David Albert Lloyd Johnston (born 14 February 1956) is an Australian politician who was a

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 ...

member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a t ...

from 2002 to 2016, representing the state of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. Johnston was the

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

from 18 September 2013 to 23 December 2014, when he was replaced by Kevin Andrews.

Background and career

Johnston was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and was educated at

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, where he graduated in law. He was a barrister in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

before entering politics, representing companies such as Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie LTD and North Kalgurli Mines LTD. He unsuccessfully contested 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 ...

at the 1987 federal election, polling 37.3% of first preferences to finish second behind the then

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incumbent Graeme Campbell in the

Division of Kalgoorlie The Division of Kalgoorlie was an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia, named after the city of Kalgoorlie. The Division was proclaimed in 1900 as one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first feder ...

. Johnston successfully stood for a WA Senate seat in the federal election on 10 November 2001. He assumed office on 1 July 2002 and on 6 March 2007 was made Minister for Justice and Customs (effective 9 March), following the move of former Justice minister Chris Ellison to the Human Services portfolio.

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

, on becoming

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

, promoted Johnston to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Defence. In September 2010 he was re-appointed to that role by Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, after the 2010 election. Following the 2013 federal election, Johnston was sworn in as Minister for Defence, effective 18 September 2013.

Comments on ASC

In November 2014, Johnston came under fire for comments regarding the government owned defence building company, the

Australian Submarine Corporation ASC Pty Ltd, formerly the Australian Submarine Corporation, is an Australian government business enterprise involved with Australian naval shipbuilding, headquartered in Osborne, South Australia. It is notable for the construction and mai ...

. In comments to the senate he stated that ASC was delivering no submarines for one billion dollars and that they were over $350.00000 over budget on air three airware destroyer builds and that it was probably more than six hundred million but the bad data could not grant him an answer and then he said "You wonder why I'm worried about ASC and what they're delivering to the Australian taxpayer, you wonder why I wouldn't trust them to build a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

?". The South Australian Liberal Party demanded an apology for the senator's remarks and the federal Labor opposition called for the senator's resignation from the Defence portfolio. Johnston indicated he regretted his comments the next day, calling it a "rhetorical flourish". Opposition Senate Leader

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

moved a motion to

censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spi ...

Johnston for his remarks on the ASC, as well as his handling of the ADF staff pay cut. The motion passed 37 to 31 votes. Much of the anti-Liberal swing at the

2014 Fisher state by-election A by-election for the seat of Fisher in the South Australian House of Assembly was held on 6 December 2014. The by-election was triggered by the death of independent MP Bob Such on 11 October 2014. Originally elected to Fisher for the Liberal P ...

in South Australia, where Labor won the traditionally Liberal seat by just five votes from a 7.27 percent two-party swing to go from minority to

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...

, was attributed to Johnston's "I wouldn't trust them to build a canoe" remark toward South Australia's

, occurring just several days out from the by-election. The unpopularity of then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

was cited as the other main factor.

Leaked dinner receipts

In December 2014, less than a month after his comments on the ASC were made,

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leaked images of receipts totalling thousands of dollars allegedly used by Senator Johnston's government issued credit card to pay for the dinners of a number of companies vying for a contract to build the

Collins-class submarine replacement project The ''Attack''-class submarine was a planned class of French-designed submarines for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), expected to enter service in the early 2030s with construction extending until 2050.Department of Defence, ''2016 Defence Whit ...

. Items on the receipts came to a total of $6,384 and sometimes cost up to $300 a head as well as including $200 bottles of wine. After the leak was released two staffers from the senators office resigned but neither were accused of being responsible for the leak. A spokesperson for Senator Johnston responded by saying "All hospitality hosted by the Defence Minister and extended to foreign dignitaries or industry heads, including at the time of the Albany Commemoration, has been within guidelines and is consistent with previous defence ministers' practice" and that the senator's office was investigating the leaks and would not comment any further.

References

External links

Senator David Johnston
Senate of Australia homepage * https://web.archive.org/web/20130812052001/http://www.senatorjohnston.com.au/AboutDavid.aspx
Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator David Johnston on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, David 1956 births Abbott Government Government ministers of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia People educated at Wesley College, Perth Politicians from Perth, Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni Defence ministers of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians