A broken ankle isn’t slowing new minister Tara Cheyne from taking everything in her stride. She talks to BELINDA STRAHORN.

AS the ACT emerges from a covid-induced economic coma, newly appointed ACT Minister for Business Tara Cheyne faces a tough assignment.

It’s an enormous task leading the Barr government’s efforts to get businesses back on their feet but one Cheyne, 34, says she “won’t shy away from”.

But for the moment, this first-time Minister is focused on getting back on her own feet, after breaking her ankle.

“I slipped in some water, it’s as simple as that, my ankle went both ways and I heard it crack,” says Cheyne, speaking with “CityNews” from her home. 

Through a series of extraordinary events – bushfire smoke, hail and a global health calamity – Canberra businesses were buffeted by the rough waves served up by 2020.

The ACT government hoped Canberrans might cash in big on its $500,000 discount voucher scheme, designed to support pandemic affected businesses and inject millions into the local economy. 

Some 300 businesses participated in the ChooseCBR trial with $310,000 of discounts redeemed.

But in a disappointing sign, $190,000 worth of discounts remain unused.

And while the scheme copped criticism from businesses for being too complicated, Cheyne says she’s happy with the results.

“For every dollar of government money redeemed through the discounts, there was an additional $6.20 funnelled back into the economy, so for a first-time scheme, I’m happy with it.”

Cheyne, an MBA graduate, says a similar $2 million program will be rolled out this year, coupled with a renewed effort to open up the eligibility criteria for more business owners and customers to come on board.

The Cairns-born MLA is no stranger herself to the challenges facing small-business owners. 

An only child, she learnt the value of hard work from her dad, a taxi driver and successful Mexican restaurateur, and her mother who climbed the corporate ladder.

But it was the family’s move to the town of Moura, in eastern Queensland, shortly after a mining accident that killed 11 people, that helped shape her values and future direction.

“That time made a big impression on me,” Cheyne says.

“I was eight years old when we moved there, there were people in my class whose fathers had died the year before.

“The mine had closed down and so mum took up a nine-month contract helping miners find new jobs.

“The community was hurting in the aftermath of the mining accidents and so it really drove home to me how important community and taking care of each other was.”

Elected to the ACT Assembly in 2016, the former business studies and journalism graduate struggles to pinpoint the exact moment when politics first appealed to her, but counts her time in Moura as a significant turning point in her life.

In 2008, Cheyne moved to Canberra to work in the Attorney-General’s Department, where she held a leading role in the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce, assisting complainants who had suffered abuse in defence. 

Having established Belconnen as her home, Cheyne set about involving herself in the community and shortly became chair of the Belconnen Community Council.

“Moving around a lot when I was young, I never really felt like I had a hometown, but when I moved to Canberra and went to Belconnen, I finally felt like this is where I wanted to be… this was home,” she says.

Despite embarking on a career in the public service, she soon found herself warming to the idea of running for public office.

“I thought I was destined to work behind the scenes but seeing the tangible impact I was making in people’s lives through the work of the taskforce, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and was elected as an MLA for Ginninderra in 2016.”

At October’s ACT election Cheyne was comfortably returned and was promoted by Chief Minister Andrew Barr to serve in his cabinet.

In a wide-ranging portfolio, she’s been given responsibility for business, better regulation, arts, multicultural affairs and assistant minister for economic development. 

She’s also responsible for the new human-rights portfolio, an area which holds deeply personal connections.

“Dad died five-and-a-half-years ago from pancreatic cancer, it was 11 weeks from diagnosis to death,” Cheyne recalls, choking up.

“He was this incredibly strong man and we were incredibly close, losing him was devastating for me. Had voluntary assisted dying been available, I don’t know if he’d have gone for it, but regardless I think it should be an option for people.”

A fierce advocate for voluntary euthanasia, Cheyne is preparing to move a motion when the Assembly returns, seeking to reignite the territory’s bid to legalise assisted dying in the ACT. 

“It’s becoming so untenable that we are treated as second-class citizens in our own country,” she says.

“Eighty per cent of the community support voluntary assisted dying and the Canberra community deserves to know where their parliamentarians stand on this issue. We have a new ACT Opposition leader and new Canberra Liberals. What I hope is that we are a united assembly on restoring territory rights and taking this fight to the commonwealth.”

In the meantime, the forced lay off gives Cheyne the time to learn more about her portfolios, spending time reading in the company of her canine companion “Bailey”.

“She’s such a great dog, she’s an Italian greyhound and has been through an entire parliamentary term and an election campaign with me,” Cheyne says.

For now, Cheyne is itching to get back on her feet ready to tackle the challenges of 2021, whatever they might be.

“There’s a lot of genuinely good work to get on with in the Assembly, it’s an exciting time, I can’t wait to get stuck back into it.”