Sweating the small things...Lyons MHR Brian Mitchell on what makes him tick

Sometimes it’s small things, $50 out of his own pocket to help a local athlete compete on the Gold Coast. And sometimes for Brian Mitchell, it’s a big-ticket item like $80 million for a new Lyell Highway. 

“The core question is always: what’s the community benefit here?” he says. “Answer that and we’ve got a shot!”

In an extended interview with the Gazette this week, the Federal Member for Lyons talked about constantly adjusting focus from small-scale stuff, to those the size and cost of the new Bridgewater Bridge.

“First, it’s important to meet the needs of community groups and sports clubs for projects like those at the Boyer Oval, Tynwald Park or the Westerway Community Hall,” he said.

“To see these local groups and Council coalesce around these smaller improvements makes you realise you can do something worthwhile.” 

At the same time, Mitchell said he was also pleased to see bigger projects come to life. 

This week, for example, the Federal and State Governments committed to $100 million to rebuilding the 23 kilometres of the Lyell Highway between Granton and New Norfolk.

Like the impressive new bridge at the entry point to the municipality, the new highway extending from Bridgewater will bring significant change to New Norfolk and the Valley.     

“Remember, the electorate of Lyons is more than half of Tasmania,” he points out, “pretty much the  entire east coast and Tasman Peninsula, from the Derwent Valley to the Meander Valley, with the Midlands and Central Highlands between.”

Put another way, of Tasmania’s 29 municipalities, 12 are encompassed by Lyons. “That’s a lot of needs, a lot of conversations, a lot of mayors on the phone,” he laughs.   

It also speaks to the large distances Mitchell travels each day and each week. With that geographic spread comes a huge range of concerns. 

Mitchell’s task might involve a phone call about the dollar number on a power bill sent to an ordinary citizen. The same day, there’s a conversation with a manager of a large company whose power bill is into the millions.

Certainly, this parliamentarian is comfortable talking about funding for TYGA FM radio or the Lachlan Fire Brigade. He himself volunteers in sports canteens across the electorate, and makes weekend visits to the New Norfolk Market.

Back in Canberra, however, he’s Chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Communications and the Arts. 

It’s in that place he’s reminded that in largely rural areas like Lyons, financial assistance from government is needed most often. 

Health and education are obvious examples for city-fringe populations like Bridgewater and New Norfolk.

Mitchell talks about legislation currently going through the Parliament that will enable nurse practitioners to handle a broader range of health issues. It’s a change that could significantly boost the number of medical professionals working locally. 

Important, too, in hilly areas like the Derwent Valley is the so-called digital divide. 

The job is looking for ways for government to work with for-profit companies like Telstra to deliver parity with city areas and enable rural residents to access the internet for work and for play.

At the national level, Mitchell is most proud of changes wrought to the Commonwealth’s recent Stage 3 tax cuts. 

“We backbenchers got the Treasurer to listen to us on the subject, and as a result, gained real financial relief for families and expenses like mortgages, food and fuel bills,” he says. “It’s made a demonstrable difference for people across Tasmania.”

With a such a large swath of territory in his electorate, Mitchell works out of two offices, one in Bridgewater and the other in Perth in the state’s north. 

Outside of the office, his time is spent in the seat of a Kia Sorento, which will reach its mandated turnover of 100,000 kilometres in less than two years.

“The reward is coming to know these communities well, connecting with so many Tasmanians and being part of the their lives, even briefly,” he says. 

“To be instrumental in improvements in the health outcomes of these families, their education, their access to information, their kitchen table issues… I’m not sure it comes any better than that.”