Shane Cuthbert was once in prison – now he is in politics, fighting for rights of the criminalised. Shane advocates for youth, human rights, homelessness and mental health. “I probably would call myself an advocate,” he told the podcast. “I recently graduated law. When we are studying law, we talk a lot about advocacy, particularly advocacy in the courtroom and advocacy for your clients.”

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Shane started studying right after his release from prison. “I had a really good psychologist when I left prison. I actually started out studying psychology because I thought, ‘I wanna be a psychologist like this guy that’s helped me change my life. I wanna go and help other people change their lives.’”

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Always pushing barriers, Shane was not content with one degree. “I thought, well, look, I’ll do a double degree. I’m sort of interested in the law. It’s been used against me plenty in my life. So I started out originally focused on psychology and the law.”

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Shane’s journey to politics began after a university assignment required him to develop a submission for a parliamentary committee. “We’re only meant to submit it to the university, for grading. But I thought, hey, I’ve worked really hard on this thing. I’m actually going to submit it to the parliamentary inquiry. And I did. A couple of weeks later, I get a phone call from one of the staff there at parliament [saying] the members of parliament and this committee wants to speak to you about some of your submissions.”

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Shane recalled the emotion he experienced the first time he was asked to speak to a parliamentary committee.

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“You know, from a prison cell 10 years ago, I would never have thought that some parliamentarian wanted to come down and talk to me and consider my story. I guess it was a bit of a spin out. I sort of had to take a back step and think, wait, what? These guys wanna talk to me. It did wonders for me on a personal level.”

Shane ran for seats in the 2024 Cairns Regional Council election and Queensland state election. During both elections, the media regularly raised his criminal history. “It was tough,” Shane told the podcast. “There were a lot of moments there where I’m thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ The anxiety is such a killer.”

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In facing and overcoming that adversity, Shane built more confidence and motivation to push forward. “It opened up these narratives of confronting the stigma, the bias that the general public [held]. Most people were saying, ‘Hey, he’s having a go and he’s doing something with his life.’”

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Today, Shane feels his work in advocacy has given him purpose and meaning in his life that helps keep him focused. “Meaning is really important. If you’re not doing something you love and are passionate about, when you have those moments of self-doubt or things aren’t going well in your life, it’s so easy to resort back to what you knew – running amok and ending up back in jail.”

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Achieving change is one of the greatest rewards Shane experiences from advocacy.

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“What do I love the most? Change, change, mate. On a personal level, it’s that gratification. Externally, we’re helping other people and we’re changing other people.”

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Shane’s advocacy champions community-based measures to prevent youth crime. When asked what he’d do if he had a magic wand, Shane confirmed, “I’d get that 24-hour youth centre. I’ve been banging on about it for six years.” Hopefully, those in power in the Cairns area see the wisdom in this idea.

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This discussion with Shane was inspiring, showing that everyday people can get involved in politics in meaningful ways.