Parliamentary Leaders Program is now known as Next25 Leadership
THE CONTEXT
Our first Parliamentary Leaders Program ran in 2015 and we now count approximately 7% of all sitting parliamentarians as alumni, including 15% of NSW and 10% of WA parliaments. Facilitated under Chatham House Rule and a strictly non-partisan environment, those who attend choose to uncover and deeply understand their own values so that they become increasingly conscious individuals, more purposeful leaders, and constructive change-makers. This series of Q&As with program alumni and associated staff is designed to give all of our community the opportunity to get to know each other and to provide everyone with new insight into the experience of being a politician and some of the work our alumni are doing in relation to their professional development.
INTRODUCING
The Hon. Jonathan O'Dea MP, Speaker of NSW Parliament, attended the Parliamentary Leaders Program in 2017. In May 2020, he launched the Professional Development Program for members of NSW Parliament, alongside The Hon. John Ajaka MLC, President of the Legislative Council. Ellie Laing is the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Speaker at NSW Parliament. She has worked tirelessly to provide support to both professional development providers and parliamentarians themselves to ensure the success of this initiative.
The Challenge:
What is your role and what constitutes success for your role? For you personally? Why?
As Deputy Chief of Staff to the Speaker at the New South Wales Parliament, my focus is delivering on the Speaker’s reform agenda, which includes modernisation of our systems, engagement with the public and critically, the professional development of our members. Ultimately, all those objectives are aimed at re-building trust in the institution as a whole.
In fact, when people ask what I do for a job, I usually tell them with a smile that “my job is about re-building trust in Parliament”… which more often than not elicits a laugh and a reply along the lines of “good luck with that!”.
But I’m not deterred. While I know I will never be able to totally transform public perceptions of Parliament in my tenure, I do believe the small steps matter. And in time, they can amount to meaningful change.
For example, until now there has been very little attention given to the professional development of members at NSW Parliament, or indeed parliaments anywhere. Yet, if there ever was a job that required strong emotional support, leadership guidance, constant learning and exposure to new ways of thinking – it’s that of a politician. We expect so much of them, but have for so long provided them with so little. So I’m very pleased to be working for a Speaker who believes in doing something to fix that.
Personally, success for me was about setting up a professional development offering that was substantial, meaningful, and attractive to our members. But success was never going to be about just creating a great program – our success depended on bringing MPs with us, and securing their buy-in from the start.
As a result, in 2020, we launched a new Professional Development Program for all MPs here at NSW Parliament. The Program has included partnering with bespoke training providers, including Australian Futures Project, and encouraging our MPs to participate in those off-site courses, hosting our own thought leadership events, and introducing a new micro-learning app to help educate MPs about their compliance responsibilities.
To date, the participation in the externally provided courses (like the Parliamentary Leaders Program) has been very encouraging, and the Thought Leadership Series has been very well received.
For me, the momentum is there, and hopefully, as word spreads around the halls here (as it tends to do!), that momentum continues to build.
What is the greatest challenge you face in this role and what you want to achieve?
The greatest challenge is no doubt cultural change. It’s never easy starting something new, especially in politics, where people can often quickly resort to taking a cynical view. I think that sometimes in the political sphere taking risks or trying new things can leave you feeling like you’re exposing yourself to criticism among the political fraternity. That fear and insecurity can lead to some opting for a safe path of doing very little, so they can avoid negative commentary from others sitting on the sidelines. While that approach might be safe, it doesn’t lead to positive change.
On top of cultural challenges, there’s time challenges. Politicians are extremely busy, and even more so when they hold a Ministerial position. So encouraging members, and particularly Ministers who are often under the greatest pressure of all, to take the time to focus on their own development, can be a big challenge.
What do you perceive as one of the greatest obstacles or challenges in the way of constructive change / improvement to the way politics works? Why?
There’s a few challenges I’m passionate about.
The first is attracting the right type of people, and a diverse range of people into politics – both as elected politicians, and staffers. There are so many factors that play into this that could help improve the status quo.
Another challenge is keeping those people who do enter politics in touch and grounded during their tenure. Working in politics can be intense and feel like a “bubble”, and it is very easy to get swept up in it quickly. We need to do more to ensure those people who entered the field to do good don’t get distracted with all the noise, and stay on track.
And lastly, as a former journalist, I’m particularly passionate about building better relationships between politicians, their staff, and the media. It doesn’t need to be a relationship based on fear and mistrust. Both parties have an enormously important job to do, and they both depend on each other. I feel if there was better understanding between people on both sides, not only would they themselves benefit, but the public would too.
The course:
What do you see as the biggest benefit of politicians undertaking professional development?
As mentioned above, I strongly believe politicians on the whole are giving people who want to make a positive difference. The realities of the job, however, can sometimes leave them feeling very underwhelmed or jaded. Professional development plays an important role in helping members connect with why they’re there in the first place, helps them maintain their focus and motivation, and perhaps most importantly, helps them connect with each other on a personal level. The more connected members are with each other, the more likely they are to work collaboratively together, in the interest of the public.
The change-making:
What would you hope to see evolve from yourself and from other alumni of the PLP over the next 5-10 years?
I’d like to think the momentum we’re building at NSW Parliament continues to grow so that we get to a point where culturally, professional development is seen as normal, necessary and valuable.
If you could have the Australian public understand one key thing about life as a politician in the current Australian system, what would it be?
That more often than not they work really hard and don’t get paid enough.
Responses by Ellie Laing, November 2020
Image of NSW Parliament from parliament.nsw.gov.au
Image of Ellie Laing
Know of a politician who you think would be interested or benefit from this Program? You can nominate a politician for the next Parliamentary Leaders Program here.