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David Elliott (politician)

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The Honourable
David Elliott
MP
Elliott in 2015
Minister for Transport
In office
21 December 2021 – 28 March 2023
PremierDominic Perrottet
Preceded byPaul Toole (as Minister for Transport and Roads)
Succeeded byJo Haylen
Minister for Veterans
In office
21 December 2021 – 28 March 2023
PremierDominic Perrottet
Preceded byNatalie Ward (as Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans)
Succeeded byDavid Harris
Minister for Western Sydney
In office
5 August 2022 – 28 March 2023
PremierDominic Perrottet
Preceded byStuart Ayres
Succeeded byPrue Car
Minister for Police and Emergency Services
In office
2 April 2019 – 21 December 2021
PremierGladys Berejiklian
Dominic Perrottet
Preceded byTroy Grant
Succeeded byPaul Toole (as Minister for Police)
Minister for Counter Terrorism
In office
30 January 2017 – 23 March 2019
PremierGladys Berejiklian
Preceded bynew portfolio
Succeeded byAnthony Roberts (as Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections)
Minister for Corrections
In office
2 April 2015 – 23 March 2019
PremierMike Baird
Gladys Berejiklian
Preceded byBrad Hazzard (as Minister for Justice)
Succeeded byAnthony Roberts (as Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections)
Minister for Veterans Affairs
In office
2 April 2015 – 23 March 2019
PremierMike Baird
Gladys Berejiklian
Preceded byVictor Dominello
Succeeded byJohn Sidoti (as Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans)
Minister for Emergency Services
In office
2 April 2015 – 30 January 2017
PremierMike Baird
Preceded byStuart Ayres (as Minister for Police and Emergency Services)
Succeeded byTroy Grant
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for Baulkham Hills
In office
26 March 2011 – 25 March 2023
Preceded byWayne Merton
Succeeded bydistrict abolished
Personal details
Born (1970-06-11) 11 June 1970 (age 54)
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal Party
ResidenceKellyville
Alma mater
OccupationFormer chief executive officer
former army officer
AwardsRibbon of the ASM
Australian Service Medal

Australian Defence Medal

Centenary Medal

Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)
Military service
AllegianceAustralia
Branch/serviceAustralian Army
Years of service1995–1997,
2000
RankCaptain
Battles/warsBougainville Peacekeeping Operation

David Andrew Elliott (born 11 June 1970) is a retired[1] Australian politician. Elliott served as the New South Wales Minister for Transport and the Minister for Veterans in the Perrottet ministry between 21 December 2021 and 25 March 2023.[2] Elliott was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Baulkham Hills for the Liberal Party between 2011 and 2023.[3]

Elliott served as the Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Emergency Services between April 2019 and December 2021 in the second Berejiklian ministry and the first arrangement of the Perrottet ministry.[4][5][6] Elliott was Minister for Counter Terrorism from January 2017 until March 2019 and Minister for Corrections and Minister for Veterans Affairs from April 2015 until March 2019 in the first Berejiklian ministry.[7] He was Minister for Emergency Services between 2015 and 2017 in the second Baird government.[8]

Early years and background

[edit]

In 1995, Elliott joined the Australian Army and commenced his officer training at Royal Military College, Duntroon, attaining the rank of Captain in April 1997. Taking 18 months' leave, he worked as Press Secretary for the Hon. Peter Collins, QC MP who was elected NSW Leader of the Opposition following the 1995 state election. During 1999, Elliott was Director for the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy campaign against the referendum for Australia to become a republic;[3] for which he was awarded the Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001 for service to the constitutional reform debate.[9]

Returning to the Army in 2000, Elliott served in peace-keeping forces in Bouganville, Papua New Guinea and was awarded the Australian Service Medal. For the next four years, Elliott worked as state operations manager in St John Ambulance (NSW), before commencing as Executive Officer of the Australian Hotels Association, and later becoming Deputy chief executive officer. In 2008, Elliott became chief executive officer of the Civil Contractors Federation and held this position until his election to Parliament.[3]

Elliott was a director of Castle Hill RSL Club Limited from 2009 to 2016.[10] Elliott was a director of Life Education Australia between 2009 and 2011, and a member of Sydney Chamber of Commerce from 2008 to 2011.[3] Between 1992 and 2001, he has held a range of Liberal Party elected positions.[3]

Political career

[edit]

On 16 June 2007, Elliott sought Liberal Party pre-selection for the federal seat of Mitchell, but lost by a margin of 20 votes to 81[11] against Alex Hawke, then an advisor to Ray Williams MP.[12] Paul Blanch, a grazier from Orange, received 8 votes. Alan Cadman, who had been the member for Mitchell since 1974, chose not to contest the pre-selection,[11] but was later quoted as saying that this was due to "relentless branch-stacking within the electorate."[13] In February 2010, Elliott unsuccessfully sought Liberal Party pre-selection for the Legislative Council of New South Wales in a bitter and public battle with David Clarke, a member of the Liberal's so called 'religious right' faction.[14][15]

