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Emma Berglund had to wrestle with a dilemma before she could commit to running for Lockwood Ward – the young mother of two wants another child.
“I’m 34 now and I don’t want to push it back until I’m 38,” Ms Berglund said.
“So, with any luck, it would happen during the next council term.”
It was part of a process Ms Berglund went through before going public with her candidacy. She raised all possible reasons against the idea and considered whether they ruled out a bid.
In the end, Ms Berglund decided motherhood should not preclude her from holding public office.
“Maybe I’d have to take a few months off...but there are all sorts of reasons others might have to do the same.
“And I do have a really supportive partner and a very good network around me.
“So I decided that shouldn’t be an issue.”
Juggling motherhood with career ambitions is not the only hurdle the Kangaroo Flat homeowner has faced.
At the age of 23, while studying business at La Trobe University, Ms Berglund was diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
The condition has presented its challenges. But it has also provided her with direction.
“People with autism, generally, they’ve got their nerdy thing,” Ms Berglund said.
“Mine’s economics – that’s something that my brain loves to do.
Being clever with money and making the most of every dollar’s always been my thing...I saved for a house deposit while I was a single mum by budgeting and playing with money,"
- Ms Berglund said.
It’s not Ms Berglund’s only “nerdy thing”. She’s a “trekkie” and into cosplay and dressing up – at the recent comic fair she went as a dragon.
Nor is making sure ratepayers get the most out of every dollar the only reason Ms Berglund is eyeing a seat on the City of Greater Bendigo council table.
The daughter of an Australian Electoral Commission returning officer, she said she’d grown up in a household which valued democracy and had been “toying with the idea” of being a politician since she was a teenager.
At university, she served as a disability officer with the Bendigo Student Association – an agenda she wants to take to Town Hall.
“I’m very interested in protecting vulnerable environments and vulnerable people,” she said.
“If someone’s not having their voice heard, I want to stand up for them.”
Which gets Ms Berglund back to the dilemma of motherhood and career and why she opted to run for public office in the first place.
“A long time ago, I thought things were changing for women,” she said.
“But when you look at council, they aren’t being equally represented.
“‘Feminist’ seems to be a difficult word to use at the moment – but I do definitely believe in equality.”