State member proves grade 10 teacher wrong

State Member Chris Foley enjoying the Graduation Ceremony

Maryborough’s State Member Chris Foley finally proved his Year 10 teacher wrong when he received his masters degree during the 2011 University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Fraser Coast Graduation ceremony at the Brolga Theatre.

As he walked onto the stage, he’ll was reminded of the words of his former Kedron State High School teacher.

'Foley, you’re too dumb to go on to senior,’ he told me,' Mr Foley said.

'He recommended I leave school and become a sheet metal worker.

'There was never any expectation from my family to go on to senior, much less university.'

So he took the advice and, at the age of 14, became an apprentice motorcycle mechanic.

He may have still been up to his armpits in grease if it wasn’t for the words of another influential older male who steered him to a new career path.

'My ex-girlfriend’s father told me I was a smart boy and could be working for a bank in an air-conditioned office and getting the same pay,' he said.

'So I joined a bank and that’s how I developed my interest in business.'

But his career took another direction when he moved to Sydney to study at Theological College and later become an award-winning gospel musician.

He’s mentioned in the Who’s Who of Australian Rock.

In fact, it was his career as a musician that brought him to the Fraser Coast for a job at Maryborough’s Royal Hotel Piano Bar.

'The advertisement mentioned the gig was in a Queensland resort town,' Mr Foley said.

'I was thinking I was off to Great Keppel. But instead it was Maryborough.'

That was 28 years ago, and after starting a car detailing business that didn’t set the world on fire, he returned to the field of finance.
He established Chris Foley and Associates, which later became Foley Truscott and Associates.

For 16 years he also did a daily radio program for the ABC, called Money Tips, which was eventually syndicated on three radio networks.
Over the years he gained a Public Practice Certificate in Accounting and did a whole range of industry courses, eventually becoming a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).

These courses gave him the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree back in the early ’90s when he first enrolled in a master’s degree at USQ.

'I set out a long time ago to do a master’s degree. I started the degree but my son was killed in an accident and my family needed me more than I needed to study.'

In 2006, three years after being elected to parliament, the provost of USQ Fraser Coast, Professor Ken Stott, asked Mr Foley if he’d like to enrol in the newly-established Master of Professional Studies degree.

Mr Foley liked the fact that it related directly to his work as a parliamentarian. Over a period of four years he chipped away at the degree, working mostly at night when the family was in bed.

Television became a distant memory. His study looked at the effect local government amalgamation in Queensland has had on the role of a state member.

'I explored it in great detail, looking at the political wrangling that went on and how it has changed the role of state members.

'The average person on the street finds it difficult to distinguish between the responsibilities of local, state and federal governments.

'Since amalgamation, the confusion has increased. I’d say in some weeks, up to 80% of people coming to see me now do so to discuss local government issues.

'And this has radically increased the workload of most state members.'

In his thesis, Mr Foley identified problems and developed solutions to improve efficiencies in the workplace by reviewing the systems he used to manage the needs of the electorate.

Mr Foley has given copies of his thesis to other parliamentarians who want to implement some of his new practices in their own offices.

He said it was a hard slog to complete the degree, working full-time as a politician and part-time as a pastor as well as having “industrial quantities” of children. But he’s glad he stuck it out and didn’t succumb to his urge to print out his thesis and throw it in the river.

'I’ve realised I am the first person from my extended family (other than my wife Glenys) to receive a university degree.'