By JESSE GRAHAM
TONY Smith’s political career began in 2001, with him skyrocketing into the job, announcing as a candidate roughly a month before the election and coming in with a clean sweep.
“It had been a bit of a whirlwind because I only became the candidate on the Thursday night before Grand Final Day, and by Remembrance Day I was a member of the House of Representatives,” he said, in an email response to the Mail.
Despite a late entry into the race, Mr Smith took 57 per cent of the vote after preferences, winning with a 15 per cent lead over Labor’s David McKenzie.
Mr Smith has won every subsequent election with a winning margin of about 10 per cent of the vote, but did not comment on recent media reports of a 10 per cent swing against the Coalition, according to current polls.
“My job is to do the best I can for our community. That’s what I spend my time thinking about,” he said.
“I’m not a political commentator, so I would rather leave polling performance discussions to others.”
The speed of his victory in Casey has a strong parallel with his election as Speaker of the House of Representatives last month, where he quickly became the lead candidate for the role and won with 51 votes to 22.
Though the speakership means that Mr Smith will no longer attend partyroom meetings, he said he remained a member of the Liberal Party, and could advocate for his electorate of Casey.
“I am still first and foremost the Member for Casey, but when Parliament sits, as Speaker I am the umpire,” he said.
“When you’re Speaker, you’re presiding over the parliament – as a local member, people are still going to see me at my mobile offices, are still going to see me at the local football; they’re still going to see Pam and I and the boys at Bunnings.”
Mr Smith said he got started in politics in his last year of school, though it wasn’t until university when that path solidified under his feet.
“I had a very good politics teacher who inspired me at a time when I didn’t really find school that inspiring,” he said.
“It was when I was at university and working night shift in a restaurant as a cook that I became more politically aware that decisions in Canberra affected people’s lives in so many ways.”
Nowadays, an average day starts with getting up early, reading the papers before hitting the road, taking his mobile office around the 2500 square kilometre electorate.
As for any future political aspirations, Mr Smith said his priorities lay in the area that elected him.
“I really don’t think about that sort of stuff,” he said.
“First and foremost, I am the Member for Casey – that’s my priority and my passion.”
