Nic Street says decision to quit Cabinet was ‘easy and difficult’

Former government minister Nic Street has lost more elections than he has won. He reveals details of his battle with anxiety.

Minister Nic Street announcing he is quitting cabinet. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

For Nic Street it was both the easiest but also the most difficult decision to quit cabinet to focus on his mental health.

The minister for finance, sport and events and local government had taken the best part of eight weeks off work after the March state election.

But the anxiety he was diagnosed with 20 years ago continued to take a toll.

A month ago Mr Street, 45, spoke to Premier Jeremy Rockliff and as events minister planned

to get through a busy December and January before bowing out.

Minister Nic Street announcing he is quitting cabinet. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

But when deputy Premier Michael Ferguson quit Cabinet on Monday he believed it was right to bring his departure forward to avoid another cabinet reshuffle next year.

“It was both the easiest decision in the world and a really difficult decision, if you know what I mean.

“I needed to get myself properly better.

“It’s difficult to walk away from a job that I’ve loved doing, but absolutely the right decision and the right time to do it.”

It was 20 years ago when “things came to a head for me for the first time” and he was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder.

“I’ve been very, very lucky that I had a GP at the time who basically diagnosed me in a half an hour.

“It certainly affected me at university.

“I recognise now that I was having panic attacks before exams that I thought was just natural — nerves that everybody went through, and it wasn’t until I finished uni and talked to other people and I realised that not everybody felt the same way that I did going into an exam.

“Everybody gets nervous before they go into an exam you know (but) I was barely able to

make myself walk into the room a couple of times to sit the exams.”

Minister Nic Street. Final sitting week of parliament for 2023. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Asked if the bear pit of politics and personal attacks was the right career choice Mr Street, a former Kingborough councillor and grocer in his family’s busy supermarket business, is adamant it was and he has no regrets.

“It is unrelenting.

“But, you know, from the time in 2004 when I first started to get help and started to get better, I made the decision that it was never going to change what I wanted to do with anything.

“There are any number of jobs that are unrelenting and so I’m loathe to blame politics for my situation.

“I’ve lost more elections than I’ve won along the way.

“In 2021, when I was elected in my own right, somebody told me I was the first person in the Tasmanian parliament that has been elected on two recounts, to retain their seat in their own right.

“Everybody deals with pressure in their jobs differently and certainly, as a minister, the job is all consuming and whether the public appreciate it or not, it’s a 24/7 job.”

Mr Street is unfazed by nasty keyboard warriors on social media and says politicians have always been in the spotlight and subject to criticism.

He ditched Twitter, now X, ages ago and has a Facebook account as a minister and personal account for family and friends.

“If you don’t read it, then it has no effect on you.

“You’ve got to choose what you let in, and I made the very conscious decision to not let any of that stuff in.”

Nic Street then-Liberal candidate for Nelson and former-Kingborough Council Mayor Dean Winter. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Mr Street declines to talk about his personal life.

“I’m pretty comfortable in life, I’ve got a great group of family and friends and incredible support structures in place.”

A keen cricketer and hockey player in his younger days, his golf club membership has fallen by the wayside but he understands the importance of exercise to his mental health and urges others to get support.

“I think I’ve played six rounds of golf in three years since I became a minister,” he says.

“The most important thing is for people to talk and you need to find support, whether it’s with family, friends or medical professionals.

“The first step to getting better is talking about it and actually vocalising it and sharing it with people.

“The worst thing you can do is internalise it.

“The absolute key to getting better is to talk about it and to seek assistance.

“I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to manage it. Panic attacks have been few and far between since I started taking medication.

“It’s the anxiety that I live with that I have to manage.”

Mr Street hasn’t ruled out one day returning to Cabinet.

“Look, you never say never in politics or life but at this stage I just want to be a support to the new Cabinet and do whatever I can to help the government continue to lead Tasmania.”