The Making of East Gippsland's Youngest Mayor, Natalie O'Connell

Ever thought about what it takes to go from city life to leading a rural community? Join us as we sit down with Natalie O’Connell, the youngest ever Mayor of East Gippsland. Natalie shares her fascinating journey of trading her bustling city life in Melbourne for the rural charms of her childhood home, stepping into a position of influence at just 33 years old. 

In our intimate chat, Natalie throws light on her drive to ensure representation for her community, what sparked her transition into politics, and how she balanced her responsibilities with a newborn in tow. Discover the compelling story of Natalie's resilience, ambition, and commitment to her region, and be prepared to be inspired by the strength and spirit of the women shaping East Gippsland. Tune in for an episode filled with insights and tales from the heart of this unique corner of the world.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:21

Welcome to the Rural Venture Collective podcast, the show that celebrates the strength, innovation and resilience of women across East Gippsland. Whether you're a local resident or someone curious about the unique spirit of East Gippsland, this podcast is for you. Together, we'll explore the triumphs, the lessons learned and the dreams that fuel these East Gippsland women. Through this podcast, we'll dive into the heart of East Gippsland and shine a spotlight on the incredible women who are shaping business, creating art, nurturing the land and fostering connections across this vast region.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Get ready to be inspired, to learn and to be a part of a collection that celebrates the shared experiences that make East Gippsland more than just a place but a home. So grab a cup of your favourite local brew, find a cosy spot and tune in as we embark on a journey of connection and discovery together. I'd like to acknowledge the Gun-Eye-Kurn-Eye people as the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and future. Welcome to the Rural Venture Collective. Today we are delighted to introduce our guest, natali O'Connell, who has come all the way to the studio, the James Yates studio in Benzell, from Omeo.

Speaker 2: 1:58

Welcome, nat. Thanks, liz, I'm really happy to be here.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Well, thanks for coming on in Now. Listeners might be thinking Natali O'Connell, I know that name. How do I know that name? I think that you might have seen that on a ballot paper sometimes in recent years. Is that right, Nat? Were you our?

Speaker 2: 2:16

former mayor. I was on the East Bixby and Shire Council for four years, back in 2016 when I was elected.

Speaker 1: 2:25

Now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking when you were elected, you were actually the youngest mayor for the region. Is that right?

Speaker 2: 2:32

I sure was. Yeah, youngest mayor, first from the Omeo region and the fifth woman Right the East Bixby and Shire.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Yes, great. And what age were you?

Speaker 2: 2:43

I think I was thirty, thirty three, I'm not sure.

Speaker 1: 2:51

Fair enough.

Speaker 2: 2:51

I'm sure it's a bit of a blur. Yeah, it was a bit of a blur.

Speaker 1: 2:54

So tell me, thirty three years old, what is it that drives a young woman of that age, of an age, to want to join the Shire? Or do you want to become a counsellor?

Speaker 2: 3:07

I mean traditionally councils are probably older I'm stereotyping here but generally speaking older retired people, more than likely men. I think that's been certainly evident across regional councils across Victoria. But when I moved back from Melbourne to Omeo I felt like maybe my demographic or my region wasn't represented. I don't think I necessarily identified myself as someone who was representing young people in quotes, but I was wanting to represent Omeo and Omeo region, I suppose because I felt that we didn't have a voice.

Speaker 1: 3:48

Great. Well, I think that's really important and, of course, we want our councillors to represent all of our massive Eskipsland region. Just going back a little, you said you relocated, so you relocated from where?

Speaker 2: 4:04

From Melbourne. Yeah, my now husband. We moved back in 2011 and we both had jobs, but we quit them and sort of took the leaf of faith and moved back to my hometown and, yeah, Aaron's from Bansdale. But it was a big change and I mean, there was a multitude of reasons as to why, but I suppose, after living in a larger regional centres and then also our capital city, I felt that we were missing out and decisions were being made on our behalf that weren't necessarily in our best interest. So I think it was a progressive thing that happened over the course of the time. So we moved back in 2011 and then the election was in 2016. But, yeah, I think it was one of those things where you just think, well, if not now, when, and if not me, who?

Speaker 2: 4:59

and and it's one of those you just take the leap and I think you know it's important, probably for our listeners to realise that you also had a newborn at the time Pretty much, yeah, my youngest she was six months at the time of the campaign, I suppose, and then by the time I was elected, yeah, she was about eight months and my eldest was two.

