Dr Gordon Reid

My Coast DR GORDON REID

Doctor, pollie, Wiradjuri man, ballroom dancer, Star Wars fan

One of the big influences in Gordon Reid’s life has been his nan, Aunty Robyn Reid, a proud Wiradjuri woman and an elder of the Mingaletta Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Corporation in Umina. She is a joy to meet, a woman whose kindness and care for her community is written on her face. Apart from her love of beautiful big dangly earrings, she is a woman who is hard to keep still, forever advocating for her community.

The apple does not fall far from the tree (other than perhaps the dangly earrings).

Gordon Reid’s background as a doctor in Gosford and Wyong Hospital emergency departments, shaped his awareness of the urgent health care needs on the Central Coast.

‘The catalyst for my running for parliament came after a shift at the Wyong Hospital Emergency Department during the height of Covid-19,’ he says. ‘People were afraid to go out to buy their blood pressure or cholesterol tablets. Some were stuck at home in domestic violence situations. We were seeing more and more chronic conditions that, left unattended, could spiral into heart attacks, strokes etc. We had 16 acute beds, but on that one shift we had 100 patients.

‘I realised that I could stand around and complain about this, or I could do something about it. And politics, particularly federal politics, is where you can actively achieve change for the better.’

Dr Reid is also quick to state family as the most important thing in his life. His father was a medico too, as a nurse and paramedic. His mother recognised the importance of education in overcoming barriers. His partner, Shaylee, a speech pathologist, works with augmented technologies for severely disabled patients and, through her, he has seen first-hand the importance of access to facilities others may take for granted.

‘Medicine has a lot in common with politics,’ says Dr Reid. ‘People come to you with a problem. You have to listen, diagnose the underlying issues, and decide on the best way to solve their problem.’

Dr Reid grew up in Gosford before moving to Umina Beach. He played rugby for a long time as a forward and even took up ballroom dancing – Latin and classical – when a friend recommended it as a way to become more agile.

It was on the Central Coast, too, that he became, in his words, ‘a raving Star Wars fan’, watching all six movies in the local cinemas.

Dr Reid’s immediate focus, as the federal member for Robertson, is to ensure that the concerns and needs of the Central Coast are adequately represented and heard in federal

ABOVE Dr Gordon Reid and partner Shaylee Hilton on Election Night 2022

LEFT Gordon’s Nan, Aunty Robyn Reid

parliament. On a more global scale, he wants Australia to work more closely towards cooperation and leadership in the Pacific region.

‘Because together – in our local communities and internationally – we can all be healthier economically and medically, in our access to education, and in our care for the vulnerable.’

SOME FAVOURITE PLACES:

Ettalong Beach foreshore walk down to Umina The views of Lion Island from the walkway in front of the Umina Surf Club The ferry wharf at Davo in front of the Progress Hall, looking across all the moored boats

Empire Bay ferry wharf

Buying local relishes and jams at the markets