WAGGA can be proud that our local member has been elected as Australia’s 19th Deputy Prime Minister.
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Michael McCormack was born locally, lives in Wagga, and is known personally by so many Wagga people, plus by people far and wide throughout the Riverina.
Mr McCormack had not long finished his term as editor at The Daily Advertiser when I began working as a DA photographer. Curiosity led me to quiz my work colleagues. I found that he was well-liked.
Former deputy editor and chief of staff, Peter Mahoney, told me last week that he spent several years as Michael’s deputy.
“I’ve got nothing but praise,” Mr Mahoney told me. “We had our occasional disagreement, but he was very fair. A great bloke to work for.”
Knowing that they were about the repeat a stale story, the ABC positioned their junior reporter outside the old DA building in Trail Street.
Yes, the ABC’s inner-city and Canberra audiences needed to be reminded about Mr McCormack’s comments in the DA about homosexuals in 1993! ABC types don’t want to admit that intelligent people listen, think, and change their views.
What he said 25 years ago is hardly relevant. In parliament he voted for Same-Sex Marriage after the Plebiscite when 55 per cent of Riverina voters supported the “Yes” case. End of story.
Mr McCormack is regularly seen in Wagga, and around this vast electorate which now extends north of Forbes.
His new Canberra duties could mean less time for friendly neighbourhood chats! I have talked with him on several occasions at the Lake Albert Shopping Centre, and found him to be a friendly, approachable person. Most importantly, he still talks naturally, not like a politician.
Mr McCormack came straight from school to the DA and rose through the ranks on merit. He worked in the real world, learning how real people think while working as a journalist in those pre-PC days. He learnt first-hand how a real business survives while running his own company. Contrast his real-world experience with MPs who have only been political staffers or union organisers, and have never held a real job.
The television news crews have had a field day trying to portray him as tongue-tied. He should take a few lessons from Tim Fischer, another local Deputy PM. I knew Mr Fischer well from my time in Lockhart.
“I was immediately branded as idiosyncratic, as underwhelming, as unable, and not up to the job,” Mr Fischer has been quoted as saying. He became one of Australia’s best and most sincere leaders. Mr Fischer particularly showed his ability to communicate at the tricky time when John Howard was implementing gun control.
We should also note that former Nationals leaders such as Warren Truss and John Anderson were quiet, persuasive figures, who offered a strong sense of stability and harmony within the Coalition.
I don’t think Mr McCormack will try to be as outgoing as Barnaby Joyce - that was Mr Joyce’s style. Country voters value quiet achievers, rewarding the Nationals with an extra member at the last election when the Liberals lost many seats.
Twenty-three per cent of Australians live outside capital cities.
I think that all country people are counting on Wagga’s new Deputy Prime Minister to ensure that rural and regional Australians have a real voice in Canberra. Congratulations, Michael!