Speaker 1: 5:22

So you don't mind a challenge now.

Speaker 2: 5:24

No, I was, um. I look back now and think I don't know what I was thinking really, um, it is a little bit of a blur, but I think, yeah, my kids have grown up with that sort of outlook, in that you know it doesn't matter where you live, you know if you have to get in the car and go somewhere to do something, you do it. They've been dragged to you know multiple meetings over the course of their life and you know so they're a bit well versed on a lot of different subjects and areas of passion and I think it just yeah, it's a, it's a nice, um, I guess, outlook to say that if, if something's not working or if there's something needs changing, then you know what can I do about it and how can I help. I think that's probably the greatest lesson.

Speaker 2: 6:07

And I think another thing that stands out to me was when I was elected mayor, I had a a lot of congratulatory emails come in, but one of them was from a professional from the Bansdale area and she said, you know she was thrilled to have you know me be elected as mayor, but that it was important for female role models, because you can't be what you can't see. And I'd never heard that saying back then. But that's saying really resonates with me because I think it made me stop and think that well, yeah, I am being a role model for my children, but also for lots of young women and mothers around the the region as well.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Without a doubt. But that um leadership that you show continues because your term with the Eskips Land Shire finished, but you are now heavily involved in the OMEA region business and tourism association.

Speaker 2: 7:03

Yes, yeah, and again, have been involved on and off since I moved back in one form or another and have sort of most more recently got involved, probably after I got off council. But even when I was on council I would still attend meetings because it was important to you know, from a council perspective, to see what was going on and, you know, be there understanding what's happening in that business community. So, yeah, now a new business owner myself. It sort of takes on a different lens, I suppose, but we're all there in that common goal of you know, trying to better our region, look for more investment, create positive change and, you know, again, want people to move to our region and see what we've got to offer.

Speaker 1: 7:49

So, as you've mentioned, nat, you're now a new business owner. You and your husband have recently opened New Rush Brewhouse in OMEA. That's one of a number of thriving businesses that that are operating in OMEA, so tell us a little bit about the business scene up there.

Speaker 2: 8:07

Yeah, I think, as any sort of small country town. It's got its, you know, pubs and cafes, and but it also provides a lot of services. We've got the hospital, you know chemists, mechanics, those sorts of things, so and we service a large area too. You know you're looking at the sort of former OMEA shy from dinner playing through to Tambo Crossing. So we punch well above a weight in terms of what we can provide there, but also events and and those sorts of things, community or community groups, and yeah, I think we do very well.

Speaker 1: 8:42

When, when is the busiest time in OMEA, do you think? I would have thought winter was a really busy time for the region, but not necessarily so.

Speaker 2: 8:52

No, I think winter we do get a lot of passing traffic, but definitely not as much as the northeast side coming up via Bright. Melbourne traffic tend to go via the hume and up via Bright, whereas we do get the occasional Melbourne traffic. But certainly there's a mentality that the other side is a lot quicker. But as we know, living the side that we do, our side rarely closes. It's not windy from Omeo through to Mount Hoffam, you know. So there's a lot of benefits and I think that message is slowly getting out. We've just got to keep pushing that, pushing that out. But certainly the busy time is sort of now, over summer through to about Easter. We get a lot of full drivers, motorbikes, car clubs, because we're at the nexus of many roads. So it's a great, you know, drive for those people, the different roads that they can travel on over Mount Hoffam, mittermitter, coriong, all of those areas.

Speaker 1: 9:56

And the great Alpine Road is an amazing drive. Lots of gorgeous villages along the way. I think people who are going up the hume are missing out on all of that.

Speaker 2: 10:05

That's right. It's a very boring drive. So, yeah, we're starting to see a lot of caravanners and those sorts of car clubs, motorbikes, moving around now, and hopefully that will continue and be a thriving summer.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Absolutely, and in the future, you'll be looking at a lot of mountain bike riders coming up your way as well, with a mountain bike track under development. So tell us a little bit about the historical precinct of Omyo, because there's a lot of history there, isn't there.

Speaker 2: 10:37

Yeah, I mean there is a lot of history to Omyo and its area. You know one of the first settled areas in Victoria, settled, you know, throughout agriculture. But then obviously you know it really took off during the height of the Gold Rush and you know through to their sort of early 1900s, I suppose was when things started to decline. But you know we've got some great architecture the new courthouse, the old courthouse, and when I said the new courthouse, which is, you know it was built in 1893 and the old courthouse was built in 1859 or 69 or something like that, but you know some terrific architecture there and the post office of course. So there is a lot of history in the area and I think that'll be a real asset and complement to what the mountain bike offering will have. Yeah, sorry, it's exciting that the renovations that have happened over the last couple of years with the courthouse and that historical precinct and seeing what can be developed there in the future.

