Sir Charles Court Young Leaders Program 2011

Author: Mia Davies
Published on: 10-July-2011

I’d like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today and pay my respect to leaders past and present.

I’d also like to acknowledge Patron Mr Barry Court and Ms Cathy Baron.

Thank you for inviting me to address the Sir Charles Court Young Leaders Program.

It is a privilege to be here today to speak to you as aspiring leaders in the context of this program.

Preparing for today has caused me to reflect on leaders and leadership in my life, how it has shaped the person I am today … and where I may end up in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity today to share with you a bit of my background, experiences and things I have learnt along the way.

I was elected to the State Parliament in the 2008 State Election and was sworn in to the Legislative Council in May 2009.

The region I represent is called the Agricultural Region. It spans from Kalbarri in the north, right down to Bremer Bay and across the Wheatbelt.

I was 30 when I was elected, making me the youngest member of the Legislative Council.
It is a great honour and privilege, and at times a challenge.

I grew up in the central Wheatbelt on our family farm in Yorkrakine, an area between Tammin and Wyalkatchem, approximately 200 kilometres north east of Perth.

My childhood was spent on the farm and my primary school years were spent at Wyalkatchem District High School.

I attribute much of my sense of community, my view of leadership and my desire to contribute to my family, my friends and the community I grew up in.

On Friday I attended the funeral of a close family friend from Wyalkatchem. The tributes provided by his close family and friends outlined a gentleman who had taken every opportunity to contribute his community to make it a better place.

A fine sportsman, he played cricket and football for many years. When he could no longer play he set up an Association to support and improve Umpiring in country sporting associations. He served as President of the Cricket and Football clubs, raising funds, inspiring young athletes and supporting the development of the Clubs.

He was Father Christmas at our annual Christmas tree for years, delighting the children when he arrived on the fire engine to hand out the presents. He was a farmer, husband, father and grandfather.

There were many people like this gentleman in my community.

My grandfather was the Shire President for many years. My grandmother was heavily involved in the Country Women’s Association and the Senior Citizens organisation, and the Hospital Auxilliary. My father, held various roles in the Football and Cricket Club, was P&C President, ran Little Athletics. My mum was a teacher at the local school. My neighbour ran the ANZAC Day ceremonies and is a St John’s Ambulance volunteer.

I grew up surrounded by people that took on leadership roles as a part of everyday life.

I also grew up with a strong sense of community.

If there was a bush-fire then everyone downed tools and leant a hand.

If we needed equipment for school or the hospital then fundraisers were held.

In our town, we even built the air-strip with the assistance of local family’s heavy machinery and donation of materials.

Very important to have an airstrip if you need the RFDS.

The first big change in my life was leaving Wyalkatchem and attending boarding school.

Boarding school broadened my horizons. I learnt to be independent and to look after myself.
By year 10 I was convinced I was going to be a Vet.

I studied Chemistry, Physics, maths, English Literature, Art and word processing.

When I finished school I went to university still with the aim of being a vet, where I studied science for a year, followed by three years of studying marketing and media.

This in itself was an interesting lesson. I think it is valuable to know that you can try things and if you don’t enjoy them it is ok to change. It’s important to do what you enjoy.

After graduating, I left Australia for two years to travel and work overseas. I did everything from working for London Underground, pulling beers at a pub in Ascot to selling cocktails to tourists in Majorca, and I was a housekeeper-cum-maid in a stately home in Essex. I had a fabulous time.

Now all this seems a long way from politics….

My father was a Member of Parliament for the same region that I now represent, so in some ways I grew up with a heightened awareness of politics. Some of our closest family friends and neighbours were also involved in politics.

My professional career started in Hon Max Trenorden’s office, then leader of the Parliamentary National Party, working as a receptionist, and a research officer.

I continued working in the leader of the Nationals’ office under the leadership of Brendon Grylls, working my way up to the position of Policy Advisor, until I moved to the private sector and I took a position with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia.

