. I attended the first Renewable Energy Zone meeting that we had with [NSW Northern Tablelands MP] Adam Marshall, formulating how and where the Renewable Energy Zone was going to be.
“After my election as mayor, I called a climate emergency here in Glen Innes and astounded quite a few people,” she says.
Council subsequently voted for the measure and tasked the general manager with enacting its climate action plan.
Sparks advocates for starting with the basics, such as the use of LED lights, water tanks and energy self-sufficiency.
“We’ve got people who are very interested in council owning their own power and selling it. There’s a few towns in Victoria doing that,” she says.
She is adamant that New England could be a leader in climate action.
“We could be manufacturing electric cars and batteries. We have the capabilities, and we have people waiting in the sidelines to start these emission-reducing businesses,” she says.
“But without that support from the government it makes it very, very difficult.”
Sparks is frustrated by the government response to the devastation in the northern rivers and south-east Queensland.
“Thousands of people have been displaced, and it’s going to cost the government a lot of money not supporting the science on climate change.
“But we need leadership in this, they should know what to do, they just don’t seem to have the acumen to do it,” she says.
Michael Burge is a Glen Innes based journalist and assistant editor of the Rural Network.
