39 Facts About Bob Day

Bob Day is a former federal chairman of the Family First Party.

Bob Day was the Liberal Party's candidate for the federal seat of Makin at the 2007 election, but resigned from the party after failing to gain preselection for the 2008 Mayo by-election.

Bob Day subsequently joined the Family First Party and was their candidate for the by-election, later becoming their lead Senate candidate in South Australia at the 2010 election and 2013 election.

On his fourth attempt to enter federal parliament in 2013, Bob Day was elected to the Senate from a 3.8 per cent primary vote for Family First, to a term beginning on 1 July 2014.

However, Bob Day resigned on 1 November 2016 after stating that the investor had backed out.

Bob Day attended Gilles Plains High School and the University of South Australia.

Bob Day's career started in the South Australian public service at the Materials and Research Laboratories of the former Highways Department, now part of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure.

Bob Day was a founder of Homestead Homes and Home Australia, which now owns Collier Homes in Western Australia, Newstart Homes in Queensland, Ashford Homes in Victoria and Huxley Homes in New South Wales.

Bob Day is the founder of Oz Homes Foundation, and is managing director of Home Australia.

Bob Day is the sole director of Ashford Homes, which is facing action over unpaid money to creditors.

Bob Day is a past president of the Housing Industry Association, the trade association which represents the residential housing industry in Australia.

Bob Day was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the housing industry and to social welfare, on Australia Bob Day 2003.

Bob Day is a board member of the North East Development Agency, having been president for almost a decade, and of North East Vocational College in Adelaide.

Bob Day undertook a roadside planting, irrigation and re-vegetation program along North East Road including a local school.

Bob Day was elected federal chairman of the Family First Party in 2008.

Bob Day formally filed bankruptcy papers and was declared bankrupt in April 2017.

Bob Day was discharged from bankruptcy on 3 July 2020 [AFSA Registry].

Bob Day decided to run as a Family First Party candidate at the 2008 Mayo by-election but was unsuccessful.

Bob Day had joined Family First immediately prior to the by-election, after resigning his 20-year membership of the Liberal Party, accusing the party of a "manipulated" process which saw former Howard government advisor chiefly for WorkChoices, Jamie Briggs, gain Liberal preselection at the expense of others including Day.

Family First and Bob Day received 11.4 percent of the primary vote, picking up a swing of 7.4 percent, coming fourth out of eleven candidates, behind the Liberals on 41.3 percent, the Greens on 21.4 percent and independent Diane Bell on 16.3 percent.

Bob Day was first on the South Australian Family First Party ticket for the Australian Senate at the 2010 federal election but was unsuccessful.

Some commentators claimed Bob Day had a "strong chance of taking one of the last two South Australian Senate seats", citing "effective preferences from nine smaller parties".

Bob Day ran as a Family First Party South Australia Senate candidate at the 2013 federal election and was successful, taking the fifth available South Australian seat.

Bob Day got to the 7.7 percent quota largely from Liberal preferences when the Liberal's 5th candidate Sean Edwards was eliminated from the count, largely due to the fact the Liberal how-to-vote card recommended to direct their first preference to Family First.

Bob Day released a statement on the same day, stating that he had stepped away from the company when elected in 2013, but had returned in 2015 because of what he called "poor management decisions" in his absence.

Bob Day announced his intention to resign from the Senate.

However, Bob Day did not immediately resign on the day of the announcement.

Bob Day later stated that he would not leave the Senate before the end of 2016, as there would not be time to install a replacement senator.

However, on 1 November 2016, Bob Day announced he had tendered his immediate resignation to the President of the Australian Senate.

The government believed Bob Day had potentially violated section 44 of the Constitution, which provides that a person who "has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth" is "incapable of being chosen or of serving" in either house of Parliament.

In 2013, Bob Day sold the building to a trust of which his family's business trust was a beneficiary.

Bob Day rejects anthropogenic climate change and the scientific consensus on climate change, and he opposes policies to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Bob Day is a member of the Saltbush Club, a group that promotes climate change denial.

Bob Day has expressed his admiration for Houston's approach to zoning.

Bob Day says they have none, yet there is a vibrant economy and housing prices are low.

Bob Day takes the position that Australia's stringent urban planning regulations have the effect of driving home prices up artificially and pricing new and low income home buyers out of the market.

Bob Day was the first president of Independent Contractors Australia, which was formed in 1999 "with the objective of protecting the rights of independent contractors in Australia to be treated fairly, justly and equitably and to be allowed to work free from intimidation or harassment from bureaucrats, the Australian Taxation Office, political parties, unions and others".

In May 2017, federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash referred to the Fair Work Ombudsman allegations that Bob Day had claimed that staff at Homes Australia were independent contractors on commission-only pay when they were in fact employees and therefore had substantial additional legal entitlements.

In June 2016, Bob Day was a guest speaker at the launch of Arise Adelaide, a group staunchly opposed to same-sex marriage and the normalisation of same-sex relationships.