Wikipedia

David Philip Benedict Smith (born 25 March 1970) is an Australian politician. On 23 May 2018, the High Court of Australia declared him elected as a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory after Labor senator Katy Gallagher was found ineligible to have been elected. Before his election, Smith was the ACT director of the Professionals Australia union. He was sworn in to the Australian Senate on 18 June 2018. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the Division of Bean, ACT, at the 2019 federal election.

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Voting Record Full record ↗

Voted for

tobacco plain packaging increasing trade unions' powers in the workplace regional processing of asylum seekers increasing fishing restrictions increasing surveillance powers increasing consumer protections protecting whales within Australian waters creating a federal Anti-Corruption Commission buffer zones around abortion clinics federal action on public housing protecting the Great Barrier Reef

Mixed / less clear

parliament continuing to meet during the COVID-19 pandemic considering legislation to create a federal anti-corruption commission (procedural) removing children from immigration detention increasing transparency of big business by making information public a transition plan for coal workers targeting foreign interference in Australia increasing scrutiny of asylum seeker management climate change mitigation strategies (e.g., carbon capture and storage) increasing investment in renewable energy the Paris Climate Agreement unconventional gas mining

Voted against

a carbon price privatising government-owned assets increasing restrictions on gambling requiring a warrant to access citizens’ telecommunications records landholders' right to say no to mining and gas exploration increasing indexation of HECS-HELP debts increasing transparency of the China-Australia relationship protecting whistleblowers a Royal Commission into banking the use of strong encryption technologies increasing parliamentary entitlements for current MPs and Senators

Interests & Gifts

View full register page

Shareholdings

Spouse/partner: IAG

Trusts And Nominee Companies

I Beneficial Interest — Spouse/partner: Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The J.Centenera Family Trust · Nature Of Operation: Farming and property investment · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary; Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The Marcmonella Property Trust · Nature Of Operation: Farming and property investment · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary; Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The Joliz Trust · Nature Of Operation: Farming and property investment · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary; Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The Jolets Sanitation trust · Nature Of Operation: Venture capital · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary
I Beneficial Interest — Dependent children: Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The J. Centenera Trust · Nature Of Operation: Farming and property investment · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary; Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The Marcmonella Property Trust · Nature Of Operation: Farming and property investment · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary; Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The Joliz Trust · Nature Of Operation: Farming and property investment · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary; Name Of Trust Or Nominee Company: The Joleta Sanitation Trust · Nature Of Operation: Venture capital · Beneficial Interests: Joint beneficiary

Real Estate

Self: Location: Farrer ACT · Purpose: Residential
Spouse/partner: Location: Farrer ACT · Purpose: Residential

Directorships

Spouse/partner: Joleta Pty Ltd; Joleta Sanitation Pty Ltd

Liabilities

Self: Nature Of Liability: Mortgage on residential property · Creditor: Westpac
Spouse/partner: Nature Of Liability: Mortgage on residential property · Creditor: Westpac

Saving Or Investment Accounts

Self: Nature Of Account: Savings · Institution: Commonwealth; Nature Of Account: Term Deposit · Institution: Commonwealth
Spouse/partner: Nature Of Account: Savings · Institution: Westpac
Dependent children: Nature Of Account: Savings · Institution: Westpac

Other Assets Over 7500

Self: Superannuation
Spouse/partner: Car

Other Substantial Sources Of Income

Spouse/partner: Superannuation; Board income; Consultancy fees

Gifts

Self: Chairman's Lounge Qantas; Virgin Beyond; 4 tickets to Canberra Raiders vs Manly - 9 August 2025
Spouse/partner: Virgin Beyond

Memberships Conflict Possible

Spouse/partner: Kababaihang ni Rizal

Other Interests Potential Conflict

Spouse/partner: Board Member Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Education Ltd; Chair - Canberra International Music Festival; Advisory Committee Member - The Global Centre for Social Justice and Advisory Leadership

Salary

We estimate David Smith received a parliamentary salary of: $239,270

Based on the Remuneration Tribunal base salary of $239,270 plus any additional allowance for ministerial, shadow or office-holder roles held at time of generation.

Expenditure

Latest quarter total: $152,159
Printing and Communications: $82,130
Publications: $271
Office Consumables and Services: $11,873
Telecommunications - Usage: $398
Private-Plated Vehicle: $4,075
Travel Allowance: $4,621
Fares: $412
Domestic Travel: $1,307
Office Facilities - Not stated: $47,072

Latest Guardian Articles

Conversation Articles

Explainer: the Latino vote in the US (2012-09-04)
David Smith
In the first of The Conversation’s video explainer series - produced in collaboration with SBS Online - Dr David Smith from the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney discusses the importance…
US election live blog (2024-11-06)
Amanda Dunn, Justin Bergman, Matt Garrow
Rolling coverage of the key news, developments and analysis as the voting results come in.
US government shutdown: worse may yet be to come (2013-10-02)
David Smith
At midnight, the United States government was shut down after Congress could not agree to a deal on changes to president Barack Obama’s signature health-care legislation, Obamacare. Around 800,000 non-essential…
US debt crisis heralds the return of the Tea Party (2013-10-24)
David Smith
The US debt crisis is over for now, but legislators have just kicked the can down the road. In this series on the US debt ceiling, academics from Australia, the UK and the US assess the lingering global…
Trump and Clinton face off in first US presidential debate: experts respond (2016-09-27)
Nicole Hemmer, Bryan Cranston, David Smith, Kumuda Simpson
The Conversation’s experts respond to the first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Former conservative congressman to become new US ambassador in Canberra (2026-04-28)
Michelle Grattan
Among his conservative views, David Brat supports tariffs and believes capitalism and Christianity should merge.
Dysfunction by design: why American politics is in gridlock (2013-04-21)
David Smith
For all its international power, the United States government seems increasingly powerless to make laws for the benefit of its own people. The recent failure to implement popular gun control measures in…
Gun control and the price of freedom: Obama’s great challenge (2012-12-17)
David Smith
Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year…
The lost cause of American political fact-checkers (2012-09-16)
David Smith
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. – Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Political fact checkers seem to perform a vital public service for American democracy. Websites such as FactCheck.org…
Building codes not enough to protect homes against water damage in severe storms (2017-06-29)
Matthew Mason, Daniel Smith, David Henderson, Debbie Falck, Geoffrey Boughton
Water moves into Australian homes during severe tropical storms like Cyclone Debbie. But no definitive housing codes, standards or guidelines exist to stem the flow of unwanted storm water.
University of Sydney
University of Sydney
Dr David Smith is jointly appointed between the United States Studies Centre and the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney. Smith has a PhD in political science from the University…