Following the announcement of the retirement of sitting Liberal member, Wayne Merton, Elliott won party pre-selection for the NSW seat of Baulkham Hills, running against Baulkham Hills Councillor Mike Thomas and solicitor Damien Tudehope.[16][17] At the 2011 election, Elliott was elected to the safe Liberal seat with a swing of 14.4 points and won the seat with 76.4 per cent of the two-party vote. Elliott's main opponent was Tony Hay, representing Labor.[18]

Following the 2015 state election, Elliott was sworn in as the Minister for Emergency Services, the Minister for Corrections, and the Minister for Veterans Affairs in the second Baird government.[8] On 30 January 2017, Elliott was sworn in as the Minister for Counter-Terrorism, the Minister for Corrections, and the Minister for Veterans Affairs in the first Berejiklian ministry.[7]

On 18 October 2018 Elliott used parliamentary privilege in the Legislative Assembly to raise an allegation that Luke Foley, at the time leader of the opposition, had "a little bit too much to drink at a party and harassed an ABC journalist."[19][20] Later that month, ABC journalist Ashleigh Raper released a statement, alleging that at an event in November 2016, Foley "placed his hand down the back of her dress and inside her underpants."[21] Hours later, Foley read a statement in which he resigned as leader of the Labor Party, but denied the allegation and said he would commence defamation proceedings in the Federal Court.[22]

Following the 2019 state election, Elliott was sworn in as the Minister for Police and Emergency Services in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019.[23] He served in this role in the first arrangement of the Perrottet ministry and was sworn in as Minister for Transport and Minister for Veterans in December 2021 in the second arrangement of the ministry.[2]

On 23 October 2022, Elliott announced he will not be contesting the 2023 state election.[24]

Controversies

[edit]

In November 2019, Elliott was cleared by police following an investigation into an alleged road rage incident involving a 17-year-old P-plate driver.[25] Elliot had told the P-plate driver he "worked for the cops".[26]

Also in November 2019, Elliott responded to revelations police strip-searched 122 girls by stating he would want officers to search his own children if "they were at risk of doing something wrong".[27]

In December 2019, he attracted attention for an offensive post on Facebook, in which he told a "mate" that he'd "rip your head off and s--- in the hole".[28]

In December 2019, Elliott was denounced for deciding to take a holiday to Europe during the Black Summer bushfires, one of the worst bushfire disasters in the country's history.[29] He faced heavy criticism because of his role as New South Wales Emergency Services Minister, with New South Wales being by far the worst-hit area of the country, with bushfires throughout NSW destroying almost a thousand houses and killing or displacing a billion animals,[30] with nine people killed, including three firefighters.[31] He was not helped by the fact that just a week earlier, the federal Liberal Party leader and prime minister, Scott Morrison, faced similar criticism for going on a holiday to Hawaii.[32]

Elliott responded to the claims by saying he would keep bushfire-affected communities and firefighters in his thoughts while on holiday.[33] After public pressure and criticism following catastrophic fires on 31 December 2019, Elliott "apparently" backflipped and returned home from his European trip.[34]

On 9 March 2020, the NSW Police announced an investigation into whether Elliott's use of highly restricted firearms broke the law.[35]

On 21 February 2022, the passenger rail network in NSW was shut down after Transport for NSW and the RTBU failed to reach an agreement in their ongoing enterprise agreement negotiations. This shutdown was particularly noteworthy as it occurred on the same day that Australia's international border reopened (after being closed for two years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic).

As Minister for Transport, Elliott attracted criticism for appearing to be unaware of the sequence of events which led to the shutdown, accusing the RTBU of engaging in "terrorist-like activity", and for claiming that he did not know a shutdown would occur until the morning of Monday 21 February as he would have been asleep by 10pm the previous night. [36]

Following the handling of the shutdown, Elliott was rebuked by Premier Perrottet who stated “My expectation is that ministers are available around the clock. I certainly am, and I expect the same of my ministers”. [37]

In January 2023, Elliott revealed that he had tipped off Perrottet about the existence of evidence of him wearing a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday.[38]

Honours and awards

[edit]

Order of St John
Australian Service Medal with BOUGAINVILLE clasp
Centenary Medal 1 January 2001
Australian Defence Medal

