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Dean Smith (Australian politician)

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This article is about the Australian politician. For other uses, see Dean Smith (disambiguation).

Senator
Dean Smith
Chief Government Whip in the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 January 2019
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
Preceded byDavid Bushby
Senator for Western Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 May 2012
Preceded byJudith Adams
Personal details
Born
Dean Anthony Smith

(1969-05-15) 15 May 1969 (age 55)
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
OccupationPolitician

Dean Anthony Smith (born 15 May 1969) is an Australian politician and Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate since 2012, representing Western Australia.[1]

Early life

Smith attended Mirrabooka Primary School and Mirrabooka Senior High School, later attending the University of Western Australia where he graduated with honours in political science.[2]

Politics

Smith joined the Liberal Party at the age of 17, and later worked as a policy adviser to Premier of Western Australia Richard Court. In 1998, he was a senior advisor to Prime Minister John Howard during the Coalition's 1998 federal election campaign. In 2010, he founded Smith & Duda Consulting, a political lobbying firm,[3] and also served as treasurer of the Liberal Party state branch in Western Australia.[4][5]

Senate

Smith was appointed to the Senate on 2 May 2012 by a joint sitting of the Parliament of Western Australia, to fill a casual vacancy caused by the death of Senator Judith Adams.[6]

Smith was the first openly-LGBTI member of the Parliament of Australia from the Liberal Party, and has supported same-sex marriage in Australia since the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis.[7] Prior to that, he opposed same-sex marriage and voted against it.[8] Smith introduced the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 to the Senate on 15 November and passed the Senate on 29 November 2017.[9]

Smith was appointed Chief Government Whip in the Senate on 21 January 2019.[10]

Smith is a member of a number of political and community organisations, including Australians for Constitutional Monarchy and the Australian National Flag Association.[citation needed]

Personal life

Smith is the son of a policeman and housewife and is originally from Mirrabooka.[11] He was the first person in his family to attend university.[11] He is an Anglican.[12]

References

  1. ^ Hansard: Election of Senator[permanent dead link], Parliament of Western Australia, 2 May 2012.
  2. ^ Hansard: Election of Senator[permanent dead link], Parliament of Western Australia, 2 May 2012.
  3. ^ LinkedIn profile[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Guest, Debbie (23 April 2012). "Former Howard man steps into West Australian Senate seat (Subscription)". The Australian. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  5. ^ Karp, Paul (29 November 2017). "Same-sex marriage bill passes in Australian Senate". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Dean Smith confirmed as WA's newest Senator". ABC News. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  7. ^ Knott, Matthew (20 February 2015). "Liberal MP Dean Smith's views on same-sex marriage turned at 30,000ft". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  8. ^ Smith voted very strongly against same-sex marriage equality
  9. ^ "Legislative Tracker: Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017". Parliament of Australia. 15 November 2017.
  10. ^ "It's a great honour to be chosen by my Liberal Senate colleagues to be the Chief Government Whip in the Senate. I am delighted to be joining the ranks of WA Liberals who have served in the office which includes Malcolm Scott, Reg Withers, Fred Chaney and John Panizza. #auspol". Dean Smith MP. Twitter. 21 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b Taylor, Paige (6 May 2012). "New senator a 'constitutional revolutionary'". THE AUSTRALIAN. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  12. ^ @deansmithwa (29 August 2017). "Proud to be an anglican. Congrats to WA's new Anglican Archbishop - grace, dignity and true leadership" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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