This role took me to the north west of the state. I was a regular visitor to Port Hedland, Karratha, Newman and other towns throughout the Pilbara - a vastly different environment from the one I grew up in.

But in the end, I came back to The Nationals WA. The team of people in this organisation are like an extension of my hometown and my family.

We share the same values, we challenge each other and we have the opportunity to give back to our community.

Now to politics … with a little history thrown in.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ~John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States.

It has been said that his singular intelligence, vast experience, unquestionable integrity, and devotion to country should have made him a great chief executive. But he lacked political sense and an ability to command public support, and his contentious spirit spelled defeat for him personally and for many of his policies.

Let’s fast forward a couple of hundred years and shift to Australia - to a political sphere dominated by polling and a 24 hour news cycle.

At the last State Election The National WA campaigned on a policy to return the equivalent of 25 per cent of the State’s mining and onshore petroleum royalties to the State’s regional areas each year as an additional investment in projects, infrastructure and community services.

And we proposed to secure this by winning the balance of power – meaning that either of the major parties would need our support to form government.

The point I make here is not a political one. It is about leadership. We believed that country people were getting a raw deal from successive state governments.

Our key policy of Royalties for Regions, and how it could be delivered, started out as a small idea.
Nobody believed we could do it.

The media, the political commentators, even the public who we had to convince to back us.
If Brendon Grylls, who was our Leader, and the rest of our team, listened to all the naysayers I wouldn’t be standing here today.

And our little policy idea now it makes a difference to people living and working in regional Western Australia.

But it wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t take people with us … our conviction and belief in our ideas and direction needed to inspire hundreds of people to share the same belief and to act on that belief.

They needed to change the way they voted – and many of them did.

It’s fine to be intelligent, have experience and a deep knowledge of what you do, but for me, the lesson I learned during the 2008 State election campaign was about empowering and inspiring the people you seek to lead.

Now all this might seem a long way from the decisions you are making or the things you are doing at school or at home at the moment. But they are actually very similar. If you stand up for what you believe in, if you listen to others and take an informed position, then you already are a leader.

As a Member of Parliament you need to show leadership every day, but there are times when this is tested more than others.

Last year, I was on a Parliamentary Committee tasked with examining the Criminal Investigation Amendment Bill, more commonly known as the ‘stop and search’ legislation.

The intent of the legislation was to deal with a perceived increase in knife crime in Perth’s entertainment precincts – like Northbridge.

The legislation would change the way the Police could search people they suspected were carrying weapons.

At the moment, the Police have to have a reasonable suspicion that a person has or is going to commit a crime before stopping them and searching them.

Applying the test of reasonable suspicion before stopping someone is a fundamental element of the way our justice system operates.

As a Member of the Committee charged with reviewing the proposed legislation to make sure it would achieve what it set out to, I had serious concerns that its introduction would alienate Police and make it difficult for them to do their job and marginalise vulnerable groups – young people, Aboriginal people, minority groups, those with mental illness and disabilities.

As you would understand, to be a member of the government and not support government legislation is not a decision taken lightly.

Neverthelss, if you are given the privilege of having a voice in the Parliament, you should use it.

My task, having assessed the Bill in depth as part of a Committee, was to convince my colleagues that my concerns were well-founded.

Again, we come back to – you have to take the people with you.

My voice alone would not have halted the legislation, I needed the support of others in the Parliament.

The legislation will not be introduced – enough Members of Parliament agreed with the findings of the Committee that I was a member of.

I hope these examples of my time as a Member of Parliament and my experiences before becoming a Member of Parliament have been of benefit for you.

Please enjoy the next few days of your program, this is a fantastic opportunity and I’m sure you will develop skills that stay with you for life.

I look forward to meeting you all again in coming years when you are leaders in your local community, business or maybe even in Parliament.

I’ll leave you with another quote … one from George Bernard Shaw that hung framed on my grandparents kitchen wall at home on the farm:
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.