David Kelly Littleproud (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian politician who has been the leader of the
National Party since May 2022. He has represented the
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
seat of
Maranoa since the
2016 federal election and was a cabinet minister in the
Turnbull Turnbull may refer to:
People
*See Turnbull (surname)
*Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia
Places
*Turnbull High School in Bishopbriggs, Scotland
*Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, located near Spokane, Washington, USA
*Turnbull ...
and
Morrison government
The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...
s.
Littleproud grew up in
Chinchilla, Queensland
Chinchilla is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Chinchilla had a population of 6,612 people.
Chinchilla is known as the 'Melon Capital of Australia', and plays host to a Melon ...
, the son of former state government minister
Brian Littleproud
Brian George Littleproud (born 25 June 1941) is a former Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1983 to 2001, representing Condamine until 1992 and Western Downs thereafter.
Littl ...
. He worked as an
agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...
banker with
NAB and
Suncorp
Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's mid-size banks (by combined lending and deposits) and its largest general insurance group, fo ...
before entering politics. He was first elected to the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
in 2016. Littleproud was appointed to cabinet the following year, subsequently serving as Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (2017–2019), Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management (2019–2020), Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management (2020–2021), and Agriculture and Northern Australia (2021–2022). He was elected deputy leader of the Nationals in February 2020 under
Michael McCormack. He retained the position under
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...
and
successfully challenged Joyce for the leadership following the
Coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
's defeat at the
2022 election.
Early life
Littleproud was born in
Chinchilla, Queensland
Chinchilla is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Chinchilla had a population of 6,612 people.
Chinchilla is known as the 'Melon Capital of Australia', and plays host to a Melon ...
. His grandfather George Littleproud served on the
Chinchilla Shire Council, while his father
Brian Littleproud
Brian George Littleproud (born 25 June 1941) is a former Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1983 to 2001, representing Condamine until 1992 and Western Downs thereafter.
Littl ...
was a state Nationals MP and government minister.
He attended Chinchilla State High School and
Toowoomba Grammar School
, motto_translation = Faithful in All Things
, city = Toowoomba
, state = Queensland
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, type = Independent, day & boarding
, denomination = Non-denominational
, established = ...
.
As of 2019, he was one of the two members of the national cabinet who had no tertiary qualification.
Littleproud was an agribusiness banker before entering politics.
He spent 17 years with the
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...
(NAB), including 12 years based in
Warwick, Queensland
Warwick ( ) is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in southeast Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Region Local government in Australia, local governme ...
, as district manager (agribusiness and commercial). He joined
Suncorp
Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's mid-size banks (by combined lending and deposits) and its largest general insurance group, fo ...
in 2011 as executive manager (business and agribusiness banking) for South West Queensland. , Littleproud was the owner of Mr Rental Southern Downs, a rent-to-buy business that employed four people.
Political career
Littleproud was elected to parliament in 2016, succeeding retiring Nationals MP
Bruce Scott.
Within 18 months, Littleproud was elevated directly to cabinet as Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, following a reshuffle of the
Second Turnbull Ministry. He was sworn in at Government House in Canberra on 20 December 2017.
In November 2018, Littleproud was additionally appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Drought Preparation and Response. Following the Morrison Government's return at the
2019 federal election, his title was changed to Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management. He re-assumed the agriculture portfolio following
Bridget McKenzie
Bridget McKenzie (born 27 December 1969) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the National Party and has been a Senator for Victoria since 2011. She has held ministerial office in the Turnbull and Morrison governments, also serving ...
's resignation in February 2020, becoming Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management.
Deputy leadership
Littleproud was viewed as a potential
candidate to replace Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...
as National Party leader in February 2018. The position was eventually won by
Michael McCormack. On 4 February 2020, following
Bridget_McKenzie's_resignation,_he_defeated_ Bridget_McKenzie's_resignation,_he_defeated_Keith_Pitt_and_David_Gillespie_(politician)">David_Gillespie
_
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_to_become_deputy_leader_of_the_National_Party._The_ballot_for_the_deputy_leadership_was_held_simultaneously_with_2020_National_Party_of_Australia_leadership_spill.html" ;"title="Keith_Pitt_and_David_Gillespie_(politician).html" "title="Keith_Pitt.html" ;"title="Bridget McKenzie's resignation, he defeated Keith Pitt">Bridget McKenzie's resignation, he defeated Keith Pitt and David Gillespie (politician)">David Gillespie