BORN-and-raised Riverlander, Nicola Centofanti, will put regions first in her new position in the South Australian Legislative Council.
The Liberal representative took on the position earlier this year to fill a casual vacancy by the departing Andrew McLachlan, who stepped away to further his federal politics aspirations.
Mrs Centofanti completed her schooling in the Riverland and attended Glossop High School before moving to Perth to become a qualified veterinarian.
“I went over to WA at the age of 18, which was pretty daunting,” she said.
“I spent five years in WA and loved it but really missed SA and in particular the Riverland.
“I think we live in the best place in Australia, and the world, but I’m a bit bias.”
After completing her studies, Mrs Centofanti returned to the Riverland and worked at the Riverland Veterinary Clinic, under John Hammond, for 15 years.
Despite her busy work life, Mrs Centofanti became involved in politics through years of volunteering for the Liberal Party.
She first considered taking a serious leap into politics in 2013.
“I was asked to consider to stand for pre-selection for the legislative council. I stood for pre-selection and I was selected number five on the ticket,” Mrs Centofanti said.
“I was just below Andrew McLachlan on the ticket who is actually the member I replaced as a casual vacancy. That’s a nice coincidence.
“We had four members in 2014, so I just missed out, but I continued to play an active role on the volunteer side of things, which I’ve done for over a decade now.”
Between missing out in 2014 until now, Mrs Centofanti has had three children with her husband David, twin girls Anna and Lucia, now 5, and Angus, 3.
Mrs Centofanti started to set her sights on 2022 to have another crack at politics before the opportunity presented itself this year.
She was officially sworn in on April 7, before delivering her maiden speech on June 2.
“I’m certainly very humbled to be there,” Mrs Centofanti said.
“And I’m very, very lucky to have an extremely supportive husband.
“But it’s not just support in the short term, it’s easily been a decade with my involvement as a volunteer. He’s made a lot of sacrifices over the years.
“He’s absolutely amazing and we both have family here in the Riverland who have all been really supportive.
“It is a bit more full on because I’m in Adelaide for longer chunks, so we are still adjusting to that.”
Mrs Centofanti said despite the travel to and from Adelaide for parliamentary sittings she intends on staying based in the Riverland.
“I think it’s really important to have regional people in both houses,” she said.
“We actually don’t have a lot of people in the upper house who live in regional areas.
“A lot of our members are from the country originally but are now based in the city.
“I love living in the country and I’m just not a city girl.”
While Mrs Centofanti will represent the entire state, she said she will advocate for issues relevant to Riverlanders.
“Obviously water is a very complex and emotive topic particularly in the Riverland,” she said.
“We are a community that relies heavily on the river as do communities along the Murray Darling Basin System.
“I’m not saying that I will have all the magical answers but I’m really keen to be a champion for South Australian irrigators.
“I think we are the most efficient irrigators in the country.
“I think that needs to be acknowledged and I’ll do all I can to ensure our growers and irrigators are represented.”
Mrs Centofanti said beginning her career in politics during the COVID-19 pandemic had made it an interesting experience, but it helped showcase areas SA needs to improve on.
“I think a couple of things that have stood out is the importance of supporting local business,” she said.
“I think our communities have done an excellent job at supporting the local economy.
“The other thing is that the virus has opened up people’s eyes in terms with the difficulties we face with supply chains and I think that’s something we should look to in the future.
“And in particular in the Riverland there are a lot of old factories that are sitting there dormant and I don’t think there’s any reason why they can’t be used.
“We do have the space, we have the workforce and I think we have the drive to start up manufacturing locally.
“And that gives people locally the opportunity to live in regional communities and be supported.
“I think it’s something our regions should be driving. We need to not be so reliant on other countries for a lot of things.”
Mrs Centofanti said there are a number of other issues she looks forward to delving into.
“I’m in particular keen on looking into the native vegetation legislation,” she said.
“I don’t think the legislation deals with fuel reduction efficiently. I’ve had a lot of people come to me concerned about red tape issues when it comes to land clearing and hazard reduction.
“I think we need to look at practical and sensible fire mitigation strategies because it’s really important we in doing this look to the safety of our communities and if we’re not doing fire safety properly than it poses risks.
“Manufacturing, water and native vegetation are my main areas I’m focused on.
“Plus, biosecurity in SA… I think we now have seven outbreaks of Mediterranean fruit fly in metro Adelaide, so just the risk that poses to our region is huge not to mention the Adelaide Hills as well.”
Mrs Centofanti said because of coronavirus restrictions delivering her maiden speech was delayed.
“I did push it back a bit because of the restrictions,” she said.
“I waited until we could have a few more people there and I was allowed 10.
“I was conscious of the fact that the longer I pushed it out the longer I couldn’t say anything, because you have to wait to have your say until after your maiden speech.”
Mrs Centofanti said she made the most of her time to introduce herself to her parliamentary colleagues while having their full attention.
“What happens with the maiden speech is all of the other members sit their quietly and there is a running joke that that’s the only time they will listen to you without interrupting,” she said.
Now that Mrs Centofanti has given her maiden speech she looks forward to fighting for the issues and causes most important to her and the Riverland.