Pom in Oz with Derek Goforth: Pollies should live it, not just visit it, if they want to represent us

One of the quiet expectations Australians have of their politicians is a fairly simple one. If you represent a community, you should live in it. That idea is not complicated. It is not ideological. It is just common sense. Which is why the recent news about Premier Roger Cook deciding to move closer to the city and rent out his home in Wellard has struck such a nerve. Yes, he is the Premier of Western Australia. The job comes with long hours, heavy responsibility and a demanding schedule. But he is also still the Kwinana MLA. That matters. Local members are supposed to be exactly that — local. They are meant to see the same streets, shop at the same supermarkets, sit in the same traffic and deal with the same daily realities as the people who elected them. That proximity is important because it keeps politicians grounded. When you live in the community you represent, you cannot avoid the conversations about rising grocery prices or the frustration over housing costs. You hear it at the shops, at school drop offs and at local sporting events. But when politicians drift away from those communities, something else drifts with them. Perspective. The Premier has suggested that maintaining his Wellard home while living closer to the city for work simply does not add up financially. Now I do not doubt that commuting every day from the outer suburbs to the city can be tiring. Plenty of Western Australians know exactly what that drive looks like. But when that explanation comes from someone earning more than $400,000 a year and owning several properties, it is hard for ordinary families to see it as a genuine hardship. When someone on a Premier’s salary talks about the financial difficulty of keeping a home in the electorate they represent, it is fair to say the average working parent struggles to relate. But the deeper issue here is not really about money. It is about connection. The best representatives are the ones who stay deeply embedded in the communities they serve. In regional Western Australia you see that model working every day. Take Geraldton’s local member Kirrilee Warr. She lives in the community she represents. She is present at events across Geraldton and the Mid West, listening to people, hearing concerns and dealing with the everyday issues that affect regional families. Imagine for a moment if she announced she was leaving Geraldton and moving permanently to Perth because the travel was inconvenient. The reaction would be immediate and fierce. Yet when something similar happens in the metropolitan area, we are apparently expected to accept it as a practical decision. The truth is that commuting is simply part of life for thousands of Western Australians. Every morning people leave homes in the outer suburbs and regional towns and make long trips to their workplaces. Some sit in traffic for an hour or more. Others rely on trains and buses that are often crowded and delayed. They do it because that is what providing for a family requires. They do it because moving closer to work is not an option. And they do it while remaining part of the communities they belong to. For years Roger Cook cultivated the image of a suburban dad who understood that reality. A family man from the southern suburbs who knew the daily rhythm of work, commuting and raising children. That image helped build trust with voters. But moments like this make people question whether that image was ever truly real. As a dad juggling work, family responsibilities and the ongoing costs that come with raising kids in modern Australia, I can honestly say the Premier’s situation feels a long way removed from the one most of us are living. Most fathers I know are not deciding which property to move out of. They are trying to work out how to stretch their income far enough to support their families and give their kids a chance to build a future. They are driving to work every day because that is simply what needs to be done. And when it comes to the people elected to represent us, many of us still hold onto a very traditional belief. Representation should mean living it. Not visiting it occasionally. Derek Goforth is an expat and father of three living and working in Geraldton.