David James Southwick (born 31 March 1968) is an Australian

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician, and has been the member for Caulfield in 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 ...

since 2010. Southwick has been the Parliamentary Secretary for Police and Emergency Services and is currently Shadow Minister for Jobs and Employment, Shadow Minister for Events Industry, Shadow Minister for Business Recovery, Shadow Minister for CBD Recovery, Shadow Minister for Small Business and Shadow Minister for Business Precincts. As of 7 September 2021, Southwick is the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria.

Early life

Southwick was born and raised in his electorate of Caulfield and has lived there most of his life. He completed his high school certificate at

Mount Scopus Memorial College , motto_translation = , location = 245 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Melbourne , pushpin_i ...

and studied a Bachelor of Business at Victoria University, later going on to do postgraduate study at the Monash University Caulfield campus.

Business career

While at university Southwick started his business career including being founding and serving as managing director of The Body Collection. In this business, he employed 50 staff. Southwick also worked as a lecturer at both Victoria University and RMIT. He served as RMIT's first Entrepreneur in Residence in 2003. He has previously the Chair of the Ardoch Youth Foundation.

Political career

Southwick was the Liberal candidate for the

Division of Melbourne Ports The Division of Melbourne Ports was an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covered an area of appro ...

in the 2004 federal election, achieving a swing of almost 2 points against the incumbent MP

Michael Danby Michael David Danby (born 16 February 1955) is an Australian politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1998 until 2019, representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria. Danby was b ...

. In the 2006 state election he was a Liberal candidate for the

Southern Metropolitan Region Southern Metropolitan Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was create ...

. Southwick was elected as the member for Caulfield in 2010. In November 2012, it was revealed that Southwick had misleading personal information on his website. He claimed to have been an 'Adjunct Professor' at

RMIT 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 ...

, and that he had a graduate diploma in marketing from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

, despite being several units short. Both universities stated that Southwick had never obtained the qualifications referred to. The information was subsequently removed from his website. Southwick responded to the claims by saying that 'Adjunct Professor' was a title used to refer to him while undertaking teaching overseas on behalf of the RMIT Graduate School of Business in Hong Kong, when he was an Adjunct Lecturer. In April 2013, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Police and Emergency Services. In December 2014, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources, Shadow Minister for Renewables, and Shadow Minister for Innovation. In December 2018, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Police; Community Safety; and Corrections with his portfolio expanding to include Shadow Minister for Crime Prevention and Youth Justice in March 2021. In September 2021, Southwick was elected as deputy leader of the state Liberal Party.

Policy positions

In a 2015

conscience vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamenta ...

, Southwick was one of just 13 lower house MPs to vote against the creation of safe access zones outside abortion clinics. He was praised for this decision by the anti-abortion group

Right to Life Australia Right to Life Australia is an organisation which advocates consistent life ethic positions in issues such as abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Margaret Tighe is the President of Right to Life Australia and Dr Toni Turnbull is Vice Pr ...

In a 2018

, Southwick voted against the legalisation of voluntary assisted dying. During the 2018 Victorian state election, Southwick opposed the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, claiming “really young children rebeing exposed to sexual education”. In 2019, Southwick voted against a bill that would allow transgender people to change their gender on their birth certificate. In 2020, Southwick was critical of the Victorian Department of Education for

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and anti-Israeli bullying in a Melbourne school, accusing the Department of “systemic failings”. Southwick has also criticised the government for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming that mismanagement of hotel

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

caused the death of 800 Victorians. On 10 November 2022, during the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) were up for el ...

campaign, Southwick was caught using two campaign staffers in campaign ads without disclosing they are his paid employees. Opposition leader

Matthew Guy Matthew Jason Guy (born 6 March 1974) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia Member of the Parliament of Victoria since 2006, representing Northern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council (2006–2014) an ...

endorsed the dishonest advertising, downplaying the use of paid staffers in the ads by endorsing Southwick and stating that "it was not misleading", regardless of the lack of a disclaimer.

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of David Southwick at Victorian Parliament Tracker
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Southwick, David 1968 births Living people Politicians from Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Monash University alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Victoria University, Melbourne alumni People who fabricated academic degrees Jewish Australian politicians 21st-century Australian politicians People from Caulfield, Victoria