David Elliott | |
|---|---|
 Elliott in 2015 | |
| Minister for Transport | |
| In office 21 December 2021 – 28 March 2023 | |
| Premier | Dominic Perrottet |
| Preceded by | Paul Toole(as Minister for Transport and Roads) |
| Succeeded by | Jo Haylen |
| Minister for Veterans | |
| In office 21 December 2021 – 28 March 2023 | |
| Premier | Dominic Perrottet |
| Preceded by | Natalie Ward(as Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans) |
| Succeeded by | David Harris |
| Minister for Western Sydney | |
| In office 5 August 2022 – 28 March 2023 | |
| Premier | Dominic Perrottet |
| Preceded by | Stuart Ayres |
| Succeeded by | Prue Car |
| Minister for Police andEmergency Services | |
| In office 2 April 2019 – 21 December 2021 | |
| Premier | Gladys Berejiklian Dominic Perrottet |
| Preceded by | Troy Grant |
| Succeeded by | Paul Toole(as Minister for Police) |
| Minister for Counter Terrorism | |
| In office 30 January 2017 – 23 March 2019 | |
| Premier | Gladys Berejiklian |
| Preceded by | new portfolio |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Roberts(as Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections) |
| Minister for Corrections | |
| In office 2 April 2015 – 23 March 2019 | |
| Premier | Mike Baird Gladys Berejiklian |
| Preceded by | Brad Hazzard(as Minister for Justice) |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Roberts(as Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections) |
| Minister for Veterans Affairs | |
| In office 2 April 2015 – 23 March 2019 | |
| Premier | Mike Baird Gladys Berejiklian |
| Preceded by | Victor Dominello |
| Succeeded by | John Sidoti(as Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans) |
| Minister for Emergency Services | |
| In office 2 April 2015 – 30 January 2017 | |
| Premier | Mike Baird |
| Preceded by | Stuart Ayres(as Minister for Police and Emergency Services) |
| Succeeded by | Troy Grant |
| Member of theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly forBaulkham Hills | |
| In office 26 March 2011 – 25 March 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Wayne Merton |
| Succeeded by | district abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1970-06-11)11 June 1970 (age 55) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Party | Liberal |
| Residence | Kellyville |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Former chief executive officer former army officer |
| Awards |  Australian Service Medal _ribbon.png) Australian Defence Medal  Centenary Medal _ribbon_-vector.svg) Order of Saint John (chartered 1888) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Branch/service | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1995–1997, 2000 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | Bougainville Peacekeeping Operation |
David Andrew Elliott (born 11 June 1970) is an Australian former politician.[1] Elliott served as theNew South WalesMinister for Transport and theMinister for Veterans in thePerrottet ministry between 21 December 2021 and 25 March 2023.[2] Elliott was a member of theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly representingBaulkham Hills for theLiberal Party between2011 and2023.[3]
Elliott served as theMinister for Police andEmergency Services between April 2019 and December 2021 in thesecond Berejiklian ministry and thefirst arrangement of the Perrottet ministry.[4][5][6] Elliott wasMinister for Counter Terrorism from January 2017 until March 2019 andMinister for Corrections andMinister for Veterans Affairs from April 2015 until March 2019 in thefirst Berejiklian ministry.[7] He wasMinister for Emergency Services between 2015 and 2017 in thesecondBaird government.[8]
In 1995, Elliott joined theAustralian Army and commenced his officer training atRoyal Military College, Duntroon, attaining the rank ofCaptain in April 1997. Taking 18 months' leave, he worked as Press Secretary for the Hon.Peter Collins,QC MP who was electedNSW Leader of the Opposition following the1995 state election. During 1999, Elliott was Director for theAustralians for Constitutional Monarchy campaign against thereferendum for Australia to become a republic;[3] for which he was awarded theCentenary Medal on 1 January 2001 for service to the constitutional reform debate.[9]
Returning to the Army in 2000, Elliott served in peace-keeping forces inBouganville,Papua New Guinea and was awarded the Australian Service Medal. For the next four years, Elliott worked as state operations manager inSt John Ambulance (NSW), before commencing as Executive Officer of theAustralian Hotels Association, and later becoming Deputy chief executive officer. In 2008, Elliott became chief executive officer of the Civil Contractors Federation and held this position until his election to Parliament.[3]
Elliott was a director of Castle Hill RSL Club Limited from 2009 to 2016.[10] Elliott was a director ofLife Education Australia between 2009 and 2011, and a member of Sydney Chamber of Commerce from 2008 to 2011.[3] Between 1992 and 2001, he has held a range of Liberal Party elected positions.[3]
On 16 June 2007, Elliott sought Liberal Party pre-selection for the federal seat ofMitchell, but lost by a margin of 20 votes to 81[11] againstAlex Hawke, then an advisor toRay Williams MP.[12] Paul Blanch, a grazier fromOrange, received 8 votes.Alan Cadman, who had been the member for Mitchell since 1974, chose not to contest the pre-selection,[11] but was later quoted as saying that this was due to "relentless branch-stacking within the electorate."[13] In February 2010, Elliott unsuccessfully sought Liberal Party pre-selection for theLegislative Council of New South Wales in a bitter and public battle withDavid Clarke, a member of the Liberal's so called 'religious right' faction.[14][15]
