David Hawker

About David

David Hawker has been a member of Federal Parliament for the past 26 years, having being elected to the seat of Wannon in Western Victoria in May, 1983.

David is currently the Deputy Chair of the most senior Joint Standing Committee in Parliament, that of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. David is also a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings and the Joint Standing Committee for the Parliamentary Library, along with the House of Representatives Procedures Committee which looks at operations of the House during sittings.

David served as the 27th Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2004 until February 2008. Prior to his election as Speaker David was Chairman of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration. This is one of the key all-Party Committees of the Parliament and was formerly known as the Banking Committee. Mr Hawker was formerly a member of the Defence Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. In his earlier role as Chairman Mr Hawker introduced the Parliamentary Armed Forces Scheme.

Prior to the election of the Coalition Government in March, 1996, Mr Hawker was Opposition Whip for the Federal Coalition.

In previous Parliaments, Mr Hawker also chaired the Wool Sub-Committee of the Coalition Primary Industry Committee and was the Minister's representative on an industry committee looking at the problem of wool contamination. He also headed up the Firearms Consultative Committee looking into new uniform gun laws.

Mr Hawker held the position of Shadow Minister for Land Transport from May, 1990 - April 1993 and in this role he was responsible for all Federal aspects of the road transport industry, road funding, road safety and the railways.

From May, 1993 - March, 1996 Mr Hawker was a member of Coalition's influential eight-member Expenditure Review Committee as the only non-Shadow Minister. This Committee reviewed the budgetary implications of the Federal Government's policy proposals and initiatives.

In September, 1993 Mr Hawker was appointed as the new chairman of the Liberal Party's Federal Regional and Rural Committee. The Regional and Rural Committee fulfils an extremely important role as the eyes and ears of the Liberal Party in regional and rural Australia.

Wannon is one of only 37 seats in Australia to be a Federation Seat, meaning it has existed - albeit with many boundary changes - continuously since 1901. Today the electorate spans an area of approximately 33,800 square kilometres.

Before entering Parliament David ran a farm in Western Victoria. Prior to that he completed an Engineering degree at the University of Melbourne.

David and his wife, Penny, live in Hamilton in Western Victoria and they have four children. His interests include bike riding, swimming and golf.

David Hawker's Maiden Speech