Fiona Carricks wants to create better town centres in the southside. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
You couldn’t find anyone more Woden than Fiona Carrick.
Arriving in the area as a two-year-old when her family moved up from Melbourne, she attended Sacred Heart and Torrens primary schools, spent weekends at Phillip Pool and the Cosmopolitan Twin Cinemas, before getting her first job at Big W in Woden Plaza and becoming a trainee manager at the Southern Cross Club.
Frustrated at seeing close-by amenities gradually disappear, she joined advocacy group Woden Valley Community Council in 2016 and has fought to improve the town centre over the past eight years.
This battle culminated in her election to represent Murrumbidgee [Woden region, Weston Creek and Molonglo] as an independent in the Legislative Assembly on Saturday (19 October).
Region caught up with the 59-year-old mother of three to find out about Woden’s glory days, her motivation for getting into politics and her vision for the rest of Murrumbidgee.
What was Woden like in the 1970s and 1980s?
We had a lot more things to do. Mum and Dad both worked in Woden, we had the indoor sports stadium, the pool and a bowling alley. There were great sporting facilities, I played netball and tennis.
We had nightlife all through Phillip – The Shanty, the Contented Soul, Honeys, Elbow Room and so much more. Young people didn’t need to go to the city, you’d party here and catch the 11:33 pm bus home.
We used to have carols in the town square when we had the big pond.
What’s changed?
We lost a lot of the facilities, the bowling alley, the nightlife started closing down and the recreation precinct is pretty much gone.
It’s still a very nice place to live, but it could be better.
Is that why you became active in the community?
I was wondering what was going on with the loss of our amenities and looked for leaders who could get involved. I thought, ‘if it’s not me, who’s grown up here, then who is going to fight the good fight?’.
When I was on the Woden Valley Community Council, I was focussing on Woden. They used to call me the ‘mayor of Woden’. But since being a candidate, I’m all about the whole electorate.
Fiona Carrick (second from left) was active in the lobby group Save Phillip Pool. Photo: Facebook.
What’s your vision?
I want to see Woden as the CBD of the south. It would have an indoor sports stadium, an aquatic centre, an arts centre and an entertainment precinct. People from around the region could catch a bus here and enjoy it.
It’s central to the south. If we had proper and ambitious town planning, we could chip away at better outcomes, apply to get grants, build more facilities. We don’t have good planning done now, everything is piecemeal.
My vision is also for Southlands, for Coolamon Court and Molonglo. I want to build up great town centres in those places and make them more attractive places for people to come together.
What did people think when you decided to run as an independent?
Everybody said to me, ‘what are you doing, you don’t have a chance’. But with the lack of ambition for Canberra’s south and a lot of the activity becoming entrenched in the north, I just felt it was the only way to try and change things. The government wasn’t listening to us in the community council. I came close at the 2020 election and was happy to be successful this time.
How did you enjoy campaigning?
There were a lot of dirty tricks. Some of my corflutes were sliced up with a machine or pushed over.
[Labor] also tried to say that voting for an independent would give you a conservative government. But my motto was just ignore them and focus on my own campaign.
I had a wonderful team of volunteers supporting me.
What sparked your passion for Phillip Pool?
When it briefly re-opened last year, we had a pool party. It demonstrated what it was like in the old days. It was packed, there was music, a barbecue, there were kids playing on the grass, it showed what a great facility it is – a green oasis among the concrete towers. People are very upset we are going to lose it.
The new territory plan allows for it to be turned into a 25-metre pool, that’s what the [private sector] owners Geocon could do. That’s not good enough, our pool should be publicly owned.
How do you feel about becoming an MLA?
Since 2016, I’ve been working during the day at my job [in finance for the federal public service] and doing community activity at nights.
I can now work for the community with just one job, instead of having to have two.
I don’t want to be a disruptor. I want to work constructively to get better outcomes from the Murrumbidgee.
Finally, where is a good place to get a feed in the Woden area?
I love the Vietnamese place at Curtin Shops, they do a great Banh Mi and beef stew.
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