Damian Drum
Encyclopedia
Damian Kevin Drum is the Nationals
member for Northern Victoria Region in the Victorian parliament
, Australia. He is also a former Australian rules football
er and coach, most notably as senior coach of the Fremantle Football Club
in the Australian Football League
from 1999 to 2001. He turned to a political career after being sacked during the 2001 season. Drum was first elected to parliament in 2002, and is currently Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional & Rural Development.
. After graduating from high school, he became a carpenter and joiner, running his own shed construction business for several years. At the same time, he embarked on a football career, and was drafted to the then-VFL
's Geelong Football Club
in 1981. Over the next nine years, he played 63 games for Geelong. While playing football, he also operated his own business selling sheds and garages. After his retirement from football in 1990, he quit his business and took up a coaching position with Port Melbourne Boroughs in the Victorian Football League
.
Australian Football League club, under coach and former player Ron Barassi
. After five years in this role, Drum was approached by Fremantle
, who had not renewed the contract of their first coach, Gerard Neesham
. Drum had been one of the most highly anticipated coaching recruits of the season, and some were surprised that he signed with the struggling Dockers. He had been expected to sign with the Collingwood Football Club
the previous year, but the deal had fallen through.
Drum coached Fremantle for three seasons, in which the side suffered a marked lack of success. In his first season, the club finished 15th (second-last). Though there was some slight improvement in his second season, in which Fremantle won several high-profile games, the club nevertheless struggled, and finished twelfth. However, it was the 2001 season, in which Fremantle lost the first 9 games under Drum that sealed Drum's fate. He was dismissed after Round 9, and replaced by former Fremantle player and inaugural club captain Ben Allan
, who didn't fare much better, with the Dockers still winless after Round 17 in a 22-round season.
After losing the Fremantle job, Drum moved back to Victoria, and took up a position as coach of the Bendigo Diggers team in the Victorian Football League
. The situation was similar to Fremantle – the Diggers, a relatively new club, lost the first eleven games of the season. At the end of the season, Drum decided to retire from football and move into politics, successfully seeking National
pre-selection for the Victorian Legislative Council
seat of North Western Province at the 2002 state election.
Drum first ran for office amidst the Labor Party
landslide, in which many seats across the state fell to the minority government, and numerous shadow ministers lost their seats. Drum was elected despite the losses sustained by the conservative parties, with the Liberal Party
losing a net total of 26 seats whilst the Nationals suffered a net loss of only one seat. The conservatives had ended their coalition
in 2000 and campaigned separately.
The demise of the conservative coalition meant that the Nationals had numerous portfolios to fill in order to replace all those that had been occupied by the larger Liberal Party. Despite being a newly elected member with no previous political experience, Drum found himself Deputy Leader of the National Party in the Legislative Council, party Whip, and Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Education Services, Sport, Recreation, Racing, Consumer Affairs and the Commonwealth Games. Drum has also been a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee since 2003.
In 2003, in a conscience vote (a rare event in Australian politics), Drum voted against the passage of a bill legalising stem-cell research on excess IVF embryos.
For the 2006 election the Upper House of the Victorian parliament
underwent major structural changes. Drum's previous seat of North-West Region was replaced by the much larger Northern Victoria Region and proportional rather than preferential voting. Drum was easily elected with a quota in his own right but is the only National Party
member for the region.
Drum is currently the deputy leader of The Nationals in the Legislative Council
.
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
member for Northern Victoria Region in the Victorian parliament
Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...
, Australia. He is also a former Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er and coach, most notably as senior coach of the Fremantle Football Club
Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
from 1999 to 2001. He turned to a political career after being sacked during the 2001 season. Drum was first elected to parliament in 2002, and is currently Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional & Rural Development.
Early life
Drum was born in SheppartonShepparton, Victoria
Shepparton is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia approximately north-east of Melbourne. It is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The estimated population of Shepparton's statistical area is 48,926.It began as a sheep station...
. After graduating from high school, he became a carpenter and joiner, running his own shed construction business for several years. At the same time, he embarked on a football career, and was drafted to the then-VFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
's Geelong Football Club
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
in 1981. Over the next nine years, he played 63 games for Geelong. While playing football, he also operated his own business selling sheds and garages. After his retirement from football in 1990, he quit his business and took up a coaching position with Port Melbourne Boroughs in the Victorian Football League
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
.
Football career
In 1994, Drum moved to Sydney, taking up a position as the assistant coach of the Sydney SwansSydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
Australian Football League club, under coach and former player Ron Barassi
Ron Barassi
Ronald Dale Barassi, Jr AM is a former Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr., was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk during...
. After five years in this role, Drum was approached by Fremantle
Fremantle Football Club
The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...
, who had not renewed the contract of their first coach, Gerard Neesham
Gerard Neesham
Gerard Neesham is a former Australian rules footballer in the WAFL and VFL as well as coach in the WAFL and AFL. Today he is chief executive of the Clontarf Foundation.-Playing career:...
. Drum had been one of the most highly anticipated coaching recruits of the season, and some were surprised that he signed with the struggling Dockers. He had been expected to sign with the Collingwood Football Club
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
the previous year, but the deal had fallen through.
Drum coached Fremantle for three seasons, in which the side suffered a marked lack of success. In his first season, the club finished 15th (second-last). Though there was some slight improvement in his second season, in which Fremantle won several high-profile games, the club nevertheless struggled, and finished twelfth. However, it was the 2001 season, in which Fremantle lost the first 9 games under Drum that sealed Drum's fate. He was dismissed after Round 9, and replaced by former Fremantle player and inaugural club captain Ben Allan
Ben Allan
Benjamin Thomas "Ben" Allan is a former Australian rules footballer. He was educated at Aquinas College, Perth- Hawthorn career :He played as a rover...
, who didn't fare much better, with the Dockers still winless after Round 17 in a 22-round season.
After losing the Fremantle job, Drum moved back to Victoria, and took up a position as coach of the Bendigo Diggers team in the Victorian Football League
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
. The situation was similar to Fremantle – the Diggers, a relatively new club, lost the first eleven games of the season. At the end of the season, Drum decided to retire from football and move into politics, successfully seeking National
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
pre-selection for the Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...
seat of North Western Province at the 2002 state election.
Political life
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
landslide, in which many seats across the state fell to the minority government, and numerous shadow ministers lost their seats. Drum was elected despite the losses sustained by the conservative parties, with the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
losing a net total of 26 seats whilst the Nationals suffered a net loss of only one seat. The conservatives had ended their coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
in 2000 and campaigned separately.
The demise of the conservative coalition meant that the Nationals had numerous portfolios to fill in order to replace all those that had been occupied by the larger Liberal Party. Despite being a newly elected member with no previous political experience, Drum found himself Deputy Leader of the National Party in the Legislative Council, party Whip, and Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Education Services, Sport, Recreation, Racing, Consumer Affairs and the Commonwealth Games. Drum has also been a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee since 2003.
In 2003, in a conscience vote (a rare event in Australian politics), Drum voted against the passage of a bill legalising stem-cell research on excess IVF embryos.
For the 2006 election the Upper House of the Victorian parliament
Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...
underwent major structural changes. Drum's previous seat of North-West Region was replaced by the much larger Northern Victoria Region and proportional rather than preferential voting. Drum was easily elected with a quota in his own right but is the only National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
member for the region.
Drum is currently the deputy leader of The Nationals in the Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...
.