In this episode, we talk to Mr Luke Gosling OAM, MP, Federal Member for Solomon and Deputy Chair of the Australian Labor Party Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Caucus Committee, about engaging the Australian voters in the political discourse.
Topics covered include:
- The importance of promoting the Northern Territory in Federal Parliament
- The founding of Life, Love and Health
- Australia’s relationship with East Timor (Timor-Leste)
- The challenges of political life
- The challenges facing Darwin and the Northern Territory
- How we can sustainably develop Australia
- Australia’s role in the Indo-Pacific region
- How to engage political with Australia’s First Nations People
- The importance of education on trauma
- The multicultural nature of Darwin and the surrounding areas
- The importance of environmental sustainability in the Top End
- How climate change affects the Northern Territory
- Engaging young people in the political discourse
- How to bring a sense of fun and life into Parliament
- The issues with current territory rights
- The need to put pressure on Government as a member of Opposition
About Mr Gosling:
Luke Gosling grew up the eldest of eight kids. They had little money so they all worked, looked after each other and contributed to their community. Luke’s work brought him to the north and he now lives in Darwin, is married to Kate and has a daughter and a son.
Luke started his working life with Defence, spending 13 years in the Army, including leadership roles in Parachute Infantry, Commandos, Defence Cooperation Programs, the Territory’s own Norforce as well as overseas service in PNG, Malaysia and Timor-Leste. Luke’s time in the Army taught him duty and service, teamwork and leadership.
After leaving the Army, Luke worked overseas in countries such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Albania and Timor-Leste. Luke co-founded a not-for-profit NGO: Life, Love and Health (LL&G); an Australian volunteer charity for Timor-Leste.
LL&H has fundraised and built schools, brought running water to remote villages, and delivered maternal health care. For this work, Luke was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2006 for his relief work during the 2006 humanitarian crisis.
Luke established the Remote Area Health Corps in 2008, a Territory based federally funded program to prepare and provide GPs, nurses, dental and allied health professionals to remote Northern Territory health centres.
Luke strongly believes in contributing to the community and here in Darwin he works as a Vinnies volunteer after serving as the Darwin CEO.
Luke believes strongly in the need for the Federal Government to invest in jobs infrastructure in the Territory to ensure that the North continues to develop and that it's our growing communities are productive, liveable and sustainable.
