AS a Sydney girl, Gabrielle Chan’s most memorable moment in the bush was watching The Wizard of Oz at a cinema in Hay.
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Now nearly 50 years after that Riverina stop-off, the journalist has written a book, Rusted Off, that aims to explain rural life and its politics.
“I think there’s a kind of space for telling a more nuanced story and a more modern story about rural Australia,” Chan said.
A journalist with The Guardian Australia, Chan’s immersion into regional life came after she married and moved to Harden-Murumburrah, north of Cootamundra, in 1996.
“Rural Australia was a land in a fairy tale, existing only in books and movies,” Chan writes in her book’s introduction.
She then recalls the big summer road trip of 1970 with her visiting Chinese relatives which included the musical movie session.
“What it must have been for Hay locals to see a Chinese family of seven getting out of a little Cortina in 40 degree heat,” Chan writes.
“I still remember sliding around those vinyl seats, sticking my head out of the open window, nose up like a kelpie as I was blasted with hot air.”
Community group Voices for Indi will host Chan this weekend on a speaking tour which includes events in Albury, Violet Town, Wangaratta and Shepparton.
Rusted Off examines the rise of Indi independent MP Cathy McGowan and the role of Voices for Indi.
Chan told The Border Mail it was clear Ms McGowan had developed a brand and was industrious.
“She looks to be a diligent MP in the parliament, following in the the wake of (Tony) Windsor and (Rob) Oakeshott, that independent small-l Liberal filling a void in seats where traditionally voters find it hard to go to Labor,” she said.
Having watched the success of an independent candidate in the Wagga by-election, Chan expects more voters to opt for those not aligned to major parties at the next federal election provided conditions are conducive.
“You have to have an MP on the nose, good organisation and profile, if no-one knows your name it’s a pretty hard ask,” she said.
The former Australian journalist, using interviews and radio talkback as a yardstick, has been pleased by the reaction of city folk to Rusted Off.
“You can see it in the drought coverage there’s a deep well of support in the city for rural people, particularly farmers but I wanted to talk about the whole rural and regional society,” Chan said.
“It’s not all farmers and agriculture.”
Details for her talks are at www.voicesforindi.com
