YOUNG Nationals President Ruby Cameron says losing elder statesman David Whitrow has left a rare, unofficial gap within the federal parliamentary team, of a subtle voice of encouragement for emerging youth, which needs to be filled.
Mr Whitrow was Chief of Staff to former Nationals leader and cabinet minister Warren Truss for more than a decade before he suddenly died from a heart attack last month aged 67.
His unexpected passing came shortly after retiring from federal politics, following Mr Truss’ resignation in February this year, having been a loyal party servant and leading confidant to the political elite.
An experienced background operative, Mr Whitrow’s strength was his ability to listen closely, in a business where words can often be cheap, and chose his words of reply wisely while drawing on his vast experiences.
His funeral in Canberra was a testament to his character and respectful standing within political ranks with strong attendance and generous reflections from a broad range of past and present members and other contributors.
Ms Cameron said her pathway into the world of federal politics in Canberra was spurred by Mr Whitrow’s wily expertise and acknowledgement for which she’s eternally grateful.
Moving to Canberra in 2013, he encouraged her transformation from a role in strategy and communications to start working in the office of NSW Nationals MP Michael McCormack who is now the Small Business Minister.
“David Whitrow, God bless him and I thank him now, he gave me that opportunity and he told me to go for it and I have not looked back ever since,” she said.
“David’s great strength was fostering and encouraging young people within our ranks in Canberra, within our staffing network for example, to take on new challenges, to look for opportunities and he certainly fostered and encouraged that with me.”
Ms Cameron said Mr Whitrow’s passing meant other party members needed to step-up and fill that unique void - including her-self - to support and encourage the development of new staff-members, electorate officers and within general administration ranks.
“David was around a long time walking these corridors (of Parliament House) and was very well inter-connected with his networks and knowledge,” she said.
“I am still learning about those networks but his reach and knowledge was just huge in terms of being across industry and government and the private sector.”
Ms Cameron also pointed to another mentor within party ranks - Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie - who took her aside at a pivotal time and offered praise, which planted the seeds of political growth.
Speaking on a motion about the value of decentralisation for rural and regional communities at a party conference in 2009, her words and ideas turned heads which prompted recognition from Senator McKenzie.
Senator McKenzie introduced the rising star to Mr Truss who at the time was federal party leader and he encouraged her to become involved in the Young Nationals which elevated her journey.
“Bridget said something along the lines of, ‘I really like what you have to say and you’ve got a good contribution to make to our party, so stick tight and there will be opportunities for you’, and kind of shepherded me into the Young Nationals,” she said.
“At the time there were only literally a handful of members in the Young Nationals and I turned up the next annual general meeting and ended up walking out as State President in Victoria.”
Ms Cameron’s family heritage has also played a significant part in igniting her passions and drive for politics.
Her grandfather Finlay Arthur Cameron was a farmer and was elected to serve in the Victorian Parliament in the 1930’s and 1940’s representing the then Country Party.
Growing up on the land in Western Victoria, Ms Cameron’s parents ran a mixed cropping and sheep property, producing fine Merino wool, and the family always maintained strong connections to the Nationals.
They attended branch meetings and political conferences which was as natural and as important to their being, as tending to every-day chores on the farm.
Home on the farm from a university break in 2006, she was thrown into work on a campaign to help a local party candidate try and get elected and essentially didn’t look back from there.
Before arriving in Canberra, Ms Cameron studied teaching and arts at university and performed various roles within the Nationals, while during her degree and afterwards, including senior positions in the Victorian head office, and assisted on election campaigns, in 2010 and 2013.
She worked as a teacher for a short while before entering the political fray full-time and is now firmly entrenched in the Nationals but always learning.
In two years as the Young Nationals President, she’s faced multiple challenges; not least of all having to bite her lip and chose a way of responding to errant comments from federal Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce during the recent election campaign.
In an extensive media article delving into his background and character, Mr Joyce was asked if he’d ever belonged to the Young Nationals to which he said no, adding, “They're real zealots and they drive me f…ing crazy. They come up with bullshit ideas, which, if you progressed them, would definitely get you kicked out of power”.
Ms Cameron said she took the issue up directly with the party leader in private who explained the context of his comments and apologised for any harm caused.
