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David Leyonhjelm

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Senator
David Leyonhjelm
Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party
in the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2014
Preceded byOffice established
Chairman of Stop The Greens
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 March 2011
Preceded byGlenn Druery
Chairman of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
In office
27 March 1999 – 26 February 2005
Preceded byJohn Tingle
Succeeded byRobert Brown
Senator for New South Wales
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2014
Preceded byUrsula Stephens
Personal details
Born
David Ean Leyonhjelm[1]

(1952-04-01) 1 April 1952 (age 72)
Nhill, Victoria, Australia
Political partyLiberal Democratic (2005–present)
Stop The Greens (2005–present)
Other political
affiliations		Labor (1969–1975)
Liberal (1975–1996)
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (1996–2005)
Domestic partnerAmanda Downes
RelationsHouse of Leijonhielm
see list of Swedish noble families
Residence(s)Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
EducationDandenong High School
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne (B.VSc)
Macquarie University (LL.B, M.B.A.)
OccupationPrivate Veterinarian
(Self-employed)
Agribusiness consultant
(Baron Strategic Services)
ProfessionPhysician
Businessman
Military service
Branch/serviceAustralian Army Reserve
Years of service1982–1983[2]

David Ean Leyonhjelm ( /ˈlaɪənhɛlm/ "lion-helm"; born 1 April 1952) is an Australian politician who is a Senator for New South Wales, representing the Liberal Democratic Party. Having been elected at the 2013 federal election, he took office on 1 July 2014, and was re-elected in the 2016 full Senate election.[3] Before being elected to parliament Leyonhjelm worked as a veterinarian and then as an agribusiness consultant. He also writes columns for several Australian publications, with a concentration on rural issues.

Personal life and business career

David Leyonhjelm was born in Nhill in the Wimmera, in western Victoria and was raised in Heywood, on the dairy farm of his parents Bryan and Jean Leyonhjelm.[4][5] The family is of Swedish noble origin;[4] the 'Leijonhielm' barony granted 1719.[6] He was the oldest of four children, and as a teenager trapped rabbits and worked in a shoe shop to help support his family.[4] When he was 15, his parents separated, and he lived with his mother in Melbourne, where he attended Dandenong High School.[7] Leyonhjelm later won a scholarship to study veterinary science at the University of Melbourne, studying alongside Denis Napthine, a future Premier of Victoria.[5] He has since completed Bachelor of Laws and Master of Business Administration degrees at Macquarie University. After gaining his initial degree, he worked as a practising veterinarian for a time, both in Australia and overseas, and later became involved in marketing and management roles in the animal health industry.[8][9]

In 1989, Leyonhjelm was a founding director of Baron Strategic Services, an agribusiness consultancy firm with which he remains involved.[10] He later served as director of the federally funded Gene Technology Information Unit (GTIU), which was established by the Keating Government to offer "accurate and unbiased advice about the new gene technologies".[11] Leyonhjelm lives with his wife, Amanda, in Sydney, but also owns a rural property in Hargraves, a locality near Mudgee in the Central West region of NSW.[7] A shooting enthusiast, he is the president of the Sydney-based Inner West Hunters Club,[8] and takes pleasure in his success in winning his grade in New South Wales for several years, shooting metallic silhouette targets with small-bore pistols.[7] Also a former secretary of the Farm Writers' Association of New South Wales, Leyonhjelm had a column in Rural Business magazine for 20 years.[10] He also wrote a column, "Agribuzz", for Fairfax Rural Media (formerly Rural Press),[12] and for "Business Spectator"[13] and writes regularly in The Australian Financial Review.[14]

Early political activities

Politically, Leyonhjelm was a member of Young Labor during the 1970s, and worked on the successful "It's Time" campaign that helped elect Gough Whitlam, with the goal of ending compulsory military conscription.[15] He later joined the Liberal Party, but resigned his membership in 1996 in protest against the stricter firearm laws introduced by John Howard.[16] Leyonhjelm had been a member of the Shooters Party since 1992, and was chair for a period of 5 years.[17] Having fallen out with its founder, John Tingle, he later left the party in protest at what he perceived as its increasing social conservatism and status as a "single issue party".[18][19]

After leaving the Shooters Party, Leyonhjelm became involved with the federally registered Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which contests New South Wales elections as the Outdoor Recreation Party, in 2005.[17][19] He has served as the treasurer and "registered officer" of both parties at various stages, and ran the LDP's national campaigns at the 2007, 2010, and 2013 federal elections.[20][21] At the 2007 federal election, Leyonhjelm unsuccessfully contested the Division of Bennelong for the LDP,[22] which ran as the Liberty and Democracy Party after the Australian Electoral Commission initially refused to register it under its original name due to the use of the word "Liberal".[21] For the Outdoor Recreation Party, he unsuccessfully contested the 2010 Penrith state by-election, drawing 1.87 percent of the first-preference vote,[23] and then was listed first on the party's group ticket at the 2011 state election, which drew 0.75 percent as a group.[24]

