Wagga City Council's youngest-ever female councillor promises to be a voice for the people

Following last month’s local government elections, Allana Condron officially became Wagga Wagga City Council’s youngest-ever female councillor.

At only 27, Ms Condron has proven that the experience of youth is what more and more people are looking for in different levels of politics.

“I believe that diverse councils become the most proactive councils,” she said.

“I think everyone has something different to add based on their experiences and their own walks of life. You’ve got to have people on council with different perspectives and different ways of putting your own opinion forward.

“I can obviously provide a perspective from a younger point of view that hasn’t necessarily been there before.”

While acknowledging that she is part of Wagga’s first female majority-led council, Ms Condron said she believed each councillor was elected based on what that individual could deliver.

“I guess it is a sign of change to come that we’ve seen a shift to a female-led council,” she said.

“I also don’t want to discredit the men that we do have in council. They have contributed a lot to so many conversations and will no doubt provide valuable insight to this upcoming term.

“I think it comes down to individuals. We have a really good council, and I’m excited to see what everyone brings to the table, whether they’re men or women.”

Two of the men who provided guidance and support for Ms Condron during the campaigning period are her running mates, elected councillor Tim Koschel and former councillor Mick Henderson.

Ms Condron said she met Cr Koschel after connecting via business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn.

“Tim has a wealth of knowledge, and it’s been really good being able to learn from him on what it takes to campaign and how to listen to the people of Wagga and what they believe the major issues are,” she said.

“Both Tim and Mick are very genuine, very honest people, and I align with them in that respect. It is a bit disappointing that Mick didn’t get on this term as well.

“He brought a lot to council during the past four years, even getting to know him on a personal basis, and how connected he is to the community. It’s actually inspirational.”

Ms Condron believes her experiences working at Wagga Wagga City Council as a strategy officer and project officer, as well as being the head of HR at Hutcheon & Pearce, can help her understand the wants and needs of the Wagga people.

“I worked across multiple functions in council, starting in customer service, so had that customer contact, and then I moved into HR as well, so internal, working with employees,” she said.

“I was also part of the equity project, which was a community-wide initiative, theDVproject:2650.

“I think you can contribute to anything that you put your mind to, but I think it starts by listening to people. That’s my number-one priority.

“I think we need to get and make sure that the budgets reflect what we need as a community. Looking at primary prevention of domestic and family violence and Wagga’s journey to reducing DV is something I’m really passionate about and something I have worked on in the past.”

Ms Condron and her fellow councillors will be sworn in at Wagga Wagga City Council’s first ordinary meeting of the new term next Monday, 14 October.