David John Perrin (born 29 March 1944) is a former Australian politician. He was born in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

to Thomas Perrin and Winifred, ''née'' Clarke. An accountant with a

Bachelor of Business A Bachelor of Business (BBus, BBus (Major)) is a three to four year undergraduate degree in the field of business offered by traditional and newer universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is similar in format ...

in Accounting from the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

, he was involved in the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

for many years, joining the Brunswick Young Liberals in 1967. He was secretary of the Victorian Dairy Industry Authority from 1983 to 1985, when he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

as the member for

Bulleen Bulleen ( ) is an eastern suburb in Melbourne, Australia, 13 km north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Bulleen recorded a population of 11,219 at the 2021 census. ...

. In 1988 he was appointed Secretary of Shadow Cabinet, moving to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Ethnic Affairs, the Aged and Youth Affairs in 1989. He stood down from the front bench in 1991 and remained a backbencher for the rest of his career. He lost preselection for the 1999 state election and retired from politics. He was an outspoken conservative backbencher during the Kennett government, opposing Kennett on drug reform, euthanasia, and gay and lesbian anti-discrimination laws. In 1999, Perrin lost Liberal preselection to former Kennett adviser

Nicholas Kotsiras Nicholas Kotsiras (born 13 March 1959, in Greece) is an Australian politician, and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party from 1999 to 2014. He was first elected after defeating former member David Perrin for L ...

in a bitter contest which saw numerous claims of branch stacking.

References

1944 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub