How I Got Here: ACT Minister Tara Cheyne
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Admit it, we’ve all been there—stalking social media and LinkedIn profiles, trying desperately to figure out how the hell someone got their dream job.
It seems impossible and yet there they are, living out your career fantasy (minus the itchy business suit). It might seem hard to believe, but once upon a time, they were also fantasising about their future career, and with some hard work, they made it.
Welcome to How I Got Here, HerCanberra’s series that reveals everything you wanted to know about the secrets of career success. This week ACT Minister Tara Cheyne shares how she went from wanting to be an author, teacher, and journalist to a Minister in the Government with many, many responsibilities.
Existential crisis time: Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Tara Cheyne and a Labor member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, representing most of Belconnen. I was elected in 2016, a few months before my 30th birthday. In my first term I was the Government whip and served on many parliamentary committees. Since 2020 I’ve been a Minister in the Government, with responsibilities for the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy; for City Services; for Government Services and Reform; and Human Rights. I’ve been a federal public servant, blogger (when blogging was a thing), and involved in a host of community initiatives. I’m a dog lover, Belconnen Town Centre resident, and an only child.
Let’s go back to when you were a kid, have you always dreamed of working in this industry?
Absolutely not! I grew up wanting to be an author, teacher, and journalist. Even once I got interested in politics, my goal was to be a political adviser. I had this ambition for a long time, thinking that I would be able to make the biggest difference behind the scenes.
Tell us about when you were first starting out, what set a fire in your belly to get here and how did you do it?
Several pivotal changes happened for me in 2012-13. I was heavily involved in a friend’s election campaign for Brindabella; I joined the Belconnen Community Council; my blog about things to do in and around Canberra became relatively popular; and I became the manager of a team in the public service where we were making a material positive impact on peoples’ lives (in the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce) and I could directly see the outcomes of what good Government initiatives can achieve. All of this occurring at the same time helped me realise my passion for Canberra and for Belconnen, that I loved doing work where I could see the difference I was making, and that maybe I did have what it took to put myself front and centre. By 2015 I felt I had plenty of passion and energy, and that I wanted to do more – and the way to do that was to be in the place where the decisions get made.
Recall a time when you wanted to chuck it all in; what did you tell yourself when it got too hard?
It’s a very simple saying, but “It won’t always feel like this” seems to be a good mantra: a basic statement that just like the good times, the hard times are transient as well.
What was your biggest break?
Several moments stand out, apart from the obvious of being elected!
Getting the chance to lead the team I did, and to do the work I was privileged to be part of in 2013-14, was pivotal in me understanding the work that I wanted to do and the difference I could make.
My blog’s readership ballooning around the same time, as well as establishing a large network of friends outside work – including many through the 101 Canberrans tourism initiative of 2014 – and doing some pivotal work in the Belconnen Community Council made me realise my passion for Belconnen and that I finally felt like I’d found my ‘hometown’ (my parents had several career changes as I was growing up and then jobs that required us to move regularly, so for almost my entire life I hadn’t lived anywhere longer than four years).
The recognition through HerCanberra’s 15 Women to Watch in 2015; the fact that party members had begun asking if I was thinking of running unprompted (I’d harboured this ambition but was very coy because I was scared of failure); getting the support and mentorship of then MLA Mary Porter; and ultimately getting the support of my party through a very intense preselection process all propelled me to the election in 2016.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
So much! I have been so lucky to have had so many mentors throughout my life. I am still in touch with some of the teachers I had in high school.
Early in my APS career, back when sending some things to Ministers’ offices with templates that we handwrote elements into was de rigueur, a branch manager looked at my harried handwriting and gently asked how the Minister might react to receiving something like that. It was a small thing, but a lesson in communicating our pride for our work, and that someone receiving something that looks sloppy immediately raises questions about the content of what’s being provided. As I’ve become a manager, and then a Minister, this has also been my experience. My good friend came up with the mantra “style defends substance” and I use it regularly.
My MBA professor Debbie Blackman (now at UNSW) both challenged and changed how I think about organisational culture and problem solving. She drummed into me the question, “But what would it look like if it worked?” It’s a simple question but so very powerful, because it makes you think about the ideal situation if all was working as it should, and the path then usually reveals itself of what you need to do to get there.
Otherwise, I had some pretty formative experiences growing up that showed me the importance of taking opportunities when they’re presented to you, and it’s almost always better to give something you’re interested in doing a go than to be too scared to: usually the worst that can happen is that you end up in the same place as you were when you started. I really like the quote “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
What is it about your industry that you love and what makes you want to pull your hair out?
I love being able to help and being able to make a difference. I think that’s the reason most people put their hand up to run for parliament, and it’s the source of a huge amount of satisfaction. The inverse of course is where you are helpless, or the solution is not clear, or it takes longer than you’d (and the constituent) would like.
As a resident, a politician and now City Services Minister, the amount of litter and illegal dumping really irks me. It’s hard for me to reconcile the passion and pride for Canberra that we have as a community and the amount of litter that’s willfully and deliberately abandoned or dumped. I don’t shy away from Government’s responsibility to clean litter and respond to dumping, but I’d much rather us spending less time on that and more time on enhancing the city’s presentation – and the only way we can spend less time on it is if we all do our bit.
Tell us how you ‘stay in the know’, what media do you consume?
I try to read widely. I read all the locals, and we have media monitoring that covers the content relevant to us that’s delivered several times a day. I subscribe to The Guardian, SMH, the New York Times, the Washington Post and The Atlantic. Years ago a constituent recommended the daily newsletter “Next Draft” by Dave Pell. I wish I could remember who it was so I could thank them; I don’t typically like newsletters, but this one is fantastic. Reddit and Facebook community groups are great for hyper local content and for understanding what might be cropping up for people. I’m not great at absorbing information aurally if it’s unidirectional so while I enjoy radio and listen to it often, it’s not my primary news source.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I truly don’t know! In a job like politics, things can change in an instant. I know that every day I have in this job is a privilege, not a certainty, so it’s hard to say what I will be doing after two elections from now. Whatever it may be, I hope I still get to do work that helps people and where I can see the difference I’m able to make.
Why should people follow in your footsteps?
The best parliaments represent and reflect their populations. I was proud to be part of Australia’s very first parliament that achieved majority female representation in 2016; and I believe our Cabinet from 2020 was the first in Australia to have a majority female executive. But it’s more than that. At the time of my election aged 29, I was the second youngest woman to be elected in the history of self-government (now I’m the fourth youngest, which is a good thing). I was the second youngest woman to join Cabinet in our parliament’s history, and I’m the youngest person in Cabinet. Until Laura Nuttall’s election late last year, I was also the youngest woman in the 10th Assembly (and I’m now 37!). This means I do bring a different perspective, but I’m also undoubtedly getting older!
It also took me a long time to realise that most members of our Assembly have had a long association with Canberra: many were born here; moved here very young; or have lived here for more than a decade at the time of their election. I had lived here for eight and a half years when I was elected. While for some people that meant I was not yet a “true Canberran” (and for others I still have a few more decades to go before I qualify!), my story resonated with and reflected that of many others: I moved here not expecting to stay, and then fell in love with it.
So, having a diverse range of experiences and ages in the Assembly means we can best understand and represent those diverse ranges of experience and ages in the community. The big area where all of us need to do more work is in ensuring that our parliament better represents our culturally and linguistically diverse population. While more than 1 in 4 Canberrans are born overseas and speak a language other than English at home, our parliament does not come close to reflecting this. I’m hoping we will see more representation on the other side of this year’s election.
What advice would you give your past self?
Don’t change a thing.