Speaker 1: 11:39

So new Rush Brewhouse, which is your new business, coffee shop and craft beer. You have a historical connection, don't you?

Speaker 2: 11:48

Yeah. So I guess I'm really proud of Oum Yo and my connection there and the history that it contains. And when we were sort of forming this idea of the business and the name and what it was going to be, we really wanted to connect the past with Oum Yo's future and what it holds. And my great-grandfather was a gold miner out at Glen Wills and he also built the Blue Duck and New Rush is actually an old gold mining settlement, not at Glen Wills, it's actually up along the Lewyston Creek. But we thought that New Rush the name kind of epitomized what might be to come for Oum Yo in its future with the mountain bike trails and the adventure destination that it's going to become. Oum Yo was founded on the gold rush but its new rush going forward will be in the future of adventure.

Speaker 1: 12:46

Brilliant. You mentioned the Blue Duck net for our listeners who may not know what the Blue Duck is. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Speaker 2: 12:53

So the Blue Duck is an old hotel that is on the Oum Yo highway, which is on the way to Midamidow from Oum Yo, and it was built by Billy O'Connell, who was my great-grandfather, and Blue Duck was a mining term back then, in another way of saying a white elephant. So yeah, that's really interesting.

Speaker 1: 13:14

I didn't know that yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:16

So yeah, thinking that people would stop on the way. And he had eight children I should say eight children and they were all schooled there. He built a little school out the back. Tim shared any employer teacher and that teacher came and he shared his time between Glenwells, the Glenwells and Sunnyside Schools and the Blue Duck for the Oum Yo kids.

Speaker 1: 13:38

Right, wow, that's great, and so that was your grandfather would have been one of those kids. Yes, and it's a schoolhouse still there.

Speaker 2: 13:46

It is, and it's got the generator in there now for that powers the blue dark yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:51

So how long does it take to get to the blue dark from Omyo?

Speaker 2: 13:54

About 25 to 30 minutes, yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:57

Great, I'm not winding around, and it's an operational hotel, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 14:00

It is, yeah, so it's a great spot. It's on the river there, fishing, camping. Great atmosphere out there.

Speaker 1: 14:09

Brilliant. So you can tick off Mayor, you can tick off Councillor, you can tick off moving away, developing amazing professional skills and moving back and bringing them all with you. Thank you, raising a family, opening a business, helping to build the local community. What's next for Nat O'Connell and for Omyo?

Speaker 2: 14:30

Yeah, I think it'll be really exciting to grow our business and see how Omyo and the area grows and develops with this mountain bike project. I mean it's a significant investment over $10 million, 120 kilometres of bike trail. We've seen what it's done to other places like Derby and Tasmania, and I'm just really excited to see where that goes. We've already seen a lot of investment and excitement and people following with faded breath as to when this is going to happen, so I just think it's been a long time coming. We've always known how great the area is and what it's got to offer and I think finally that word is getting out.

Speaker 1: 15:11

Great, so stay tuned through the Visit Omyo website.

Speaker 2: 15:15

Visit Omyo and on our socials, yeah, there's always updates as to what's happening there.

Speaker 1: 15:20

So great and for a great local brew, some great food and a fabulous coffee. New Rush Brewhouse Open all over summer.

Speaker 2: 15:30

Yes will be, and can't wait to pour your cold beer after riding those trails or being out for a fish, whatever it may be. Come in and yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:41

Brilliant. Nat O'Connell, thank you for coming in today, thanks for making the drive from Omyo and coming into the studio, and we'll stay tuned and keep our eye on what's happening in the Omyo region.

Speaker 2: 15:52

Thanks very much for having me, Liz. I've enjoyed being here.

Speaker 1: 16:04

Well, that's us for today. Thanks for joining us on the rural venture collective. Remember to like and subscribe so you'll be updated when our next podcast lands. Most importantly, stay connected and get out there and enjoy our beautiful East Skips Land Bye. This podcast is brought to you by East Skips Land Marketing with the support of the Victorian Government, recorded at the James Yates Studio, bend Style.