Rosebrook residents Genevieve Grant and Penny Iddon campaign for gender equality on Moyne Shire Council

Rosebrook residents Genevieve Grant and Penny Iddon will join Port Fairy's Karen Foster, all members of the group Women of Moyne, campaigning for a role on the Moyne Shire Council.

Ms Grant started the online group last year for members to share views on the shire and get to know one another.

"It was to do it without feeling compromised or feeling threatened about speaking out," she said.

"After a couple of meetings I started saying who among us would feel comfortable with a group behind them to put their hand up for this sort of leadership role."

Ms Grant said she also wanted "the pendulum to be in the middle" after serving councillor Jill Parker remained the sole female voice on council for the past 12 years.

"I think it's fairer and I want there to be an example for other young women coming up," she said.

Ms Iddon said she also wanted greater female representation on council.

"I think decisions are better if you have better representation from the community," she said.

Ms Iddon owned and managed the Lake Bolac Hotel, worked in south-west aged care, and is known among peers for her business expertise.

But she said it was working in the hotel that also helped shape her political instincts too.

"Talking to truckies and tradies and workers across the bar, it did have a bit of an impact on me," Ms Iddon said.

"It made me realise you can be in your comfort zone and you think you have the answers to everything and all it takes is a slight adjustment and you have a exposure to different opinions."

She said she wanted to see more forward planning waste initiatives from council.

"It is possible that we could look at developing partnerships with neighbouring shires to help manage our waste," she said.

"It would be good to say we are going to feed waste back into the roads, sell it as a mulch, look after our own parks and gardens with the waste we are collecting."

Ms Grant, a former primary school teacher, is also passionate about environmental issues.

"I think a lot of moves can be made with altering planning regulations to safeguard the environment. Through careful land development and design and house building and design," she said.

She said lowering drug use and improving sexual health among young people were among social justice issues she wanted to address through council education programs.

Ms Grant said the "soft alliance" between the three women was not like a political party but a "sisterhood".

"It can be counterproductive, it can be a risk, but it's also about us getting our faces out there and people knowing what we stand for," she said.

"I would like to challenge what might be a mindset in the electorate.

"The most important thing is to present an alternative leadership group, it's easy to slip into voting for the same people you are familiar with, but I think it's a healthier democracy if you can expand that."

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