MP admits he was unfaithful
August 15, 2004
ONE of the Liberal Party's most conservative Federal MPs, Ross Cameron, has admitted
to marital infidelity, saying he wants a more honest public image.
But
his indiscretions may have cost him a ministerial portfolio.
Sources said Prime Minister John Howard may have been advised appointing him to a portfolio could be risky
because of the rumours.
Mr Cameron, 39, who holds the marginal seat of Parramatta in Sydney's west, told newspapers he was sick
of living with his "own hypocrisy" and selfishness.
"I have been an unfaithful husband. My wife has had some pretty good reasons to walk away, and it's frankly
amazing that she hasn't already," he said.
"But I feel that in my case, I ought to explicitly disabuse people of a perception that I am as good as
my family photo looks.
"The problem is that if you are conservative and your kids are photogenic, you wind up almost by default
looking like the very emblem of everything that is good and wholesome." He said going public about his private life represented
a step "towards the light".
Mr Cameron's surprising revelation on the eve of a federal poll has stunned Liberal MPs, who note the conservative
MP holds Parramatta by just 1.15 per cent.
Mr Cameron explained his statements by saying he did not want people to think he was using his Christian
beliefs to get re-elected. He also consulted his wife before going public.
"I think people are entitled to have a more unvarnished view of who I am if I'm asking them to vote for
me," he said.
"Then they can form their own judgments."
A proud Christian figure and former corporate lawyer, Mr Cameron is the father of four and a high-profile
Christian activist in parliamentary circles.
He holds Monday night prayer meetings when parliament sits, gathering together like-minded MPs for bible
discussions.
Mr Cameron is also the parliamentary secretary to Treasurer Peter Costello.
Religiosity runs in the family. His father was morals crusader Jim Cameron, who joined the reverend Fred
Nile's Call to Australia team after leaving the Liberal Party in 1983.
There has been speculation in Canberra that Mr Howard passed Mr Cameron over for a ministerial portfolio
because of rumours about his love life.
But Mr Cameron said his great aim now was to get to the end of his life with his marriage intact.
"I would regard that as a greater achievement than anything I may or may not do politically," Mr Cameron
said.
