He likes classical music, old cameras and double-breasted suits.
asserted
He → like → music
“People stopped wearing suits and ties because people stopped wearing suits and ties,” he laments during a portrait shoot.
asserted
he → stop → shoot
“Are people really that led by others?”
asserted
people → lead → others
Maclean’s sartorial tastes are more accidental, he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
He didn’t know the sunglasses he’d picked were the iconic Saratoga frames loved by John F. Kennedy, and it was a fluke that the tie he wore the night he was elected was in the colours of the Newcastle Knights, who’d stormed to the grand finals less than 24 hours prior.
asserted
who → know → finals
And it’s not just his clothes.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
His entire political career, in many ways, has been forged through a concoction of coincidences.
asserted
career → forge → coincidences
Maclean was elected leader of the major council on Monday after the shock party defection of Liberal councillor Tanya Raffoul, who ended up voting against the Liberal incumbent to tip the scales by one vote in favour of Maclean.
asserted
who → elect → Maclean
Donna Davis, a Labor councillor and lord mayor who later left to represent the area in state parliament, had asked him while he was at university to be the second on her ticket in 2021.
asserted
he → leave → 2021
“The chances of being elected are pretty slim, but it’s a good way of getting exposure to the process,” Davis remembers telling Maclean while he was at university.
asserted
he → elect → university
Then a severe factional battle left the Liberals without any candidates.
asserted
battle → leave → candidates
Maclean was elected cleanly, and voters in the ward of Epping backed him again in 2024.
asserted
voters → elect → 2024
Maclean inherits one of the most significant jobs in western Sydney, charged with leading the centre of one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia – and its council, which is still reeling after a tumultuous year in which its chief executive was sacked ahead of a lengthy ICAC public inquiry into her and other staff.
asserted
executive → inherit → her
“There was a tiger behind both walls,” he said on Monday night about the decisions he and his colleagues were facing.
asserted
he → be → decisions
He vowed to reform the council’s staff culture, and faced early calls from Liberal councillor Steven Issa to “strengthen [his] resolve”.
asserted
He → vow → resolve
Maclean’s life reflects his own city’s growth.
asserted
life → reflect → growth
He attended Epping Public when it had 350 students – it now has 790.
asserted
it → attend → 790
His home suburb has been connected by the north-west metro, and has had a huge amount of development.
asserted
suburb → connect → development
But most formative was what happened inside his family home.
asserted
happened → happen → home
The youngest of three boys, Maclean never had much power in getting to watch television.
asserted
Maclean → have → television
As a 10-year-old, he immersed himself in the voices of the ABC’s Mark Colvin, Richard Glover and James Valentine.
asserted
he → immerse → Colvin
And while I really couldn’t have a semblance of what the issues of the day were, it just seemed so very important,” he recalls.
asserted
he → have → day
The radio made him civic-minded, encouraging a deep dive into Australian political history that has shaped his politics today.
asserted
that → make → politics
“[Former prime minister Paul Keating] said it was the role of a leader to protect the country from prejudice.
asserted
it → say → prejudice
And I agree,” he says in his first interview since becoming lord mayor.
asserted
he → agree → interview
“But we’ll change the context and say that I believe a lord mayor needs to stand up for the community and protect the community from prejudice and ill-informed remarks.
asserted
mayor → change → prejudice
That’s going to be crucial here in Parramatta.
asserted
That → go → Parramatta
“Anyone can observe that the tone and tenor of political debate is declining.
asserted
tone → observe → debate
We are seeing that it is becoming commonplace to target minority groups and to use terms like ‘mass migration’ over and over, essentially targeting multicultural communities.
asserted
it → see → communities
That bothers me immensely, because multiculturalism in Parramatta is a settled question.
asserted
multiculturalism → bother → Parramatta
In fact, it’s not a question at all.
asserted
it → ’ → fact
From Epping to Toongabbie to the Olympic Peninsula to Parramatta to Harris Park, we all live this, and it’s part of the fabric of our communities.”
asserted
it → live → communities
The “myth of a monoculture” in Australia’s past is damaging western Sydney, he says.
asserted
he → damage → Sydney
“It’s not something we can ‘retreat’ to.
asserted
we → ’ → ?
They’ve enhanced our society, and those people from diverse backgrounds, they are radically Australian.”
asserted
they → enhance → backgrounds
His eloquence is, at least in part, due to the fact he has albinism, a rare genetic condition that whitens his skin and hair and significantly impairs his eyesight.
asserted
that → whiten → eyesight
It meant he went through school exams with a scribe.
asserted
he → mean → scribe
Richard Edwards, who taught Maclean commerce at Epping Boys High School and mentored him in year 12, says he witnessed him develop an excellent memory.
asserted
him → teach → memory
“He had to plan it all in his head and sit back and structure it all in his head,” Edwards says.
asserted
Edwards → have → head
“He didn’t even really jot down notes.”
asserted
He → jot → notes
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
