Locals Talk celebrates International Women's Day at Port Macquarie library

Grassroots feminist and founding member of Wauchope Community Arts Centre, Krissa Wilkinson; president of Hastings Business Women's Network, Kelly King; and nurse practitioner and author Debbie Deasey shared their thoughts and experiences in the quest for change in the lead-up to International Women's Day on March 8.

Debbie Deasey works at Port Macquarie Base Hospital, pursuing a career in nursing driven by her innate drive to care for other, particularly the aged at the end of life. She completed a doctorate in philosophy while also writing her first novel, a young adult fiction titled Saving Sam, exploring the story of a young woman fighting for justice in a small country town.

Debbie said the words and support of her father have resonated throughout her life - that you've got nothing to lose as long as you give it a go. And that it is okay to fail.

"I'm so lucky my dad told me at a very young age that failure is a good thing," Debbie said. 

Kelly King has been among those at the helm of the Hastings Business Women's Network for the last six years raising money for the Liberty Domestic Violence and Family Violence Specialist Service. She also is the co-founder of Dyslexia Mid North Coast.

"We need to be authentic, be wholehearted and be our own cheerleader," Kelly said. "Women supporting women is an incredibly powerful thing and it is instigating change."

Krissa Wilkinson lived and breathed feminist activism in Melbourne throughout the 70s, campaigning in theatre and in demonstrations on several women's human rights issues. She believes art and culture can be a powerful vehicle for change.

"I still sadly live in a country where 80 women died last year, murdered by men who said they loved them," Krissa said.

"Domestic violence and murder is the number issue in this country.

"I'm not a man hater. Feminism is not about hating men, it is about liberating all of us from these stereotypes and boxes we are all placed in that really have no meaning at all."

The next Locals Talk will be at Port Macquarie Library in May and focus on the subject of mindfulness.