Jonathon Duniam | |
|---|---|
| Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate | |
| Assumed office 25 January 2025 | |
| Leader | Michaelia Cash |
| Preceded by | Anne Ruston |
| Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate | |
| In office 5 June 2022 – 25 January 2025 | |
| Leader | Simon Birmingham |
| Preceded by | Kimberley Kitching |
| Succeeded by | James McGrath |
| Senator forTasmania | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1982-12-31)31 December 1982 (age 42) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Relations | Bob Graham (great-uncle) |
| Alma mater | University of Tasmania |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Signature |  |
| Website | duniam |
Jonathon Roy Duniam (born 31 December 1982) is an Australian politician. He is a member of theLiberal Party and has served as aSenator forTasmania since the2016 federal election. He served as anassistant minister in theMorrison government from 2019 until May 2022, following the appointment of theAlbanese ministry. Prior to entering parliament Duniam was a political staffer, including as deputy chief of staff to Tasmanian premierWill Hodgman.
Duniam was born on 31 December 1982 inLaunceston, Tasmania.[1] He is the son of Mary (née Graham) and Roy Duniam,[2] and is a sixth-generation Tasmanian.[3] His mother has served on theWaratah-Wynyard Council, including as deputy mayor.[4] His maternal grandmother Iris Graham was the first woman elected to theBurnie City Council and anAustralian Labor Party (ALP) candidate for theTasmanian Legislative Council, although she later left the party. His mother's uncleBob Graham was an ALP state government minister.[5]
Duniam grew up inSomerset, Tasmania, attending Stella Maris Catholic Primary School andMarist Regional College inBurnie.[5] He holds the degrees ofBachelor of Arts andBachelor of Laws from theUniversity of Tasmania.[1]
Duniam joined the Liberal Party in 2001 and worked as a political staffer for over a decade prior to entering parliament. He worked as an electorate officer to SenatorPaul Calvert (2003–2005), adviser to SenatorEric Abetz (2005–2009), chief of staff to SenatorStephen Parry (2009–2010), and deputy chief of staff to state leaderWill Hodgman (2010–2016).[1] Duniam also served as president of theUniversity of Tasmania Liberal Club,[6] as well as holding various party offices.[1]
In April 2016, Duniam waspreselected in third position on the Liberal Party's Senate ticket for the2016 federal election, ahead of incumbentsDavid Bushby andRichard Colbeck.[7] He resigned his position with Hodgman the following month.[8] Despite adouble dissolution resulting in twice as many seats being vacant, he was the only new Tasmanian senator to win election in 2016.[9]
Duniam served on various Senate committees before being appointed Deputy Government Whip in the Senate in February 2019. After the Coalition's victory at the2019 federal election, he was appointed Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries and Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism in theSecond Morrison Ministry. He relinquished the latter portfolio in December 2020 and was instead made Assistant Minister for Industry Development. He was also made DeputyManager of Government Business in the Senate[1] and held both positions until May 2022, following the appointment of theAlbanese ministry.
In April 2021, while being interviewed byRita Panahi onSky News, Duniam claimed thatGreens senator,Sarah Hanson-Young, had exposed her young niece to danger by involving her in an environmental protest at a logging work site. The claim was false and Duniam apologised to Hanson-Young. Sky News agreed to pay $40,000, plus legal costs, to settle a defamation action brought by Hanson-Young.[10]
In May 2021, Duniam defeated Eric Abetz for the first position on the Liberal Senate ticket in Tasmania at the2022 federal election.[11]
In June 2022, following the defeat of the Morrison Government, Duniam was appointed to Shadow Cabinet serving as Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Forestry and Shadow Minister for the Environment.
Duniam has been critical of the Albanese Government's decision to provide $8.2 million in taxpayer funding to the controversial "Environmental Defender's Office" (EDO).[12] He has been particularly vocal against the role of the EDO in relation to salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour.[12] Which was placed under consultation on 30 November 2023 by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek,[13] a decision that Duniam has fought with the local community in Strahan against.[14]
Duniam is a member of theNational Right faction of the Liberal Party.[15][16]
In 2016, Duniam was reported as personally opposed tosame-sex marriage but supportive of a referendum on the issue.[17] During theAustralian Marriage Law Postal Survey, he stated that he would vote "in accordance with the majority view of the public",[18] subsequently voting in favour of theMarriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017.[19]
During the2018 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills, Duniam refused to state whether he voted for incumbent prime ministerMalcolm Turnbull or challengerPeter Dutton in the first vote.[20] In the second vote days later, he reportedly voted for Dutton againstScott Morrison, with the latter emerging successful.[21]
In 2023, Duniam campaigned against the Albanese Government's failed indigenous voice to Parliament and predicted that the majority of Tasmanian's would vote No.[22]
As of 2017[update] Duniam had three children with his wife Anisa, whom he met at university, and lived on a "small acreage outside of Hobart". They started a child care centre in Hobart in 2016. His father-in-law Zekri Palushi is an Albanian cardiologist who sought asylum in Australia due to his political activities.[5] His wife is related to other prominent Albanian anti-communists, includingCatholic martyr Fran Mirakaj.[3]
Duniam is a Christian and attends the Mount Stuart Presbyterian Church in Hobart.[5]
Prime Minister:Scott Morrison | ||
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