The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-04 · by Anthony Segaert
Cameron Maclean, 28, became Parramatta’s youngest lord mayor after an unexpected election victory following a party defection. Despite his youthful appearance, Maclean describes himself as an "old soul," with interests in classical music and vintage clothing. His rise to prominence has been marked by coincidences, including being asked to join council while still at university due to a severe factional battle that left the Liberals without candidates. As lord mayor, he faces significant challenges in reforming the council’s culture following recent controversies and must lead one of Australia's fastest-growing regions.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
He likes classical music, old cameras and double-breasted suits.
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He → like → music
“People stopped wearing suits and ties because people stopped wearing suits and ties,” he laments during a portrait shoot.
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he → stop → shoot
“Are people really that led by others?”
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people → lead → others
Maclean’s sartorial tastes are more accidental, he says.
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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.
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who → know → finals
And it’s not just his clothes.
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it → ’ → ?
His entire political career, in many ways, has been forged through a concoction of coincidences.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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he → elect → university
Then a severe factional battle left the Liberals without any candidates.
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battle → leave → candidates
Maclean was elected cleanly, and voters in the ward of Epping backed him again in 2024.
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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.
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executive → inherit → her
“There was a tiger behind both walls,” he said on Monday night about the decisions he and his colleagues were facing.
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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”.
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He → vow → resolve
Maclean’s life reflects his own city’s growth.
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life → reflect → growth
He attended Epping Public when it had 350 students – it now has 790.
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it → attend → 790
His home suburb has been connected by the north-west metro, and has had a huge amount of development.
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suburb → connect → development
But most formative was what happened inside his family home.
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happened → happen → home
The youngest of three boys, Maclean never had much power in getting to watch television.
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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.
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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.
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he → have → day
The radio made him civic-minded, encouraging a deep dive into Australian political history that has shaped his politics today.
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that → make → politics
“[Former prime minister Paul Keating] said it was the role of a leader to protect the country from prejudice.
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it → say → prejudice
And I agree,” he says in his first interview since becoming lord mayor.
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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.
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mayor → change → prejudice
That’s going to be crucial here in Parramatta.
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That → go → Parramatta
“Anyone can observe that the tone and tenor of political debate is declining.
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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.
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it → see → communities
That bothers me immensely, because multiculturalism in Parramatta is a settled question.
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multiculturalism → bother → Parramatta
In fact, it’s not a question at all.
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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.”
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it → live → communities
The “myth of a monoculture” in Australia’s past is damaging western Sydney, he says.
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he → damage → Sydney
“It’s not something we can ‘retreat’ to.
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we → ’ → ?
They’ve enhanced our society, and those people from diverse backgrounds, they are radically Australian.”
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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.
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that → whiten → eyesight
It meant he went through school exams with a scribe.
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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.
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him → teach → memory
“He had to plan it all in his head and sit back and structure it all in his head,” Edwards says.
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Edwards → have → head
“He didn’t even really jot down notes.”
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He → jot → notes
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
