Sophie Conlon
As the first female state minister that has hailed from the Limestone Coast, Clare Scriven is a role model for young women in the region who would like to work in politics.
Ms Scriven got her start in politics when she was in her early 20s working for an Adelaide Labor representative, then in her mid-20s she had the opportunity to enter the upper house herself.
“But I decided that that wasn’t what I wanted, I had a four-week-old baby at the time, we were hoping for a big family, we ended up with six children,” she said.
“So I decided that wasn’t what I wanted to do and a lot of people said, ‘You’ll never have another opportunity,’ and I assumed that was the case and I thought that was fine.
“Part of being a women in this era is we have to make those choices, we can choose, and it’s not just to choose to have a particular pathway such as a career, but its also to choose whatever is right for you in your particular circumstances.”
Choosing to be at home with her children, Ms Scriven said it was hard to get back into the workforce as many people did not value the skills that were obtained caring for children.
“When I was home full time with my children for a period of time, our culture still doesn’t value that and so it was difficult to then go back into a career,” she said.
“There is still very much a lack of value of the skills that you have and things that you do when you are home caring for children.”
To get back into the workforce, Ms Scriven said she took roles that were below her skill level and worked her way back up.
Ms Scriven was working in the welfare sector, and enjoyed being able to help people who needed it.
“It was really good to be able to help people on an individual basis, but I could see the systemic issues which needed more than one-on-one help, so that was one of the things that really spurred me on to get back into politics,” she said.
So after 15 years, Ms Scriven decided to get back into politics, so she could help make change.
“I was able to get pre-selection for the upper house and I became the shadow minister straight away and, once we won government last year, became minister straight away,” she said.
“I consider myself very very fortunate to be able to do that.”
Now Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development and Minister for Forest Industries, Ms Scriven said she was thankful for the support of her husband and children who understood why she wanted to be in politics.
“They understand why I’m there and that’s why they’re willing to accept those sacrifices, because it’s not just sacrifices you make as an individual, families do make sacrifices as well,” she said.
Ms Scriven said she was disappointed there were not more women from the south east in state and federal politics.
“Being the first women living in the south east and being in state parliament and the first women as a minister in the south east, it’s disappointing that that’s the case – it shouldn’t be the case,” she said.
She also said it made sense for parliament to be made up of about 50 per cent women, because the population is 50 per cent women.
“Without that, we don’t get the balance of views about things, the way different policies will affect different people, so I think that balance is really important, and any party that doesn’t have that is going to be at a disadvantage,” she said.
Ms Scriven said it was important to celebrate International Women’s Day and all the women in the region.
“It’s a really good opportunity to stop and think about what we’ve achieved as women and support and celebrate each other, it’s an important thing that often we don’t do and to be able to share experiences, challenges and successes is really important,” she said.
She encouraged women to enter politics and was always happy to talk to them about how that could happen.