Parliament

Running for the Australian Senate in New South Wales at the 2013 federal election, Leyonhjelm was elected to the fifth of six vacancies.[25] The Liberal Democrats polled 3.91 percent of the first-preference vote based on five states,[26] receiving 523,831 primary votes above the line in NSW.[27] The result for the LDP in New South Wales was partly attributed to the "donkey vote", with the party occupying first position on a ballot paper with a record number of candidates.[28] Confusion with the Liberal Party of Australia and other similarly named parties was also thought to have played a part, with a writer in The Age suggesting Leyonhjelm was "probably the only senator elected because people mistook his party for another".[29]

Leyonhjelm assumed his seat on 1 July 2014, and was sworn in on 7 July, making his maiden speech during the same week.[30][31] In the first sitting week, he successfully moved to have the government's Clean Energy (Income Tax Rates and Other Amendments) Bill considered by itself, instead of being grouped with other legislation. The bill, which subsequently failed to pass, would have repealed personal income tax cuts that were to be introduced as compensation for the carbon tax.[32] In September 2014, he announced that Helen Dale, a writer and lawyer who won the Miles Franklin Award in 1995 (as Helen Demidenko), would be a senior adviser on policy matters.[33] In November 2014, Leyonhjelm introduced as a private member's bill a Freedom to Marry Bill, which would allow same-sex marriage.[34][35]

In August 2015 Leyonhjelm negotiated a deal to include a 12 month sunset clause on the temporary ban on importing the Adler lever action shotgun. The Government imposed the ban in July, while it reviewed the technical specifications of weapons in the wake of the Martin Place Siege. The Federal Government has agreed to allow the importation of the shotgun, in exchange for support on migration laws.[36][37] A week prior to the ban lapsing as a result of the sunset clause, the Government reimposed the ban.

Voting bloc and IPA membership

Leyonhjelm and Bob Day of the Family First Party announced their intention shortly after the 2013 election to vote as a bloc in the Senate on economic issues, but to vote separately on social issues.[38] Day has since resigned from the Senate, but Leyonhjelm has stated he intends to form a new voting bloc with his successor from Family First, as well as Cory Bernardi from the Australian Conservatives.[39]

Both Leyonhjelm and Day have long been members of the free market think tank Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).[40]

Political views

Leyonhjelm has been described as a "libertarian purist" who wants government "wound back to a minimal role in society".[41] In interviews, he has stated that he was initially drawn towards socialism, but turned away from it after travelling to socialist countries in Africa and Eastern Europe and was later influenced by the writings of economist Milton Friedman.[15][42] Along with Bob Day of the Family First Party, who was also elected to the Senate at the 2013 election, Leyonhjelm has been compared to Ron Paul, a former U.S. Representative and noted libertarian. Their election has been associated with a rise in the popularity of libertarian and classical liberal ideas in Australia, with one commentator suggesting his election might "spark a libertarian renaissance [in Australia]".[42][43][44]

In the 44th parliament along with seventeen other crossbenchers (including 10 Greens, independents and representatives from four other parties), the Liberal Democrats shared the balance of power in the Senate.[45][46] Leyonhjelm has been described as the newly elected senator with "perhaps the most clearly articulated and consistent views".[47] He supported the repeal of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and carbon tax,[16] but opposed the Abbott Government's proposed paid parental leave and "direct action" on climate change schemes as "bad in principle" and "a waste of taxpayers' money", respectively.[48][49] The LDP's position on climate change is that the scientific evidence is not yet "compelling" and that "changes in human activity could realistically reverse those consequences", but the party "would favour market-based options" if the science is confirmed by further study.[50] Notably, Leyonhjelm has proposed charging a fee for permanent residency in Australia, as a way of discouraging people smuggling.[48] He also supports same-sex marriage, and the decriminalisation of marijuana and assisted suicide.[16][18] In his "Agribuzz" column, he generally advocates deregulating the Australian agriculture industry, including removing barriers to free trade,[51] genetically modified organisms,[52][53] and foreign ownership of Australian land.[54][55]

Leyonhjelm was criticised following the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis when he argued that Australians should be allowed greater access to weapons for self defence. He put the view that the outcome may have been different if at least some citizens were allowed to be armed.[56]

During the 2016 Australian federal election campaign, Leyonhjelm attracted criticism after he suggested women's sport was not "interesting enough" to receive government funding. Labor leader Bill Shorten responded, suggesting Leyonhjelm was a "stone age man".[57]

