Councillor Corner Namarca Corowa 12 December

Councillor Namarca Corowa

When people ask how I ended up on council, I don’t really have a political story to give them.

My values weren’t formed in boardrooms or strategy sessions. I grew up at Slade Point in the 70s 80s and 90s, a family of 8 in a 2-bedroom house.  I grew up in a working-class family, so I understand what it’s like to struggle in our community. My values were shaped watching my parents go to work every day to make a living. We didn’t have everything, but what we had was everything to us and most of the time, that was each other. My values were also shaped in my adult working life, sitting with families, working in youth justice, listening and helping people break cycles instead of repeating them. Those experiences don’t make headlines, but they make leaders.

Before council, I spent years working with young people who had every reason to give up on themselves. I saw firsthand how identity isn’t built through lectures or labels, it’s built through the experience of being seen, respected and believed in. I worked with families trying to hold things together. I listened to mothers who didn’t want their children to follow the same path. I walked with men facing their own choices, deciding whether to finish the story differently than it began.

It doesn’t matter where you start, but it does matter how you finish. I’ve seen people rise from places others had written off. I’ve seen character revealed when someone takes responsibility for their own story. And I’ve seen communities heal when someone decides to finish differently than they began.

People started coming to me, not just for help with a situation, but to share ideas about the future. Every question was a sign. Every story was an invitation. And slowly, the work became bigger than a program, it became community leadership.

From youth justice, I moved into restorative practice, then to men’s programs, cultural education and local advocacy.  By the time someone asked me, “Have you ever thought about council?” it wasn’t a strange question. It felt like a natural step not a leap.

When I arrived at the council table, I didn’t arrive with a political agenda, I arrived with values formed by community; responsibility, belonging, second chances, accountability, cultural respect, identity, listening to understand.

So when decisions came across the table, when I saw agenda items, I also saw faces. When I saw statistics, I saw stories. I didn’t see a policy platform, I saw a place I love.

I want you to see some of what I see through my eyes: what it feels like to make decisions that affect real lives, how the smallest conversations can shape perspective, how every person contributes a piece to the bigger picture and how much wisdom sits quietly in our own community. Leadership isn’t telling people what to think - it’s showing what you’re learning, openly and honestly, so the journey is shared.

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