Steven is not your typical politician.
When Steven was ten his family moved from South Australia to the East Gippsland tofollow their dream of building a house and making a life on the land. His childhood was absent of modern conveniences such as mains power, ‘but what we lacked in comfort we gained in a life that was grounded in the earth, littered with old motors, and full of creativity and independent thought’. When Steven found an old motorbike at the age of ten in an abandoned sawmill he saved some money and bought it. The motor bike represented a new found freedom for Steven. For the next 6 years he would often strap on a jerry can of fuel and a backpack, taking off for a weekend of adventures in the highlands of NSW and Victoria, returning on a Sunday afternoon just in time for a bath. He recounts this time in his life with affection for the beauty of the natural world, and an appreciation for being free within it.
When Steven was fourteen he was introduced to well-known local farmer and artist Rix Wright who commissioned him to compose a score for a musical that he had written. Rix was an eccentric gentleman, ‘the most extraordinary person I ever had the privilege of meeting’. Spanning eight months and raising funds to save the local country club from closure, the production was a grand community success, and a life-changing experience for Steven. ‘It cemented in me that to art is not an exclusive endeavour. It is for everyone, it is to be shared, and it helps us learn to love the world… if you want to contribute to it, you have to love it’.
When Steven was sixteen he informed his mother that he would be moving to Canberra to live in a share house and complete years 11 and 12 at Narrabundah College. That weekend, and with his family’s support, he drove himself to Canberra. ‘Canberra was an entirely new world for me. I formed extraordinarily strong and enduring friendships. I read, I immersed myself in music and theatre, and I lived hard, and I still do I suppose’. In 2001 Steven received an ANU scholarship to undertake extension studies for university, and in 2002, he received a Group of Eight Scholarship to undertake full-time study at the ANU. Over the years he has studied in 5 different departments with no intention to graduate, ‘I have never been interested in following the rules of a university, I have only been interested in learning as much as I can. I reject the notion that someone’s worth or intelligence can be represented by a piece of paper, and I fear that universities are moving towards a cold new world; uncreative, artless and market-based’.
Steven’s first job was in a sawmill. Since then he has volunteered, worked and taught in numerous schools throughout the ACT and NSW. He is a freelance director and composer; he has managed events and operas, and recently wrote and conducted one in Hong Kong. He has worked with various community choirs, orchestras, and other community ensembles. He has studied music, English, philosophy, accounting, history, anthropology, business management and marketing (the last two of which he detested). For the majority of 2009, he was an artist in residence at Griffith Regional Theatre, NSW. It was his role to live in the community, engage with it, and write and direct a performance that consisted of hundreds of volunteers and saw an audience of 3,000. The show remains the highest grossing the Regional Theatre has ever produced.
Steven takes pride in being a person of brain and brawn; from working time-to-time back at home on his family’s property and in his experience in labouring in mills and factories.
When asked why he became involved in politics Steven he answers enigmatically, ‘I’ve always been involved in politics, ever since I was a child. I’ve always argued with respect, I’ve always been concerned for the wellbeing of those around me, and I’ve always felt it a responsibility to understand people unlike myself’.
Steven is as comfortable having a beer with his tradie mates at the Braddon Club as he is standing in front of an orchestra; he is as content debating policy on the radio as he is camping in the bush with his dog Bruce.
Steven is not your typical politician.
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