Ms Tina Ayyad MP, Member for Holsworthy and former Liverpool Councillor and Deputy Mayor, holds a deep affection for her region. She has a proven track record of championing the needs of her constituents, whether it’s through her efforts to safeguard the George’s River, increase infrastructure in the local area or support the residents entrusted to her.
In addition to her public service, Tina is also a devoted mother of three children with her husband, Ned. Her personal experience has taught her the importance of backing families to manage the cost of living, creating a brighter future for the youth, and cultivating a healthy livelihood and lifestyle for all local families.
Keeping News Local’s editor-in-chief, Suzy Michael, gained exclusive access to a personal one-one-one interview with Ms Ayyad, and gained some interesting insights about the new girl in town:
SM: What does life in your local area entail?
TA: I’ve lived in the electorate of Holsworthy coming on to 15 years now. I am raising my three kids in this area with my husband. My youngest has just turned four, I have an 11-year-old and a ten-year-old. It’s a beautiful area. I would never pick anywhere else in the world to live. I have made some strong connections in the area, namely through my time on council through being the Lady Mayoress, and through connections that I’ve made at my children’s local school and preschool. I love it here.
SM: Being a working woman, in politics nonetheless, how do you maintain work/life balance?
TA: Trying to balance work and life, particularly political work, is extremely challenging. Hats-off to every female out there who’s got it down pat. I am still finding my feet. I do have a lot of family support: I have a wonderful husband who is extremely supportive; my mother helps a lot; my mother-in-law helps a lot. I’m very grateful for them. So, I do have a wonderful support system and that has helped me.
SM: Who was Tina Ayyad prior to being elected?
TA: I hold a degree in education with a major in language literacy and numeracy, so, I was teaching English to people from non-English speaking backgrounds. I was also teaching literacy and literacy skills to speakers of the English language. I also served five years on local council, and I was Deputy Mayor at Liverpool City Council. In between that, I was being a mum…I love being a mum.
SM: What got you into politics?
TA: [laughs] I started out as a Young Liberal and I’ve been quite involved, more so in elections. I was involved in all types of federal, state and local elections, so I was always out there on the field. I found myself having conversations about policy and talking to residents about issues. I was presented with an opportunity to run on Local Council. I took that opportunity; I ended up winning and I loved the challenge that presented. It was extremely challenging, but I really did enjoy the journey. I think after that, politics just happened as a natural progression. I have always had the interest, so when the opportunity came, I took it.
SM: What’s your passion?
TA: I want to see the area really reach its full potential and I want to make sure that we get our fair share, and we are not left behind and forgotten. I really want to fight for the community, listen to their needs and advocate on their behalf.
SM: How do you intend to do that?
TA: I know the community need a lot of facilities, that’s for sure. Pools are a major one. We have had an issue in the electorate for quite a while where the local pools reached capacity on the hotter days and people were turned away. This usually happens during summer break and school holidays. Parents want to get out, take the kids to the local pool to cool off, have a day out, and they’re turned away, unfortunately, because we are reaching capacity. I want to make representation for this and request the new government to match the election commitment of the pool at Holsworthy. I also intend to be working with the member of Leppington for the pool at Carnes Hill. Although that is a Labor MP, it doesn’t matter. We still need to work together and bring it home for the people and really fight for them. So that is the major issue on the top of my list. We also need road upgrades, definitely! We need lots of them. Heathcote Road is a major one, and yes, works have already started. There are studies continuing on the rest of Heathcote Road, but I would really like to see that be upgraded all the way up to the Princess Highway. It is quite a dangerous road, the speed limit is quite fast there at night, there’s not much lighting, and I would like to advocate for this and request money in the budget be allocated for further upgrades to Heathcote Road or discuss this directly with the minister. That is something I hope to fight for. The other main thing people are concerned about is the cost of living, namely with the constant interest rate rises. Where can the government help? And those Active and Creative Kids Vouchers were absolutely amazing. The Liberals did not win [Government], but if they had, they were going to be able to swap over the Active Kids Vouchers with the Creative ones, and vice versa, depending on how their child was more inclined and which activities they preferred. I hope that is something that the new Government takes on.
SM: That is a long to-do list! Looking ahead, say in the next six months, what do you hope to start or accomplish for your area?
TA: The road upgrades, that is a major one. Also, the Georges River is extremely important – it’s a little gem and it is completely underutilised. The community doesn’t use it as much as they should, and I believe that it should be given back to the community. It is a beautiful place. There are a couple of beaches along the river as well, and during the summertime, you can see people sunbaking! There is a beautiful ecosystem in that area and lots of wildlife. We have had dolphin sightings and turtle sightings in the George’s River. It really is beautiful, and I would really like to see that given back to the community. Currently, the community are only using some parts of it, and the parts that they are using are quite rundown. We even have a community in my electorate, in the electorate of Holsworthy, that do baptisms in the Georges River. They are the Mandaean community, and we are the only electorate across the state that has a Mandaean community. The majority of Mandaeans came out to Sydney fleeing persecution, unfortunately, but a lot of them are from Iran and Iraq. Their belief is they follow John the Baptist, and they do their baptisms in living water. Rather than do a baptism once in their lifetime, they perform ongoing baptisms. I know that they use a very small section of the George’s River – it is not safe. There is no netting there and there are bull sharks in that water. If we had nets up, people could freely swim and the Mandaean community could do the baptisms without worrying about a shark attack – a shark attack has not happened in a long time, but we know they are out there, so I want to safeguard and protect my community.
SM: Hypothetically, if you were free to do what you wanted with your electorate with an unlimited budget, what do you want to see come to fruition?
TA: I want the people here to have the highest standard of living possible. I do not want them to travel to entertain their kids. I want the entertainment to be here, inhouse. And I would like to see everybody from all over the state coming out to the electorate of Holsworthy just to see what we have. The Georges River is key to this because it could be turned into an amazing facility if it had the right amenities, and it would service everybody across the electorate, including those that are out in the shire, so we no longer are coerced to leave the electorate for simple things like entertaining the kids. We have everything right here at home within close proximity.
SM: What would you like to say to the people in your electorate?
TA: I would like to thank them for their support. It is an absolute honour to be able to fight for them and to advocate to be the representative for Holsworthy. My electorate is extremely broad, so it covers a little bit of Liverpool LGA and a little bit of Sutherland Shire. I am extremely honoured. It is a lot to take on, but I take it extremely seriously and it is my hope that I will make them proud. I’m here to listen to them and I hope that they will reach out to myself, or any of the staff members in the office. We can make representations on their behalf to current ministers.
SM: What can a constituent come to you for?
TA: We can help them build relationships with other organisations, build relationships with government. We can also acknowledge all their achievements and we can work with state organisations to help them become aware of grants that might be available. There are a lot of not-for-profit organisations in the electorate that may benefit from that, and the grants are available, and they should apply for them. We have an opportunity to advocate, and we are an open-door policy. We are for everyone, for all people from all walks of life, even if it is someone from another electorate, we are happy to point them in the right direction.