Transcript:



1. When did you first want to run for parliament?



“I first wanted to when the opportunity presented itself in 2005. A couple of people invited me to go for preselection for Pittwater when the former member John Brogden attempted to take his own life - and there was a lot of tragedy around that. I lost that preselection, but I felt so indignant about it that I had another go. That was really when I first determined that that was what I wanted to do - though it was more that I saw it as an opportunity to serve.”



2. What did you do before becoming an MP?



I was a lawyer, I still am a lawyer although I don’t practise as one at the moment for obvious reasons. I practised mainly in commercial law and small and large practises and I was a senior lecturer in law at Macquarie University.



3. What is leadership and how would you define it?



“Leadership is the obligation to serve - when you have certain of your own needs met. I take the classic conservative view on this - the idea that Burke referred to in terms of leadership as a way of giving back. If you have certain gifts or abilities or even things that are given to you, finances and so forth, you have an obligation to use them to benefit those that don’t have those opportunities.



4. What does it mean to you and others to be a leader?



There a couple of things that have been lost in current debates on leadership. I think the first thing, which is also a little counter-intuitive, is that as a leader you have an opportunity to serve - that’s the whole point. It’s counter-intuitive because people assume that as a leader you put yourself first - it’s actually the complete opposite. The other thing which I think has been lost in recent debates is that people tend to look to leaders in politics for their policies and they forget to look at the person for themselves. This is often overlooked because it is one of the hardest and scariest parts of leadership. That is that if you want people to behave in a particular way, if you’re not prepared to behave in that way then you’re a hypocrite and a fraud. You have an obligation to not only the laws but be an example of the vision which you see for society. If you’re not doing that then you’ll become unstuck.



And this was shown recently with ICAC and Eddie Obeid and those scandals destroy legitimacy.



That’s right and I get a little bit nervous when I see people rubbing their hands together at the prospect of the political advantage when Labor is on it’s knees because the issue is that the general community link this to all politicians and this is corrosive to the whole system.



Guilt by association?



That’s right and that’s why we have to be so careful - but at the same time we have to remember that the overall picture in Australia is that we are very well governed and, comparatively, very honest, open and functional methods of governance when you look at what happens in other parts of the world - even first world countries.



5. What kinds of leadership do you need to fulfill?



As with any human being, we have different circles of responsibility the closer we get to ourselves. My first role is as a husband, my next role is as a father, after that my role as a local MP, my next role as a member of the Liberal party and then as a Parliamentary Secretary. They are the levels of respnsibility - you’ll notice that my role as a local MP comes before my role as a member of a political party, because ultimately my job is to speak up to their voice, the people of Pittwater, regardless of who they voted for. My party obligations come after that.



Obviously shown with Currawong



Wss both sides actually - thankful to Kristina Keneally who made the decision.



6. How are your local/community roles to your role as a local MP?



I think these are important because as a local MP you have to be a voice for your community. To have a voice, you need something to say. To have something to say, you have to be in the community listening and watching otherwise you’re detached. Using the example of being a lifesaver, that’s an entire community and a very important one. There is probably no volunteer community larger on the northern beaches, so it’s a very important part of the local culture. My kids go to local schools, so its a great insight into what’s going on in the schools. My daughter goes to the local kindergarten, so it’s a great opportunity to see what’s going on there. I’m on the board of a local school at Duffys Forest, so again, that gives me another opportunity to see what’s going on in the local community, so all those roles are important. I’m at a local church here as well, so all of those things, while I do them with not my ‘local member hat’ on, you need to be a part of the community in order to represent it.



So it increases your legitimacy as a local MP - being a part of the community.



Well, I’m one of the people, so that’s why. In the UK, it’s very different because a lot of members don’t actually live in their electorates and may not have ever lived there, and I think thats what makes it a much weaker system, whereas here it’s personal.

You care about the community because it’s your community. This was shown when Alex Mctaggart won Pittwater because the Liberal candidate wasn’t a local.  He was a lovely fellow, but he did suffer.



He got punished because he wasn’t a local.



Yes, and Alex, to his credit, when he was in the Parliament, his concern was for his community the challenge with this is that also, no man is an island entire of himself, so in order to represent your local community you need to see the bigger picture as well. Some of the things, in terms of the way in which you fight for particular services, you have to keep in mind that we’re part of a state and part of a country and there are areas of greater need, but there are things more important here than in other areas. Some things, your argument might be a little more moderate because there are greater needs elsewhere, but on other issues you know that it is the one main issue for the community.