Simon Birmingham

Simon John Birmingham (born 14 June 1974 in Adelaide, South Australia), an Australian politician, is a Liberal member of the Australian Senate, representing South Australia.

Early life and career

Birmingham spent many of his early years living with his grandmother in the Adelaide suburb of Cumberland Park before moving to Gawler River on Adelaide's northern fringe with his parents. He was educated at Westbourne Park Primary School, Angle Vale Primary School and Gawler High School.

Birmingham was named South Australia's Lions Club Youth of the Year in 1992 [” [http://www.lionsclubs.org.au/yoty/shr%20sa%20nt.htm "Lions Club Youth of the Year"] ] and awarded the Town of Gawler's Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year Award in 1993.

He holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Adelaide Graduate School of Business, University of Adelaide. [http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=biogs&Criteria=NAME_ID:H6X%3B "Senate biography"] ] He is engaged to Courtney Morcombe, a qualified chartered accountant and lawyer.

Birmingham's career has crossed between both politics and business. He began his career working as an electorate officer for Senator Robert Hill, during which time Senator Hill was leader of the opposition in the Senate and then leader of the government in the Senate and minister for the environment, following the 1996 election of the Howard Government.

In 1997 Birmingham moved from federal to state politics, working as a ministerial advisor to Joan Hall in her capacity as South Australia's minister for employment and youth and, subsequently, minister for tourism.

Early in 2000 Birmingham moved to Canberra to become the national manager of public affairs for the Australian Hotels Association. [ [http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=PRESSCLP&Criteria=CITATION_ID:SZ436%3B "Building industry tips job losses"] The Age 4/1/2001] At this time the AHA was involved in conflict with the Howard government over aspects of the new tax system, requiring Birmingham, as a media spokeserson, to articulate its opposition. In addition to tax matters, he became involved in industrial relations and public health issues during his time at AHA.

In late 2001, Birmingham was appointed chief of staff to the South Australian state minister for tourism and innovation, Martin Hamilton-Smith.

Following a change of government in 2002, Birmingham began work with the Winemakers' Federation of Australia. Initially employed to represent the interests of the smaller wine companies, he was promoted as director of stakeholder relations, again covering issues such as taxation, tourism, public health and environment policies. He remained with the WFA until his appointment to the Senate in 2007. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/senators/birmingham.htm MP Profile] Q&A]

Political Career

At the age of 29, Birmingham won Liberal Party preselection for the marginal seat of Hindmarsh at the 2004 federal election following the announced retirement of sitting member Christine Gallus. The seat was narrowly won by the ALP's Steve Georganas. [Australian Electoral Commission, S.A Division—Hindmarsh, 2004 election tally]

After an unsuccessful attempt to fill the vacancy created by Robert Hill's retirement from the Senate in 2006, Birmingham won Liberal Party preselection as a Senate candidate in 2007and was elected for a six-year term. However, he entered the Senate earlier, being appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Jeannie Ferris. At the time of his appointment on May 3, 2007, Birmingham was the youngest member of the Australian Senate. He is identified with the moderate wing of the Liberal Party. [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,18778684-2702,00.html "Loss for Hill's faction in Senate"] The Australian April 11 2006]

Birmingham served on the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, later the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts, from the time of his appointment to the Senate, and became the committee's deputy chair in August 2008. He is a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, and of the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network. He is also deputy chair of the Parliamentary Association for UNICEF.

References

External links

* [http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=H6X Australian Senate biography]