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Remarks by the Campaign Director of the Sydney University Liberal
Club, Mr J. L. S. Travers, at the Annual General Meeting of the Club

The University of Sydney
3 June 2015

Mr President, executive colleagues, fellow freedom fighters, and

friends:

It has been an honour and a privilege for me to serve as Campaign
Director of this Club for the past twelve months.

During this period, there have been two major campaigns in which
this Club played a major part: the Win with Zin campaign for the
University of Sydney Union board elections last month, and the State
election in March.

I want to pay tribute to Jen Zin and her campaign team, so ably led
by Dimitry Palmer, for all their hard work.

I want to thank all members for doing their bit to ensure the re-
election of the Liberal-National State Government, and I pay tribute
to Dean Shachar and Josh Crawford, who did a fantastic job in
running the Young Liberal Flying Squad.

It was clear from the campaign and the result that the students of
this University were prepared for change.

Our student representativesbe it the SRC or the USU Boardneed

to realise that they are here to serve us, and not to give our money
to students from rival universities who knowingly contravene the
law.

There will always be a place for the right-of-centre on this historic
campus, and I would urge everyone in this room to keep the faith
and defend the cause.

In one of his landmark speeches, Richard Nixon referred to the great
silent majority.

I believe that there is a silent majority out there, great in desperation
to have someone to represent their interests.

I wish to thank the President, William Dawes, for having the
necessary faith and confidence in me to appoint me to this position,
and I thank him for his leadership.

I thank Dimitry Palmer, my fellow Campaign Director, for his efforts.
After our experience, I consider him to be a brother.

I also thank the remainder of the Executivewith special mention to
our womens officer, Jenny Hilliarfor their efforts, and putting up
with me over the past twelve months.

It has been a privilege to work with each and every one of you, and I
could not have asked for a better Executive to work with.

Having said that, I inform you all that I will not be re-nominating for
this position, nor have I allowed my name to be put forward.


This is not necessarily the decision I wanted to make but, after
careful consideration, I have concluded that it is the right one.

At this stage in my life, having devoted most of my efforts to party
politics, I want to focus on my studies, spend more time with my
family, and issues that are important to menamely, youth affairs,
mental health, social policythat includes the passage of a marriage
equality bill, and parliamentary reform.

On the subject of mental health, I would like to thank those of you
who supported me during the recent period in which I was
depressed and suicidal.

No words of mine can convey how grateful I am to you for that
support.

As a result of my experiences, I want to ensure that others that go
through similar issues get the help and support that I had.

There is more to mental health than an annual hashtag, and I make it
my mission to help those that need it.

That is what I had in mind when I wrote to Clive Palmer to say that
he was out of line in telling the Prime Minister to commit suicide
I never received a reply, by the way.

Thanks to my reading the Hansard of the maiden speech of one of
our distinguished alumnus, the Honourable Dr Peter Phelps MLC, I
learned that no man does it all by himself is a Village People lyric.

They were on the money with that one.

I wish I could thank everyone who played a part in this journey, but
we would be here all night.

In addition to thanking President Dawes and the executive, I wish to
thank my sister Lacy, my nephew Tyreece, and my niece Marley for
their love and support while I've undertaken this responsibility.

I owe them a lot.

I also thank my Mum, Carol, for her unconditional love, which made
this journey so much easier.

There are two friends that I wish to mentionSarah Harris, the co-
host of Studio 10, and Dee Madigan, the owner of Campaign Edge.

Yes, I know she manages campaigns for Labor.

But Sarah, Dee and I were at the studio on the morning I took this
position.

That was a good day.

Dee has provided me with loads of moral support and some things to
laugh at, and, despite her politics, I will always love her for that.

Sarah is an extremely lovely, caring and intelligent woman, and I
insist on recording my gratitude to her.

I wish her and Tom well.


I would also like to thank my good friend Michaela Whitbourn, for
her magnificent sense of humour, terrific puns, and just for being
Michaela.

I may be stepping down from the Executive, but I will not be stepping
down from SULC.

For far too long, I have wanted to be a member and I will never leave
this Club whilst I am privileged to be a student at this University, our
nations most prestigious and oldest.

This Club is the custodian of the Liberal philosophy on campus;
whereby it is the role of government to provide Australians with the
necessary skills and tools to build better lives.

This should be the goal of every government.

I close by wishing the incoming Executive all the best over the next
twelve months.

It will be challenging but I know you will have a lot of fun in the
process.

Once again, I thank you for the opportunity to serve, and it is
something that I shall cherish until I go to the Heavens.

Thank you, and may God bless each and every one of you.