David Philip Benedict Smith (born 25 March 1970) is an Australian politician. On 23 May 2018, the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

declared him elected as a Senator for the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

after

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

senator

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gove ...

was found ineligible to have been elected. Before his election, Smith was the ACT director of the

Professionals Australia Professionals Australia, formerly the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), is an Australian trade union registered under state and federal industrial relations acts. It is affiliated with the Austral ...

union. He was sworn in to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

on 18 June 2018. He was elected to the lower-house seat of

Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

at the 2019 federal election.

Early years and education

Smith was born in

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the List of citi ...

. He completed his schooling at Marist College Canberra, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

in 1993.

Public service and trade union

Before joining the

, Smith served in various roles including as an advisor in the

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (also called DEWR) is an Australian government department formed on 1 July 2022. History The department was formed by way of an Administrative Arrangements Order issued on 1 June 2022. It ...

, as an industrial relations manager for the

Australian Federal Police Association The Australian Federal Police Association (AFPA) is a registered Industrial Organisation under the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' operating as a Branch of the Police Federation of Australia. The AFPA has sole autonomous political and industrial coverage ...

, and as a policy advisor in the

Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister's Department The Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate (CMTEDD) is a directorate of the Australian Capital Territory government, which advises the ACT Chief Minister, currently Andrew Barr. History The directorate originated from a ...

under

Jon Stanhope Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assemb ...

. In 2007, he took up the role of Director of the ACT branch of

, a union which primarily focuses on technical workers such as scientists, engineers, architects, IT professionals, pharmacists, and others.

Political career

Smith has been a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

since 1992. He ran for the Senate in 2004, and was the second candidate on the ALP's 2016 Senate ticket. At the 2016 ACT Labor Annual Conference he was elected Senior Vice-President of the ACT Branch of the Australian Labor Party. He says that he was inspired to serve in politics by the judge and attorney general,

Terry Connolly Terence (Terry) Connolly (14 February 1958 – 25 September 2007) was an Australian politician and judge. Early years The son of an Irish bricklayer, Connolly was born in Adelaide and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (both ...

. On 23 May 2018, the

declared him elected as a Senator for the

after

senator

was found ineligible to have been elected. He was sworn in on 18 June 2018. On 1 September 2018, Smith was preselected to run for the

in 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 ...

seat of

. He resigned from the Senate on 11 April 2019, the day the election was called and the Senate prorogued. At the 2019 Australian federal election, Smith was elected as the Member for

with a margin of 13,971 votes. He was returned to Parliament in the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...

, now to the Government benches, keeping a substantial margin, winning 62.9% in the two-party preferred count. He is the Government Whip in the lower house for the Albanese government. He also serves on the Standing Committee for Selection and co-chairs the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship with Senator

Matt O'Sullivan Matthew Anthony O'Sullivan (born 11 December 1978) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian Senate since 2019. Early life O'Sullivan was born on 11 December 1978 in Mount Lawley, Western Aus ...

Personal life

Having been educated in a

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

college, Smith identifies as a Catholic Christian. He is married to Liesl Centenera. Together, they have three children: Marcus, Eamonn, and Stella.

References

1970 births Living people Members of the Australian Senate for the Australian Capital Territory Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Australian trade unionists Australian public servants Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bean {{Australia-Labor-senator-stub