“I felt he’d been on the front foot with the issue and addressed it,” she said.
“There was an option where I could have gone out in the public sphere, made a big deal of it, or dealt with it internally, which is how I dealt with it.”
Ms Cameron said there was a time and a place for dealing with such sensitive issues and that diplomacy was also needed, given she also works in Mr McCormack’s office as do other Young Nationals.
But she said Mr Joyce also had members of the youth branch working in his office and was “very encouraging of us all”.
“He knows that we have a diversity of ideas - we challenge him and he challenges us - so it is give and take and it works both ways,” she said.
Ms Cameron said decentralisation had been coined as a “dirty word” but the Young Nationals continued to back Mr Joyce on that party policy to relocate government agencies like the Murray Darling Basin Authority, into regional areas to boost their vitality.
She said the party also had a history of empowering strong female leaders from the regions like Shirley McKerrow who was the first woman elected federal president of any Australian political party and other presidents in Helen Dickie and most recently Gundagai’s Christine Ferguson along with a host of female State directors.
Ms Cameron said the strength and achievement of Nationals’ deputy-leader and NSW Senator Fiona Nash had also inspired younger female party members as did the performance of Michelle Landry, at the recent election, in retaining her lower house Queensland seat of Capricornia and Senator McKenzie’s ongoing work.
But she said female representation and diversity right across the parliamentary party could always be better.
“Women in the party are leading from the forefront, but women need to better encourage women I think in being able to foster and encourage that confidence to step-up and to lead,” she said.
“People are capable in their own way, but sometimes it just takes someone reaching out and tapping you on the shoulder and just saying to you, ‘I think you’d be great and you should pursue this opportunity’, or ‘I am interested in hearing what you think on regional education and how we can improve access to students’.
“Fiona Nash has obviously been one to come out and indicate that she wants to aim towards a 50 pc cert target by 2020 of female representation across the board in the Nationals.
“I am really keen to hear a little bit more about what she has got to say and what ideas she has, to enable that to happen.
“I fundamentally believe that it starts with us, as female representatives in the party, but also the wider parliamentary team, the wider leadership within the Nationals, must also take responsibility.
“I think the MP’s sometimes underestimate how strong their influence can be, particularly on young people, in reaching out and just offering a bit of encouragement or pointing them in the right direction for getting involved, because that’s how I started and how many others got their foot in the door.”
Ms Cameron said the party was well-grounded and interconnected between its parliamentary team, membership, administration, policy making processes, financing and running election campaigns.
“When all those things are in equilibrium and working together as an overall platform, I think that is when we are at our strongest,” she said.
“We are people who are out there among regional communities, our membership, our local branches, council structures and governance and our parliamentary teams and they are in tune with those networks and their communities and what the locals are saying.”
Ms Cameron said the Young Nationals had never been a huge force within the party but the influence was growing and they’d offered strong support to candidates throughout Australia, at the recent federal election.
They also provided four candidates in; Jonathan Pavetto for the Queensland seat of Kennedy; Lisa Cole in the WA seat of Durack; Rebecca Treloar for the Senate in Victoria; and James Anderson for the Victorian seat of McEwen.
“I think that shows the strength and calibre of the young Nats at the moment,” she said.
“We have been able to have a huge impact - the huge volunteer efforts and the time and energy and resources they given to campaigns.
“And if we weren’t there as a force on the ground, those MP’s and those candidates would struggle.”
Ms Cameron said Nationals’ federal director Scott Mitchell led a central campaign for in Canberra, but there was also freedom across States for localised campaigns where people contributed ideas to ensure the party “remained relevant to our constituency”.
“I think our record is fairly strong there because we live and breathe grassroots,” she said.
“Like our parliamentary team, there are doctors, teachers, accountants and farmers and the like that bring that diversity and diversity of background which I think makes our party strong.
“Agriculture obviously has always been and will always play a strong role in formulating our policy platform and shaping our ideas going forward.”
As for a future in politics one day, Ms Cameron said she wasn’t saying no but for now was enjoying working as part of the broader Nationals’ team and the Small Business Minister.
“Politics is always about timing and you know, should something come my way or pop up the future I will definitely consider it,” she said.