{"id":151662,"date":"2016-07-13T22:23:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T12:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=151662"},"modified":"2020-10-09T16:31:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T06:31:33","slug":"theres-life-after-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/07\/13\/theres-life-after-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s Life After Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Former South Burnett councillor Damien Tessmann … proving there is a life after politics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 14, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Dafyd Martindale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Conservative MPs who lost their seats at the recent federal poll can take heart … there is life after politics, and former South Burnett councillor Damien Tessmann is a shining example.<\/p>\n

When Damien failed in his bid to become the next South Burnett mayor at the March Local Government elections, rumours abounded of a plush job in Canberra as an LNP apparatchik.<\/p>\n

But they were all untrue: the former councillor is now happily working on the family farms at Coolabunia, and he plans to continuing doing that into the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Damien’s eight-year career as a South Burnett councillor come to an end when he stood unsuccessfully against Keith Campbell for the top job.<\/p>\n

He told southburnett.com.au <\/strong>he was disappointed not to win after putting in a long and exhausting campaign, but has no regrets.<\/p>\n

“Some people said I should have just stayed on as a Councillor for another term and then run, but I always thought the only things that swim with the flow are dead fish,” Damien said.<\/p>\n

“I felt there was an opportunity there to make a difference, and after eight years I knew what the issues were. So I felt I had to give it a go.”<\/p>\n

Anonymous rumours spread during the campaign are still a source of frustration.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Someone was going around saying that I’d done a deal with David Littleproud not to nominate for (the Federal seat of) Maranoa on condition I get the nomination for Wide Bay,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They said if I was elected Mayor, then I’d resign when the Federal election was called and everyone would have to go back to the polls again, which simply wasn’t true.”<\/p>\n

The Tessmann family has three dairy farms in the Coolabunia area, and post-council Damien has been kept busy working them full-time with his brother Jason and father Gary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the land has been in the family for five generations.<\/p>\n

“During the campaign some people said I’d never had a real job, but I respectfully disagree,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Farming is a real job – just ask any farmer – so now I’m putting most of my time into growing the family business.”<\/p>\n

However, he hasn’t abandoned thoughts of public service … \u00a0he’s still a senior member of the LNP, and he’s still active in Rotary.<\/p>\n

Will he run again for political office?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I’m not ruling it in or out,” Damien said.<\/p>\n

“I’m 29, so there’s still plenty of time to run for something again.<\/p>\n

“But the South Burnett is always going to be my home, no matter what I do.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Conservative MPs who lost their seats at the recent federal poll can take heart … there is life after politics, and former South Burnett councillor Damien Tessmann is a shining example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":151686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3,36],"tags":[1131,1134],"yoast_head":"\nThere's Life After Politics - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Conservative MPs who lost their seats at the recent federal poll can take heart ... there is life after politics, and Damien Tessmann is a shining example.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/07\/13\/theres-life-after-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There's Life After Politics - 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