During the same campaign, satirical television show The Chaser parked a campervan across the road from Leyonhjelm's house daubed in Wicked Campers slogans that Leyonhjelm had previously defended, with Leyonhjelm's name replacing derogatory references to women in the original slogans. On the assumption they were following him inside his front gate, Leyonjhelm reacted by threatening to call the police and told the Chaser team to 'f*** off'.[58] He subsequently told women's rights activist Melinda Tankard Reist to "STFU" when she accused him of hypocrisy.[59]

Speaking to BBC News in November 2016, Leyonhjelm questioned the motives and integrity of anti-poverty charity workers, particularly with regard to a conflict of interest in the continuation of their own employment as opposed to their elimination of poverty and thus their obsolescence: "The people who work for those charities have their careers tied up in the continuation of that charitable work. If they were too successful and poverty was eliminated, they wouldn't have jobs anymore. They have a very long history in Australia of talking up poverty."[60]

Leyonhjelm wants the government-funded age pension payment to be viewed as welfare and not an entitlement for taxpayers once they reach a certain age, he told ABC News "Taking the pension shouldn't be something you aspire to, it should be something you try to avoid because it signifies you're in a low income group — in other words you're poor or you know, close to poor,"[61]

He also opposed the censorship of video games and crticized the Australian Classification Board claiming, "How is it that adults are not trusted to make choices about video games, and yet they are allowed to vote?" and asked the government to "leave video gamers alone." Destructoid called him "the hero Australia deserves".[62][63]

Soon after the 2017 Melbourne car attack, in which a driver hit and killed 6 people and injured many others, Leyonhjelm posted to Twitter a link to a poorly-written headline "BREAKING: It's feared at least one pedestrian has been hit in the Bourke St Mall by a rogue car driving erratically. More Soon." with the comment "Probably one of those semi-automatic assault cars."[64] Responding to calls for his resignation, Leyonhjelm suggested critics fill out an official complaint,[65] posting a "Hurt Feelings Complaint Form".[66][67]

