- Richard Di Natale
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Senator
Richard Di Natale
Senator for Victoria Incumbent Assumed office
1 July 2011Personal details Born 6 June 1970
Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaNationality Australian Political party Australian Greens Spouse(s) Lucy Children 2 Residence Otway Ranges Occupation Doctor Profession Health Website http://www.richarddinatale.com.au Richard Di Natale (born 6 June 1970) is an Australian politician and member of the Victorian Greens. Di Natale was elected to the Australian Senate in the 2010 Australian federal election.[1] He was the lead Senate Candidate in the 2007 federal election but was narrowly defeated, despite achieving a primary vote above 10 percent.
Richard Di Natale speaks at an anti-internet censorship rally in Melbourne.
Richard Di Natale with Senator Bob Brown in Melbourne during the Australian federal election campaign, 2010.Di Natale is a public health specialist and drug and alcohol clinician. He has worked on HIV prevention and drug treatment in developing countries, as a general practitioner in remote indigenous communities and in a number of different public health settings.[citation needed]
Contents
Early life and education
Di Natale was born in Melbourne in 1970 to Italian immigrant parents and grew up in Melbourne's northern suburbs. He graduated with a medical degree from Monash University and has a Masters in Public Health, a Masters in Health Sciences and is a Fellow of the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.
Political career
In 2004, Di Natale was the Greens second Senate candidate, behind David Risstrom, who missed out on winning a Senate spot.[2][3]
In both 2002 and 2006, Di Natale was narrowly defeated in the seat of Melbourne in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, almost de-seating the Labor health minister Bronwyn Pike. Richard received 48% of the two party preferred vote in both elections, missing out on a win.[4][5] Di Natale has acted as health spokesperson for the Greens in Victoria and in 2002 spoke about the Greens support for harm reduction policies to manage illicit drug use.[6]
Di Natale also ran for the position of Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 2004, coming second to the elected John So.[7]
In April 2007, Di Natale spoke out about the health implications of climate change,[8] and later that year voiced concerns about terror laws in relation to the then suspect Dr Mohamed Haneef.[9][10]
Dr Di Natale was nominated as the Australian Greens lead senate candidate for Victoria for the 2010 federal election. Greens leader Senator Bob Brown described Dr Di Natale as the Greens "next strongest hope" at this election.[11]
At the 2010 Australian Federal Election held on 21 August 2010, Dr. Di Natale successfully won a Senate seat representing Victoria. His term began on 1 July 2011. Upon taking up his seat in the Senate Di Natale became the Greens' Federal spokesperson for Health, including preventive; Dental Health; Sport; Gambling; Multiculturalism; East Timor; and West Papua.
Personal life
Di Natale lives in the Otway Ranges with partner Lucy and two children.[12]
He is a supporter of the Richmond Tigers AFL team.[12]
References
- ^ Jenkins, Melissa (22 August 2010). "First Green Vic Senator, Fielding out". ninemsn. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/election2010/7948957/first-green-vic-senator-fielding-out. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ "2004 Election Results". Australian Electoral Commission. 2004. http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/elections/2004/gvt/2004VICGVT.pdf. Retrieved November 2007.
- ^ Doherty, Ben (22 November 2007). "A natural Labor man — but he's not". Age. Fairfax. http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/a-natural-labor-man-151-but-hes-not/2007/11/21/1195321865897.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
- ^ "State Results". Victorian Electoral Commission. 2007. http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/stateresults.html. Retrieved 2007.
- ^ "Seat of many faces, many landmarks". The Age. Faifax. 6 November 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/seats-to-watch/2006/11/06/1162661617891.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
- ^ "Greens offer heroin in rehab plan". The Age. Fairfax. 18 July 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/greens-offer-heroin-in-rehab-plan/2006/07/17/1152988472787.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
- ^ "Melbourne Result 2004". Victorian Electoral Commission. 2004. http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/MelbourneResult2004.html. Retrieved November 2007.
- ^ Nader, Carol (28 April 2007). "Health costs of global warming". The Age. Fairfax. http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/health-costs-of-global-warming/2007/04/27/1177459981956.html. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ "Rally calls for terror laws to be repealed". Age. Fairfax. 4 August 2007. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/rally-calls-for-terror-laws-to-be-repealed/2007/08/04/1185648198822.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
- ^ "Rallies call for terror law overhaul". Sunday Times. Perth: News Limited. 4 August 2007.
- ^ Nader, Carol (19 July 2010). "A challenging relationship for the Greens, whoever wins". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/a-challenging-relationship-for-the-greens-whoever-wins-20100719-10g8o.html. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ^ a b "Dr Richard Di Natale". The Australian Greens. 2010. http://greens.org.au/richarddinatale. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
External links
Current crossbench members of the Australian Senate Categories:- 1970 births
- Living people
- Australian Greens politicians
- Members of the Australian Senate
- Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria
- Medical doctors from Melbourne
- Australian politicians of Italian descent
- Monash University alumni
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