Following the announcement of the retirement of sitting Liberal member,Wayne Merton, Elliott won party pre-selection for the NSW seat ofBaulkham Hills, running againstBaulkham Hills Councillor Mike Thomas and solicitorDamien Tudehope.[16][17] At the 2011 election, Elliott was elected to the safe Liberal seat with a swing of 14.4 points and won the seat with 76.4 per cent of thetwo-party vote. Elliott's main opponent was Tony Hay, representing Labor.[18]
Following the2015 state election, Elliott was sworn in as the Minister for Emergency Services, the Minister for Corrections, and the Minister for Veterans Affairs in the second Baird government.[8] On 30 January 2017, Elliott was sworn in as the Minister for Counter-Terrorism, the Minister for Corrections, and the Minister for Veterans Affairs in the first Berejiklian ministry.[7]
On 18 October 2018 Elliott usedparliamentary privilege in the Legislative Assembly to raise an allegation thatLuke Foley, at the time leader of the opposition, had "a little bit too much to drink at a party and harassed an ABC journalist."[19][20] Later that month, ABC journalist Ashleigh Raper released a statement, alleging that at an event in November 2016, Foley "placed his hand down the back of her dress and inside her underpants."[21] Hours later, Foley read a statement in which he resigned as leader of the Labor Party, but denied the allegation and said he would commence defamation proceedings in the Federal Court.[22]
Following the2019 state election, Elliott was sworn in as the Minister for Police and Emergency Services in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019.[23] He served in this role in the first arrangement of the Perrottet ministry and was sworn in as Minister for Transport and Minister for Veterans in December 2021 in the second arrangement of the ministry.[2]
On 23 October 2022, Elliott announced he will not be contesting the2023 state election.[24]
In November 2019, Elliott was cleared by police following an investigation into an alleged road rage incident involving a 17-year-old P-plate driver.[25] Elliot had told the P-plate driver he "worked for the cops".[26]
Also in November 2019, Elliott responded to revelations police strip-searched 122 girls by stating he would want officers to search his own children if "they were at risk of doing something wrong".[27]
In December 2019, he attracted attention for an offensive post on Facebook, in which he told a "mate" that he'd "rip your head off and s--- in the hole".[28]
In December 2019, Elliott was denounced for deciding to take a holiday to Europe during theBlack Summer bushfires, one of the worst bushfire disasters in the country's history.[29] He faced heavy criticism because of his role as New South Wales Emergency Services Minister, with New South Wales being by far the worst-hit area of the country, with bushfires throughout NSW destroying almost a thousand houses and killing or displacing a billion animals,[30] with nine people killed, including three firefighters.[31] He was not helped by the fact that just a week earlier, the federalLiberal Party leader and prime minister,Scott Morrison, faced similar criticism for going on a holiday to Hawaii.[32]
Elliott responded to the claims by saying he would keep bushfire-affected communities and firefighters in his thoughts while on holiday.[33] After public pressure and criticism following catastrophic fires on 31 December 2019, Elliott "apparently" backflipped and returned home from his European trip.[34]
On 9 March 2020, the NSW Police announced an investigation into whether Elliott's use of highly restricted firearms broke the law.[35]
On 21 February 2022, the passenger rail network in NSW was shut down afterTransport for NSW and theRTBU failed to reach an agreement in their ongoing enterprise agreement negotiations. This shutdown was particularly noteworthy as it occurred on the same day that Australia's international border reopened (after being closed for two years in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic).
As Minister for Transport, Elliott attracted criticism for appearing to be unaware of the sequence of events which led to the shutdown, accusing the RTBU of engaging in "terrorist-like activity", and for claiming that he did not know a shutdown would occur until the morning of Monday 21 February as he would have been asleep by 10pm the previous night.[36]
Following the handling of the shutdown, Elliott was rebuked by Premier Perrottet who stated “My expectation is that ministers are available around the clock. I certainly am, and I expect the same of my ministers”.[37]
In January 2023, Elliott revealed that he had tipped off Perrottet about the existence of evidence of him wearing a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday.[38]
| Order of St John | |
| Australian Service Medal | withBOUGAINVILLE clasp |
| Centenary Medal | 1 January 2001 |
| Australian Defence Medal |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forBaulkham Hills 2011–2023 | Seat abolished |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Veterans Affairs 2015–2019 | Succeeded byas Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans |
| Preceded byas Minister for Police and Emergency Services | Minister for Emergency Services 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Minister for Justice | Minister for Corrections 2015–2019 | Succeeded byas Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections |
| New title | Minister for Counter Terrorism 2017–2019 | |
| Preceded byas Minister for Police and as Minister for Emergency Services | Minister for Police andEmergency Services 2019–2021 | Succeeded byas Minister for Police |
| Succeeded byas Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience | ||
| Preceded byas Minister for Transport and Roads | Minister for Transport 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans | Minister for Veterans 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Western Sydney 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
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