Jess Price-Purnell

Chair, NSW Women's Council

When asked to trace the origins of her political ambitions, Jess Price-Purnell's mind returns to a lengthy wait in Accident and Emergency at Armidale Hospital in the year of 2009. A city-slicker from inner-city Melbourne, she was three years into her business degree at UNE when the disparities between city and country life became frustratingly obvious.

"I remember sitting in the waiting room on dingy, fold-up chairs with a friend who just needed an X-ray and some pain medication, waiting and waiting, and thinking 'this is ridiculous'," Jess says. "Back then, Armidale Hospital had only about four emergency beds and we waited for about six hours. In Melbourne, I had five hospitals to choose from within a 15-kilometre radius of home."

College life at UNE had already exposed Jess to some of the realities and complexities of life in rural and regional Australia. "I had had a very sheltered existence growing up, but at college I found myself living with people from Longreach, Bourke and the Hunter Valley; they really opened my eyes to the disparities that existed," she says.

Joining the National Party in 2011 was Jess's first step on the path towards "helping others" but a political career did not loom large until she took a job with Regional Development Australia. "I travelled extensively throughout 13 local government areas in the New England/North-west to assist with regional economic development," she says. "I met people who couldn't get to school if it rained, because their road was washed away, or who couldn't study online because they didn't have a reliable Internet service. I was exposed to real disadvantage and it got me interested in the political process and how you can have on-ground impact on people's lives."

Various political roles ensued, both in regional NSW and ministerial offices, and in 2013 Jess was enlisted to help run the Nationals campaign for the Northern Tablelands by-election, which recorded the biggest swing in by-election history at that time, breaking a 50-year record. "I loved every minute of it," she recalls.

Opportunity again came knocking in 2015, when Jess was working in Sydney as an advisor to then NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli. With baby Hugo not quite two years old and wedding plans just months away, she was asked to run for the safe Labor seat of Cessnock. "The Nationals had never won Cessnock and probably never will, but I thought it would be great experience," Jess says. "So I quit my job and travelled to Cessnock three days a week and moved to Cessnock for the final three weeks of the campaign."

Nothing could have prepared her for this political baptism of fire. "I was a Nationals candidate in a Labor heartland, with no ties to the area, so I was pretty ostracised," Jess says. "But it wasn't a Labor whitewash; I still attracted 22-23% of the vote.

"However, I also got spat at, had corflutes defaced and my office broken into; it was very hard, but it remains one of the best things I have ever done. It made me realise that politics was something I was really passionate about and that regional people need a regional voice."

Her passion ignited, Jess became chair of the NSW Young Nationals in 2016 and, two years later, became the first woman in 50-something years to have a baby (her second son, Rufus) while in the role. "Rufus was 10 weeks old when he also became the first baby to attend a National Party executive meeting," Jess says. "I think many people were shocked that I would show up and continue contributing; that it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility to be involved in politics and a mother."

However, there are other achievements that Jess would prefer to highlight. "I am particularly proud of the stand the Young Nationals took on promoting marriage equality in 2015, and it was great being personally involved in changes to the Biodiversity Act in NSW, which continues to make a big difference."

As a more moderate conservative, Jess has also been vocal on the need for climate change action and the development of effective energy policies. She was on the inaugural board of the Coalition for Conservation, has worked with Farmers for Climate Action, and completed the Al Gore Climate Reality course.

"Before I had kids I was a fairly typical self-centred, career-driven, quite materialistic person," Jess says. "Not knowing what the future will look like for our sons has made me think about what we can do now. If this past summer hasn't got lots of people thinking, then I don't know what will."

But proposing policies at odds with those of more senior party members has presented challenges. "There have been times when I've been utterly shut down, and I still get a lot of pushback when I mention anything about climate science, even now during the nuclear debate," Jess says. "I've been called a greenie, a leftie and all sorts of other things, but there are quite a number of us quietly trying to make change behind the scenes. You have to develop a thick skin in politics."

However, it was almost impossible not to take personally missing out on pre-selection for the Upper House Nationals seat made vacant by retiring member Niall Blair last year. "Losing that pre-selection was the hardest part of my political journey so far, because you are pre-selected by 90 of your peers," Jess says.

But the cut and thrust of politics remains attractive, mostly for its unpredictability and dynamism. To date, Jess has worked on 10 political campaigns and continues to chair the relatively new NSW Women's Council, established by the Nationals in 2012 with the aim of getting more women elected. "We have done a lot around the perceived barriers to women entering politics, put some targets in place for party representation and run mentoring programs, but we still have a long way to go," Jess says.

Still, an abiding concern for "what is best for people who live outside cities" has maintained her Nationals allegiance. "That's why I have stayed with the Nationals and why I think we have our place," she says. "Running for Parliament is something that will always be in the back of my mind, but whether I do that again, I'm not sure."

There's plenty to do in the meantime. "I am one of those people who is on lots of committees that I probably don't have time to be on, but I feel that it's my vocation to help people and I want to be able to make a difference," she says. "I run an economics and public policy consulting firm with my husband Martin and I have also just started studying law part-time back at UNE. I am really good at talking and arguing; and if I can do that in a way that helps people, then that's what I'm going to do."

Parting advice for political aspirants:

Keep trying; don't take your first defeat as your only defeat. There will be lots of defeats. Keep standing up and remember that nothing is personal. Finally, people will say there are no real friends in politics, but don't believe them.