29 Facts About Michael Danby

Michael David Danby was born on 16 February 1955 and is an Australian politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1998 until 2019, representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria.

Michael Danby attended Mount Scopus Memorial College and then enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University but left without completing the degree.

Michael Danby was President of the Melbourne University Student Union as well as President of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students.

From 1979 to 1983 Michael Danby was manager of Halmaag Art Galleries in Malvern.

In 1990 Michael Danby ran as the Labor candidate for the safe Liberal seat of Goldstein against Dr David Kemp.

Michael Danby was elected in 1998 with 55 percent of the vote, and was reelected with slightly reduced majorities in 2001 and 2004.

Michael Danby was outspoken in his criticism of the Labor Party's handling of the 2010 election, attacking the heavily-Western Sydney focus of the campaign.

Michael Danby was a member of the Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters from 1998 until 2010, and was deputy chair in 2006.

Michael Danby used this position to run a campaign against the Howard Government's changes to Australian electoral law, which he argued restricted the ability of voters, particularly new voters, to enrol and vote.

From 2008 to 2010 Michael Danby was Chair of the Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Migration.

Michael Danby was Chair of the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade throughout the 42nd Parliament, and was again chosen for this position in the 43rd parliament.

Michael Danby was Chair of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for the United States, and the Parliamentary Group for Tibet.

Michael Danby gained some media attention in late 2009 following his criticism of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's use of the term 'illegal immigrants' rather than 'asylum seekers'.

In July 2009 in his role as Chair of the Parliamentary Group for Tibet, Michael Danby led the first-ever delegation of Australian MPs and Senators to Dharamshala, India, the base of the Central Tibetan Administration.

Michael Danby gave a speech at the celebrations for the Dalai Lama's 74th birthday entitled 'Let freedom reign in Tibet'.

From July 2011 to March 2013 Michael Danby was Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, a role which saw him represent the Prime Minister at the inauguration of the new nation of South Sudan in 2011.

Michael Danby was the only Jewish member of the Australian Parliament from 1998 to 2007, when Mark Dreyfus, from the Labor Party, was elected.

Michael Danby was an outspoken supporter of the Australian National Academy of Music, opposing Arts Minister Peter Garrett's decision to cut funding for the institution, which is in his electorate, in October 2008.

Michael Danby helped organise the visit of the Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, to Australia for the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2009.

The visit drew condemnation from the Chinese Government, but Michael Danby criticised the Chinese Government for describing Kadeer as a terrorist, and argued that she was "a paradigm of non-violence".

In September and October 2010 Michael Danby wrote a number of articles critical of Australian National University academic Hugh White's Quarterly Essay entitled "Power Shift: Australia's Future between Washington and Beijing'".

However it seems Michael Danby had the last word in the debate, publishing another article in the Australian Financial Review, which attacked White's thesis as advocating "unprincipled appeasement".

On 5 July 2018, Michael Danby announced he would not contest the seat of Macnamara, which would replace Melbourne Ports at the 2019 federal election, thus ending a 20-year career in federal politics.

Michael Danby was replaced by Josh Burns, a Labor staffer, who went on to win the seat.

In October 2017 Michael Danby ran attack ads in the Australian Jewish News against Sophie McNeill, the ABC's Walkley Award-winning Jerusalem correspondent.

Michael Danby accused McNeill of pro-Palestinian bias and double standards, alleging that she filed "extensive coverage" on the September 2017 eviction of the Shamasneh family from East Jerusalem, while falsely claiming she provided "no report" on the July 2017 Halamish stabbing attack.

Michael Danby stood by his claims, asserting that McNeill gave the Shamasneh family's eviction undue prominence over the Halamish attack.

Michael Danby faced further criticism when it emerged the ads had been paid for with taxpayer money, amounting to $4,574.

Michael Danby has run in two seats through his career, both for federal parliament, across eight elections.