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Cockburn, Paige (22 October 2022). "NSW Transport Minister David Elliott hits out at party factions as he announces retirement". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Parliament, Ministerial, Courts and Police (662)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "The Hon. David Andrew ELLIOTT, BA, MA, MStJ MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Government Notices (30)" (PDF). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 2 April 2019. p. 1088-1090. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Premier announces new Cabinet" (Press release). Premier of New South Wales. 31 March 2019. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. ^ Han, Esther (2 April 2019). "Berejiklian's new massive cabinet sworn in amid peals of laughter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Refreshed NSW cabinet sworn in". Australia: Sky News. AAP. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b Hasham, Nicole (3 April 2015). "Premier Mike Baird's new NSW cabinet sworn in: Gladys Berejiklian and Gabrielle Upton first female Treasurer and Attorney-General". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Elliott, David Andrew". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  10. ^ "Concise Report" (PDF). 2010 Castle Hill RSL Group Annual Report. Castle Hill RSL Club Limited. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  11. ^ a b Clennell, Andrew (18 June 2007). "Age does not worry him, says Lib hopeful". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Hawke secures Liberal preselection for Mitchell". ABC News. 17 June 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2011.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Maley, Paul; Salusinszky, Imre (24 September 2007). "Veteran Lib slams party's far right". The Australian. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  14. ^ Snow, Deborah (15 February 2010). "Testing testing ... yes, these are testing times". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  15. ^ Clennell, Andrew (20 February 2010). "Religious right chief defeats challenger". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  16. ^ Jordan, Bev (1 June 2010). "Battle on for Lib seats". The Hills Shire Times. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  17. ^ Jordan, Bev (12 September 2010). "David Elliott runs for Baulkham Hills". The Hills Shire Times. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  18. ^ Green, Antony (5 April 2011). "Baulkham Hills". NSW Votes 2011. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  19. ^ Visentin, Lisa (8 November 2018). "David Elliott silent as ABC journalist alleges 'political point scoring' in harassment allegations". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  20. ^ Knowles, Lorna (18 October 2019). "NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley accused in Parliament of harassing ABC journalist". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  21. ^ McKinnell, J; Gerathy, Sarah. "Luke Foley allegations detailed in statement from ABC journalist Ashleigh Raper". ABC News. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  22. ^ Smith, Alexandra (8 November 2018). "NSW Labor leader Luke Foley resigns but denies explosive harassment allegations". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  23. ^ Sas, Nick (31 March 2019). "Gladys Berejiklian says Liberal Party has no women problem as re-elected NSW Premier shuffles Cabinet". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Divisive NSW Minister David Elliott to quit state politics". 23 October 2022.
  25. ^ "NSW Police Minister David Elliott cleared over alleged road rage incident". www.9news.com.au. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  26. ^ "NSW police minister David Elliott faces no action over claim he impersonated police". The Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 13 November 2019. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  27. ^ McGowan, Michael (6 November 2019). "NSW police minister defends strip-searching of children, saying parents would be 'happy'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  28. ^ Thompson, Angus (24 December 2019). "'Rip your head off': Police Minister's foul-mouthed Facebook joke with 'mate'". The Age. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  29. ^ "Emergency Services Minister heads off on European holiday as bushfire crisis continues". ABC News. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  30. ^ "NSW bushfires mean more than a billion animals 'dead or displaced', experts say - ABC News". ABC News. 9 January 2020.
  31. ^ Davidson, Helen; agencies (28 December 2019). "Australia fires and weather: blazes out of control as heatwave expected to peak on New Year's Eve". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  32. ^ "PM returns to face bushfire crisis". NewsComAu. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  33. ^ "NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott heads on holiday mid-bushfire season". The Feed. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  34. ^ Smith, Alexandra (31 December 2019). "Has he backflipped? NSW Emergency Services Minister's European jaunt". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  35. ^ Raper, Ashleigh (9 March 2020). "NSW Police launch probe after photo emerges of Police Minister David Elliott shooting submachine gun". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  36. ^ "NSW's train shutdown was a huge gamble — this is why it might backfire on the state government". ABC News. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  37. ^ Rabe, Lucy Cormack, Tom (23 February 2022). "Government MPs divided over whether David Elliott is the right man for transport". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ Stonehouse, Greta; Hildebrandt, Carla (13 January 2022). "NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet digs in as Nazi costume storm intensifies". ABC News. Retrieved 13 January 2022.

 

New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Baulkham Hills
2011–2023 		Seat abolished
Political offices
Preceded byas Minister for Transport and Roads Minister for Transport
2021–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans Minister for Veterans
2021–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Western Sydney
2022–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for Police Minister for Police and Emergency Services
2019–2021 		Succeeded byas Minister for Police
Preceded by
Troy Grant
as Minister for Emergency Services 		Succeeded byas Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience
New title Minister for Counter Terrorism
2017–2019 		Succeeded byas Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections
Preceded byas Minister for Justice Minister for Corrections
2015–2019
Preceded by Minister for Veterans Affairs
2015–2019 		Succeeded byas Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans
Preceded byas Minister for Police and Emergency Services Minister for Emergency Services
2015–2017 		Succeeded by
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