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Jonathon Duniam

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The Honourable
Jonathon Duniam
Senator
220x328
Senator for Tasmania
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 July 2016
Personal details
Born (1982-12-31) 31 December 1982 (age 41)
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Political partyLiberal
RelationsBob Graham (great-uncle)
Alma materUniversity of Tasmania
OccupationPolitician
Signature
Websiteduniam.com.au

Jonathon Roy Duniam (born 31 December 1982) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has served as a Senator for Tasmania since the 2016 federal election. He served as an assistant minister in the Morrison government from 2019 until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. Prior to entering parliament Duniam was a political staffer, including as deputy chief of staff to Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman.

Early life

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Duniam was born on 31 December 1982 in Launceston, 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 the Waratah-Wynyard Council, including as deputy mayor.[4] His maternal grandmother Iris Graham was the first woman elected to the Burnie City Council and an Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate for the Tasmanian Legislative Council, although she later left the party. His mother's uncle Bob Graham was an ALP state government minister.[5]

Duniam grew up in Somerset, Tasmania, attending Stella Maris Catholic Primary School and Marist Regional College in Burnie.[5] He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Tasmania[1].

Politics

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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 Senator Paul Calvert (2003–2005), adviser to Senator Eric Abetz (2005–2009), chief of staff to Senator Stephen Parry (2009–2010), and deputy chief of staff to state leader Will Hodgman (2010–2016).[1] Duniam also served as president of the University of Tasmania Liberal Club,[6] as well as holding various party offices.[1]

Parliament

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In April 2016, Duniam was preselected in third position on the Liberal Party's Senate ticket for the 2016 federal election, ahead of incumbents David Bushby and Richard Colbeck.[7] He resigned his position with Hodgman the following month.[8] Despite a double 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 the 2019 federal election, he was appointed Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries and Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism in the Second Morrison Ministry. He relinquished the latter portfolio in December 2020 and was instead made Assistant Minister for Industry Development. He was also made Deputy Manager of Government Business in the Senate[1] and held both positions until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry.

In April 2021, while being interviewed by Rita Panahi on Sky News, Duniam claimed that Greens 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 the 2022 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]

Political views

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Duniam is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.[15][16]

In 2016, Duniam was reported as personally opposed to same-sex marriage but supportive of a referendum on the issue.[17] During the Australian 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 the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017.[19]

During the 2018 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills, Duniam refused to state whether he voted for incumbent prime minister Malcolm Turnbull or challenger Peter Dutton in the first vote.[20] In the second vote days later, he reportedly voted for Dutton against Scott 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]

Personal life

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As of 2017 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, including Catholic martyr Fran Mirakaj.[3]

Duniam is a Christian and attends the Mount Stuart Presbyterian Church in Hobart.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Senator Jonathon Duniam". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. ^ Johnson, Hayden (10 November 2017). "Jonathon Duniam releases birth certificate, history". The Examiner. Launceston, Tasmania. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b "First speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  4. ^ Dingwell, Doug (20 February 2016). "Lib candidate breaking with tradition". The Examiner. Burnie. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Bingham, Libby (25 November 2017). "The Natural Politician". The Advocate. Burnie, Tasmania. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  6. ^ "History – University of Tasmania Liberal Students". University of Tasmania Liberal Club. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Tas line-up not based on allegiance: Abetz". 9 News. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  8. ^ Smith, Matt (29 June 2016). "Government and opposition defend campaigning former staffers". Mercury. Hobart. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  9. ^ Smiley, Stephen. "Election 2016: Tasmanian Senate line-up almost unchanged at declaration of the polls". Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  10. ^ Whitbourn, Michaela (30 July 2021). "Sky News pays $40,000 plus costs to avoid Hanson-Young defamation suit". The Age. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. ^ Langenberg, Adam (8 May 2021). "Liberal Senator Eric Abetz loses top spot on Senate ticket to Jonathon Duniam". ABC News. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Liberal senator, Tasmanian salmon farming lobby call for defunding of Environmental Defenders Office". 7 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Plibersek Announces Consultation on Salmon Farming in Macquarie Harbour; EPA Renews Leases". 30 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Doing it for the kids: More than jobs on the line if feds close fish farms". 20 August 2024.
  15. ^ Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  16. ^ Massola, James. "How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  17. ^ Dingwall, Doug (3 September 2016). "Beyond the plebiscite". The Examiner. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  18. ^ Inglis, Rob (24 September 2017). "Tasmanian federal MPs reveal parliamentary marriage vote intentions". The Advocate. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  19. ^ "SENATE - Hansard". Record of Proceedings (Hansard). Australia: Australian Senate. 29 November 2017. p. 9181-9193.
  20. ^ "Leadership spill: How your Tasmanian Liberal senators voted". The Examiner. Fairfax Tasmania. 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  21. ^ "How the party members voted in the Liberal leadership contest". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Senator Jonathon Duniam claims Tasmanians are 'switched off' from Voice to Parliament debate ahead of referendum". 29 September 2023.
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