David William Simmons,OAM (born 7 November 1947) is an Australian former politician who served as a member of theAustralian House of Representatives from 1983 to 1996, representing the seat ofCalare for theAustralian Labor Party. Simmons held several junior Ministerial positions in the governments ofLabor prime ministersBob Hawke andPaul Keating.

Simmons was born inBroken Hill, New South Wales and arrived inBathurst, New South Wales in 1965 and commenced study for teacher training at Bathurst Teacher's College.^[1]

After graduation, Simmons taught at Tullibigeal Central, Bletchington and Broken Hill North before changing to secondary teaching and transferring toBathurst High School where he became Head Teacher of Social Science. He had also completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Education with honours from theUniversity of New England.^[2]

Simmons was an electedAlderman onBathurst City Council from 1978 to 1983.^{[citation needed]}

Simmons was elected to theAustralian House of Representatives seat ofCalare at the1983 federal election, after two unsuccessful attempts,^[2] representing theAustralian Labor Party. Simmons was re-elected as Member for Calare at the1984,1987,1990, and1993 Australian federal elections.^[3]

He was appointedMinister for Defence Science and Personnel in April 1989 in thethird Hawke ministry. In April 1990, in thefourth Hawke ministry, Simmons became Minister for the Arts, Tourism andTerritories. In December 1991, Simmons became Minister for Family Support from and Minister for Local Government in thefirst Keating ministry. Following the March 1993 Australian federal election, Simmons was not re-appointed to thesecond Keating ministry.^[3]

During the National Tax Summit in 1985, Simmons initially raised the concept of a national identity card, later entitled as theAustralia Card, as a measure to address community and government concern about tax evasion and tax avoidance; concerns over the extent of welfare fraud; fears over the extent of illegal immigration. Additionally, there was a belief expressed in some quarters that an identity card or national registration procedure might assist the government's administration processes.^[4] Legislation was introduced into Parliament and finally rejected by theAustralian Senate in 1987 after significant community concerns, including privacy.^[5] Following his retirement from Parliament, Simmons conceded that he didn't think the concept would ever be accepted by the public.^[2]

During his Parliamentary career, Simmons was the Australian representative at the UN in New York for three months and delivered an address on theapartheid policy in South Africa.^[2]

Simmons retired from Parliament ahead of the1996 federal election^[3] and moved toNewcastle.

Since his retirement from politics, Simmons has served on a number of government and non-profit Boards, including:

• Chief executive Officer of Newcastle and Hunter Business Chamber (1997–2001)
• General manager of Newcastle Regional Chamber of Commerce (1997 -1998?)
• Director of Tourism NSW (1997–2003)^[6]
• Chairman of the Hunter Medical Research Institute Foundation (2002–2003)
• Director of the Regional Land Management Corporation (a subsidiary of the Hunter Water Corporation) (2003–2005)^[7]
• President of the New South Wales division of theNational Heart Foundation of Australia (2006–2009).^[8]

He served as the independent chair, Western NSW Medicare Local, 2012–15 and servedas a director of Western Health Alliance t/a Western NSW PHN from 2015 to 2019.In October 2017 he was appointed as the independent chair, Asthma Australia Ltd.

During 2006, Simmons was appointed by the NSW Minister for Local Government to undertake a formal public inquiry into Broken Hill City Council.^[9]

Simmons' wife, Kaye, has also held positions in the New South Wales division of the Labor Party. In 2006, it was reported that she was on the ALP administrative committee and served as campaign manager forJodi McKay, Labor candidate and subsequent Member forNewcastle.^[10]

In 2001, Simmons was awarded the Medal of theOrder of Australia (OAM) for services to the Australian Parliament and the community of the Hunter Region.^[11]

• Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Calare
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives
• 1947 births
• Living people
• University of South Australia alumni
• Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
• Charles Sturt University alumni
• Government ministers of Australia
• Australian MPs 1983–1984
• Australian MPs 1984–1987
• Australian MPs 1987–1990
• Australian MPs 1990–1993
• Australian MPs 1993–1996

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from August 2021
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• Use dmy dates from August 2021
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• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2025