Local government elections are coming up in October in Western Australia and ballot papers have just been mailed out to residents around the state.
Denise Mercer is one of the thousands of people who are putting their hand to represent their community at a local level. She’s hoping to represent the people of the North Central Ward on the Joondalup City Council.
Mercer spoke to OUTinPerth about why she’d made the decision to run, and what she’s hearing from local residents are the issues that matter the most.
Speaking to OUTinPerth Mercer said running for council was something that she’d thought of in the past, but at the time she held very demanding job roles. Now she’s in the right place in life to dedicate time back to her wider community.
“I was asked a couple of years to run, because the words that this person said to me was, ‘We needed ethical people who care about the community to be part of Council’. I guess I wasn’t ready at the time because my previous job was pretty full on, I was 150% committed to that, so I couldn’t commit to anything else.” Mercer shared.
In recent years through she found herself reading about issues local people were raising, and began to research each item more deeply. For Mercer getting all the facts, and understanding issues at their core is the approach.
“I think the council could do things better. I think the residents are the ones who need to be heard.” Mercer said, sharing that she’s concerned that some councilors see the position simply as a stepping stone to state or federal politics.
“Local government should be about the residents and making our communities better for residents. I’m not doing this for political gain. I’m not interested in political gain. I’m not interested in grandstanding. What I’m interested in is being the voice of the community.” she declared.
Mercer moved to Joondalup eleven years ago, and she describes it as the part of Perth that has the “best of everything” and while the city has beaches, lakes and a large shopping centre, what she nominates as the key is the people who live in the area.
Mercer has recently returned to being a student, but previously she spent 14 years working in the union movement with a focus on worker’s safety, and many people in the LGBTIQA+ community would know her from her time on the board of GRAI: GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc. Locally she’s also been involved with environmental groups too, including learning more about attempts to protect snake-necked turtles from community group Friends of Yellagonga National Park.
When out speaking to local residents in her area Mercer says on of the issues that is consistently raised in the redevelopment of Heathridge Park.
“We have this big, wonderful community centre and ovals where so many different clubs use the park. It was kind of built in the 1980s, back when we were wearing our ‘Relax’ t-shirts, and it really hasn’t had anything done to it since then.
“So if you walk into the buildings, it’s it’s really like stepping back in time. In 2009 the Council started talking about how it should be redeveloped. Well, let’s move on – we’re now 2025 and they’re still talking about it.
“They’ve had a feasibility study done. The state and federal government have committed to $7.5 million, the City of Joondalup has got it on the capital works plan but haven’t allocated a budget, and that’s just not good enough.” Mercer said.
The aspiring local politician also shared her concern that not enough have been learned about all the local groups who use the facilities to ensure that their future needs will be met.
Mercer also shares that she hopes more members of the LGBTIQA+ communities will consider putting their hands up to become councilors in the future.
“It’s been an interesting journey so far. It’s been very, very busy, but it’s been exciting. I think if they want to be part of something where they can make some valuable change to the community, then definitely look into it.
“I’m not coming into this all starry-eyed. I know that I’ll have a job to do, and that at times, it’s not going to be an easy job. I’m probably going to have people who call me a name or two because they don’t like the way that I’ve voted.
“I think you need to have a little bit of resilience for that, and also I remember that not everyone’s going to like me, but hey, being a lesbian, I’m kind of used to that now.”
“I think if people do care about their community, then I do think they should look at it, and especially with the reforms the state government are looking at doing, if they get through and they start making it compulsory voting, then we do need better people, and we need people who actually care.”
Find about more about Denise Mercer’s campaign at her Facebook page.
Denise is currently studying at Edith Cowan University. OUTinPerth editor Graeme Watson is also employed by the university.
