Howlett aims for more sleep

It was sleepless weeks worrying about the limitations of her role as mayor in dealing with major issues that gave newly selected Labor candidate for the Pilbara Kelly Howlett the push to move into State politics.

Last week, Ms Howlett was announced as Labor’s candidate to go head-to-head with WA Nationals’ leader Brendon Grylls in the battle for the seat of Pilbara.

She said what brought her across the line into State politics was the realisation there were some people she couldn’t help in her local role.

“I love being mayor, and I haven’t had many jobs … but being mayor is the best job I’ve ever had, and it’s so much more than a job,” she said.

“But there’s issues like affordable housing and indigenous disadvantage that I haven’t been able to get traction in my current role.

“It was a hard decision, there was a bit of fear of what would I lose, and I didn’t want any negative ramifications to come from me putting myself out there.

“But when I couldn’t sleep for weeks and I was stressing about these issues and a team is saying ‘Kelly, we’d love to help you out’ … I thought ‘I want to be able to do that’.”

Ms Howlett’s first foray into politics came in 2004 when Greens’ member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple approached her about moving into politics.

“He asked me in 2004 ‘What do you think about doing politics’ and I said ‘no, no’, then I had to ring him back a month later because I thought maybe I could,” she said.

As a member of the WA Greens party, Ms Howlett unsuccessfully stood for the Pilbara seat in the 2005 and 2008 elections.

Cancelling her membership to the party in the lead-up to the Labor pre-selection, Ms Howlett said her parting with the Greens was “amicable”.

“No one’s spitting at me or throwing things at me down the street,” she said.

“Even when I said to (Robin Chapple) I’m resigning, he understood. He knew there’s different things I’m passionate about.”