33 Facts About David Feeney

David Feeney was the Labor member for the division of Batman in the House of Representatives from 7 September 2013 to 1 February 2018.

David Feeney was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1970, his father having emigrated from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

David Feeney later completed post-graduate study at Monash University, with a Masters in Public Policy and Management.

David Feeney worked in the National Office of the Transport Workers Union as a Federal Industrial Officer from 1994 to 1999.

At the TWU, David Feeney served as a union advocate before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

David Feeney served as Victorian State Secretary of the Labor Party and State Labor Campaign Director from March 1999 to December 2002, where he had considerable success as a fund-raiser and campaign director.

In 2005, David Feeney returned to his home state of South Australia to become Labor's Assistant National Secretary and campaign director for SA Labor at the March 2006 state election.

David Feeney helped SA Labor win six seats previously held by the opposition Liberal Party.

David Feeney served as Assistant National Secretary and Deputy National Campaign Director of the Australian Labor Party between 2005 and June 2008.

In March 2006, David Feeney was placed third on the Australian Senate from Victoria ballot paper as the Labor Party's candidate.

In 2010, David Feeney was one of the key MPs who convinced their colleagues to support Julia Gillard in calling for a leadership spill against sitting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

When Gillard was sworn in as Prime Minister, David Feeney was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Defence in her first ministry, and was reappointed to this role in the second Gillard ministry.

David Feeney maintained this position in the reshuffle when Rudd regained the Prime Ministership in June 2013.

David Feeney's responsibilities included ADF Reserves, ADF force structure, the Pacific Maritime Security Plan and liaison with Pacific Island Countries, participating in the first meeting of South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting in Tonga.

David Feeney commissioned the Department of Defence workforce review, known as Plan Suakin, in 2010.

David Feeney was elected as the member for Batman in 2013, succeeding the retired Martin Ferguson.

David Feeney worked to promote the Anzac Centenary in his Batman electorate, and to secure grants for local projects to commemorate the service of Australian service-men and women in the First World War.

David Feeney sought to promote causes in parliament including recognition of same-sex marriage, needs-based school funding, and various environmental concerns, particularly marine parks and fisheries protection.

In 2017, David Feeney was one of a small number of Labor MPs to express opposition to the Carmichael coal mine proposed by the Adani Group, saying the project didn't "stack up" and calling the cost to the environment and climate "too high".

David Feeney is a regular commentator on strategic and defence matters, was a regular contributor to ADM magazine, and Deputy Chair of the Defence sub-committee of the Joint Standing Committee of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade.

David Feeney was keenly interested in the Australian Antarctic Territory, commenting on its importance to Australia's strategic outlook and travelling there in 2017.

David Feeney attracted controversy when it was revealed he had failed to disclose an investment property he owned in Northcote on the Parliamentary Register of Interests.

David Feeney was referred to the High Court of Australia on 6 December 2017, over concerns he was in breach of section 44 of the Australian Constitution.

David Feeney claimed he had taken the steps required of him to relinquish any British and Irish citizenship by descent in 2007, but was unable to produce documentation confirming the British renunciation had taken place.

On 1 February 2018, accordingly, David Feeney announced his resignation as a member of Parliament, and revealed he would not stand as a candidate for the Batman by-election later that year.

David Feeney is married to Liberty Sanger, principal of law firm Maurice Blackburn.

David Feeney was appointed a Senior Fellow to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in August 2018.

David Feeney has served as a regular guest lecturer at the Australian War College in Canberra since 2018.

In December 2018, David Feeney wrote a paper advocating for Australia's need to develop a comprehensive grand strategy for the Centre of Gravity journal of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University.

In 2021, David Feeney wrote a further paper for Centre of Gravity entitled "SEA 5000 Future Frigate program: continuous shipbuilding under the spotlight".

Since 2019, David Feeney has been a postgraduate student at the University of Melbourne.

In 2021, David Feeney commenced PhD studies in classical and ancient studies.

In October 2021 David Feeney became a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.