David Southwick
MP
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria
Assumed office
7 September 2021
Leader
Preceded byCindy McLeish
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
for Caulfield
Assumed office
27 November 2010
Preceded byHelen Shardey
Personal details
Born (1968-03-31) 31 March 1968
Melbourne, Australia
Political partyLiberal
SpouseHayley Southwick
Children2
Profession
  • Politician, managing director
  • lecturer
Websitedavidsouthwick.com.au

David James Southwick (born 31 March 1968[1]) is an Australian Liberal politician, and has been the member for Caulfield in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 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.[2] 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 and studied a Bachelor of Business at Victoria University, later going on to do postgraduate study at the Monash University Caulfield campus.[3]

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.[3]

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.[4]

Political career

Southwick was the Liberal candidate for the Division of Melbourne Ports in the 2004 federal election, achieving a swing of almost 2 points against the incumbent MP Michael Danby. In the 2006 state election he was a Liberal candidate for the Southern Metropolitan Region.

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, and that he had a graduate diploma in marketing from Monash University, 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.[5][6][7] 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.[8]

In April 2013, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Police and Emergency Services.[9]

In December 2014, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources, Shadow Minister for Renewables, and Shadow Minister for Innovation.[10]

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.[10]

In September 2021, Southwick was elected as deputy leader of the state Liberal Party.[11]

Policy positions

In a 2015 conscience vote, Southwick was one of just 13 lower house MPs to vote against the creation of safe access zones outside abortion clinics.[12] He was praised for this decision by the anti-abortion group Right to Life Australia[13]

In a 2018 conscience vote, Southwick voted against the legalisation of voluntary assisted dying.[14]

During the 2018 Victorian state election, Southwick opposed the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, claiming “really young children [are] being exposed to sexual education”. In 2019, Southwick voted against a bill that would allow transgender people to change their gender on their birth certificate.[15]

In 2020, Southwick was critical of the Victorian Department of Education for antisemitic and anti-Israeli bullying in a Melbourne school, accusing the Department of “systemic failings”.[16]

Southwick has also criticised the government for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming that mismanagement of hotel quarantine caused the death of 800 Victorians.[17]

On 10 November 2022, during the 2022 Victorian state election campaign, Southwick was caught using two campaign staffers in campaign ads without disclosing they are his paid employees. Opposition leader Matthew Guy 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.[18][19]

Personal life

Southwick is of Polish and Jewish Hungarian heritage.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Mr David Southwick". Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  2. ↑ "David Southwick". Liberal Victoria. Liberal Victoria. 11 September 2021. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Maiden Speech". David Southwick. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Ardoch 30th Anniversary Morning Tea". Governor of Victoria. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Arup, Tom (16 November 2012). "MP sorry for padding his resume". The Age. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "Liberal MP David Southwick defends false qualifications in official biography". Herald Sun. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "Remember the name David Southwick?". 3AW. Archived from the original on 21 November 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Liberal Mp David Southwick Defends False Qualifications In Official Biography". Herald Sun.
  9. ↑ Elder, John (9 November 2013). "Dancing, pies and wild-haired men keep PSOs busy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  10. 1 2 "Member Profile - Mr David Southwick". Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Matthew Guy replaces Michael O'Brien as Victorian Liberal leader". ABC News. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Victorian Parliament Hansard (page 80 of PDF)" (PDF). Victorian Parliament Website. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Right to Life Australia media release". Right to Life Australia Facebook page. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Coalition the 'unrepresentative swill' on VAD | DyingForChoice.com". www.dyingforchoice.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  15. ↑ "David Southwick". Aleph Melbourne. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Antisemitic bullying: MPS say enough is enough". 9 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "'Again more bungles' from Victorian government amid COVID outbreak". skynews. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  18. ↑ Rohan Smith (10 November 2022). "Victorian deputy Liberal leader David Southwick used staffers in paid ads". News. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  19. ↑ "'Meet Daniel': Victorian Liberal deputy leader David Southwick uses party staffer in ads". The Guardian. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  20. ↑ https://neoskosmos.com/en/2023/04/20/news/australia/victorian-opposition-leader-john-pesutto-i-am-from-the-greek-parts-of-italy-calabria/
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