See also

References

  1. ^ Government Gazette of Western Australia, 3 June 1983, p 1715
  2. ^ http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=111206
  3. ^ "New South Wales Senators have been decided - Australian Electoral Commission". Aec.gov.au. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Deborah Snow. "David Leyonhjelm: Trouble shooter". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b Sean McComish (8 October 2013). "Few people in Australia had heard of David Leyonhjelm" – The Warrnambool Standard. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  6. ^ Adelsvapen-Wiki. "Leijonhielm nr 142 - Adelsvapen-Wiki" (in Swedish). Adelsvapen.com. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Ben Potter (26 October 2013). "Libertarianism gets a loudspeaker" – The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved from Factiva, 6 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b Senators-elected: terms commencing 1 July 2014: David Leyonhjelm (Senator-elect) – Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  9. ^ David Leyonhjelm Linkedin Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Our People". Baron Strategic Services. Baron Strategic Services. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  11. ^ Gavin Gilchrist (27 March 1996). "Gene unit denies conflict of interest" – The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  12. ^ Agribuzz with David Leyonhjelm – The Land. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  13. ^ Contributor: David Leyonhjelm – Business Spectator. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  14. ^ Articles authored by David Leyonhjelm – Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  15. ^ a b Nina Ubaldi (24 September 2013). "Liberty and Vita Weets: David Leyonhjelm – Honi Soit. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  16. ^ a b c "He left the Liberals because of John Howard's crackdown on guns following the Port Arthur massacre, describing it as "a disgraceful attack on law-abiding citizens" Liz Foschia and Mhairi McClymont (9 September 2013). "NSW sends pro-gun Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm to Senate" – Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  17. ^ a b Sarah Blake (6 September 2013). "Men of many parties have Liberals in their sights" – The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  18. ^ a b (9 September 2013). "Libertarian David Leyonhjlem [sic] supports some Coalition polices but not others" – The Australian. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  19. ^ a b Andrew M. Potts (22 March 2011). "PARTY SEEKS OUTDOORSY GAY VOTE" – Star Observer. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  20. ^ About Us – The Outdoor Recreation Party. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  21. ^ a b About Us: History – Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  22. ^ House of Representatives: NSW DIVISION - BENNELONG – Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  23. ^ "Check count and declaration votes - Penrith" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  24. ^ Legislative Council: Progressive First Preference Group Vote – Electoral Commission New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  25. ^ "New South Wales Senators have been decided" – Australian Electoral Commission. Published 2 October 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  26. ^ FIRST PREFERENCES BY GROUP: NSW – Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  27. ^ FIRST PREFERENCES BY CANDIDATE: NSW – Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  28. ^ Aston, Heath (2 October 2013). "The $1m mistake: senator's poll windfall". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  29. ^ Tim Colebatch (5 October 2013). "How mistaken identity and luck won on the day" – The Age. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  30. ^ Stephanie Anderson (7 July 2014). "New Senators sworn in at Parliament House" – SBS. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  31. ^ Joanna Mather (10 July 2014). "No topic taboo for Senator David Leyonhjelm" – The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  32. ^ Sid Maher (9 July 2014). "Senate rejects repeal of income tax cuts linked to carbon tax" – The Australian. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  33. ^ "Helen Dale, known once as Helen Demidenko, to advise key federal senator" – The Australian. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  34. ^ Lisa Cox (14 July 2014). "New senator David Leyonhjelm urges libertarian MPs to 'come out of the closet' and support same-sex marriage" – The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  35. ^ Freedom to Marry Bill 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  36. ^ Tlozek, Eric (10 September 2015). "Adler shotgun importation ban to be lifted after Government cuts deal with David Leyonhjelm". "He's traded off a vote in relation to migration law to push forward a weakening on gun laws and it highlights the risk he will push the Coalition further to water down their gun laws,". ANC. ABC Online. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  37. ^ Knowles, Lorna (20 August 2015). "Port Arthur survivor Carolyn Loughton calls for ban on Adler rapid-fire shotgun". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  38. ^ Heath Aston (1 June 2014). "Senate's odd couple quickly form a voting bloc – The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  39. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzcMjcwh6ao
  40. ^ Seccombe, Mike. "Abbott's faceless men of the IPA". The Saturday Paper.
  41. ^ Tim Colebatch (5 October 2013). "Fringe dweller? It's 'senator' now" – The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  42. ^ a b Dean Bertram (21 September 2013). "In praise of Australia's Liberal Democrats" – The Spectator. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  43. ^ Adam Creighton (28 September 2013). "A shock to the Senate" – The Australian. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  44. ^ Adam Creighton (24 March 2014). "Year of the libertarian: the Australian politicians, bureaucrats and think tanks taking libertarianism mainstream" – Radio National (ABC). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  45. ^ Mathew Dunckley and Mark Ludlow (23 April 2014). "Senate's new motley crew" – The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  46. ^ "The state of play after WA" – Business Spectator. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  47. ^ Sophie Morris (5 April 2014). "Minor-party senators need deft negotiation" – The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  48. ^ a b "Charge asylum seekers $50,000 to come here, says incoming senator" – The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  49. ^ (6 October 2013). "Lib Democrats oppose paid parental leave" – Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  50. ^ Energy Archived 5 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine – Liberal Democratic Party. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  51. ^ David Leyonhjelm (12 November 2013). "Open for which business?" – The Land. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  52. ^ David Leyonhjelm (16 December 2013). "'Frankenfish': food's future" – The Land. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  53. ^ David Leyonhjelm (18 November 2013). "GM crop Luddism" – The Land. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  54. ^ David Leyonhjelm (9 September 2013). "Xenophobia hurting ag" – The Land. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  55. ^ David Leyonhjelm (30 September 2013). "Sell the farm to SBY" – The Land. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  56. ^ "Australia a 'nation of victims', deadly Sydney siege unlikely in Texas, says pro-gun senator Leyonhjelm". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  57. ^ Mike Hytner (29 May 2016). "'Back to the cave': Bill Shorten calls out senator Leyonhjelm on gender equality | Sport". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  58. ^ Chaser, Source: ABC The (30 June 2016). "The Chaser pranks David Leyonhjelm by making him his own Wicked Camper – video". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  59. ^ "Wicked Campers: David Leyonhjelm tells women's rights activist to 'STFU' on Twitter". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  60. ^ Mercer, Phil (17 November 2016). "Australia's child poverty 'national shame'". BBC News. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  61. ^ Uma Patel (2 January 2017). "Senator David Leyonhjelm calls to restrict pension, says being poor 'nothing to be proud of" Senator David Leyonhjelm calls to restrict pension, says being poor 'nothing to be proud of – ABC. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  62. ^ "The hero Australia deserves: senator commands Canberra to 'leave gamers alone'". Destructoid. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  63. ^ Reilly, Luke (20 March 2017). "Australian Senator Attacks Game Censorship, Classification Board". IGN. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  64. ^ Leyonhjelm, David [@DavidLeyonhjelm] (20 January 2017). "Probably one of those semi-automatic assault cars" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  65. ^ Leyonhjelm, David [@DavidLeyonhjelm] (19 January 2017). ".@vanbadham @theheraldsun Please use our official complaints form" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  66. ^ "David Leyonhjelm slammed for 'semi-automatic assault cars' tweet". news.com.au. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  67. ^ "'Probably one of those semi-automatic assault cars': Senator David Leyonhjelm slammed for offensive tweet after three are killed and 20 injured by crazed Melbourne driver". Daily Mail. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
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