Preamble:
This story of my
political involvement spans 1985-1988 including the New South Wales (NSW) State
election when Nick Greiner became Premier.
At the time I was
passionate about the need for a change in government. Today, sadly, I barely
bother even following the political news. It seems to me that there are few
members of Federal and State Parliaments, on both sides of the house, who are
anything more than career politicians. Please note that I do say few. I believe my current NSW Member of
Parliament is an honourable and caring representative.
I always believed that you shouldn’t complain about a
situation unless, subject to time and resources, you were prepared to contribute
to change no matter how minor. I was
very concerned about the direction the country was going under the Whitlam
Labor Government and while it was beyond my control as an individual to change
the situation I thought I might contribute in some small way.
One evening politics in 1985 while we discussing politics my
sister in law, a member of the Camden Branch of the Liberal Party, suggested I
also join. I saw this as the answer to how I could make some contribution to
changing the government.
Between 1985 and 1987 I served as branch delegate to State
and Federal Conferences and as campaign secretary at local, state and federal
government levels and also transferred to the Picton Branch (in the Shire of
Wollondilly).
A State Election was to be held in early 1988 and part of
the Wollondilly Shire was now in the new Electorate of Burragorang considered
to be a safe Labor seat.
Safe seats of either political party have no trouble getting
several members keen for nomination as election candidate. Even marginal seats
often have two or three or more members to choose from as their candidate. When
it is a safe seat for the opposite party the local branches struggle to find a
candidate or even justify the cost of a campaign.
This was the situation that faced the Picton Branch of the
Liberal Party in 1987. Do they run a campaign and throw fund raising time, and
the resulting money, at a campaign they couldn’t win? Should they run a
campaign so at least Liberal supporters in the electorate had someone to vote
for? Who would be willing to spend their own time and money campaigning for a
political seat they couldn’t win? Enter, ‘never do things by halves’, me.
When the Liberal Party
ads were shown on television saying "We're Ready" - I was answering Nick Greiner back saying "No
we're not – not in Burragorang!"
It became evident that if we didn't act soon we might end up
with no candidate at all or someone from another area who was just
looking for some electoral experience.
Burragorang would be far from easy to win, but there were good reasons why we needed a candidate:
- Those voters in the electorate who will only vote Liberal - deserved to be able to voice their political preferences.
- If there was to be no independent or minor party candidates we would be handing the seat to the Labor Party on a silver platter
- For every vote we gained for the Liberal Party it would most likely to be a vote for our candidates for the Upper House.
The Federal
seat of Macarthur was considered unwinnable, but through the members efforts the swing needed had been pulled back over the two previous Federal Elections so it was
considered marginal - this is what we needed
to work towards in Burragorang.
It was suggested that I should nominate as candidate. I did not take it
seriously
as I had no political ambitions but I had already promised my time and effort to the
Burragorang campaign, as Secretary.
With the trust of my local branches behind me I accepted nomination in November
1987 for an election to be held in April the following year.
The electorate of Burragorang was very strange and
considered a major gerrymander by the then Labor Government. It took in
Warragamba, Oakdale and The Oaks, Picton (but not Tahmoor), Appin (in
Wollondilly) and the northern suburbs of Wollongong. It was like a big banana
with Liberal voters in the north and Labor voters in the south. Two thirds of
the population of the electorate was in the south and a very much a Labor
stronghold. To win Burragorang, or at least make
our presence felt we knew we had to concentrate our efforts
and make our presence felt in the coastal area.
This Liberal Party campaign
for NSW was led by Nick Greiner.
This Liberal Party campaign
for NSW was led by Nick Greiner.
In Part 2 of The
Reluctant Political Candidate I cover the experience and fun of the
campaign itself
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