David Feeney

Background and Early Career

David Feeney was born in Adelaide in early 1970 with his father migrating from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Feeney attended Mercedes College, Adelaide, before moving to Melbourne in 1987, where he attended Melbourne University. He later completed post-graduate study at Monash University, with a Masters in Public Policy and Management (MPPM).

Feeney worked in the National Office of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) as a Federal Industrial Officer from 1994-1999 . At the TWU David Feeney served as a union advocate before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC).

Feeney served as Victorian State Secretary of the Labor Party and State Labor Campaign Director from March 1999 to December 2002, where he had considerable success as a fund-raiser and campaign director. In 2002 Victorian Labor won 20 new seats, resulting in Premier Steve Bracks holding 62 seats in the parliament of 88, the largest majority in Victorian history.

Following the 2002 Victorian elections, Feeney joined the private staff of the Premier as his Director of Strategy.

In 2005 Feeney returned to his home-state of South Australia (SA) to become the Campaign Director for SA Labor for the March 2006 state election. Feeney helped SA Labor win in a landslide, winning 6 seats previously held by the Liberal Party reducing it to just 15 seats, the worst result in their SA history. The re-elected Labor Premier of SA, Mike Rann, referred to Feeney in his victory speech as “my Eisenhower”.

Following the SA Election, Feeney went on to become Labor’s Assistant National Secretary in 2007. In this role he led the marginal seats campaign team. With a 5.7% swing in favor, Labor took Government with a total of 83 seats of 150 in the House of Representatives.

Senate

In March 2006, Feeney was placed third on the Australian Senate from Victoria ballot paper as the Labor Party’s candidate. Winning against the Australian Greens candidate, Richard Di Natale, Feeney entered the Senate on 1 July 2008.

During his period in the Senate, Feeney sat on the Senate Selection Committee for Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). The cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme proposed by the Rudd Labor Government ultimately failed when the Australian Greens and Liberal/National Parties led by Tony Abbott combined to vote down a carbon price in the Senate.

In 2010, Feeney was sworn in as Parliamentary Secretary for Defence in the first Gillard Government and was reappointed to this role in the second Gillard ministry. He also maintained this position in the reshuffle when Rudd regained the Prime Ministership in June 2013. As Parliamentary Secretary, David Feeney commissioned the report into Unresolved Recognition for Past Acts of Naval and Military Gallantry and Valour, and was responsible for the Australian Government’s Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. Feeney's responsibilities included ADF Reserves, ADF force structure (esp. Plan BEERSHEBA in Army), the Pacific Maritime Security Plan (PMSP) and liaison with Pacific Island Countries, participating in the first meeting of South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM) in Tonga. Feeney commissioned the Department of Defence workforce review, known as Plan Suakin, in 2010.

House of Representatives

Feeney was elected as the member for Batman in 2013, succeeding the retired Hon. Martin Ferguson MP.

At the 2013 election Labor Leader Bill Shorten appointed Feeney as Shadow Minister for Justice and Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence. After 1 July 2014 the portfolio of Veterans Affairs and Centenary of ANZAC were added to his responsibilities.

As a local MP, Feeney campaigned for schools funding, Medicare and public transport, especially extending the Number 11 Tram in the north-west of Batman. This project aims to extend the Tram route 11 to the end of Gilbert Rd. He also campaigned to secure a $2m commitment for the development of Ruthven Park in Reservoir. Feeney worked to promote the Anzac Centenary in his Batman electorate, and secured over $45,800 in grants for local projects to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Australian service-men and women in the First World War. The First Australian killed in WW1, in the battle of Bita Paka, was a resident of Northcote.

Feeney has championed causes in parliament such as recognition of same-sex marriage, needs-based school funding, and being a fierce advocate for the environment, particularly marine parks and fisheries protection. Feeney won notoriety in 2017 for opposed the Adani Coal Mine proposal in Queensland. Feeney was an outspoken voice for the work of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA): Labor twice succeeded in preventing the Turnbull Government closing ARENA.

Feeney is a noted commentator on strategic and defence matters, a regular contributor to ADM magazine, and Deputy Chair (senior Opposition position) on the defence sub-committee of the Joint Standing Committee of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade (JSCFD&T). David Feeney has been a contributing author to ‘The Long Road: Australia’s train, advice and assist mission’ and ‘Australia’s American Alliance: Towards a New Era?’.

2016 Election

In the 2016 federal election the Australian Greens focussed their campaign effort against several sitting Labor MP’s, especially in the seat of Batman, where they spent over $1m of campaign funds and flew in campaigners from Western Australia (WA) and New South Wales (NSW).

One focus of the Greens Party campaign was Feeney’s failure to disclose his 2.3m home in Northcote on his Parliamentary Register of Interests.

Though Feeney gained no financial advantage from his mistake, the innuendo that he had ‘forgotten his house’ greatly damaged his re-election campaign.

During the 2016 election campaign the Greens Party attack concerning Feeney’s mistake was blunted when it was revealed that the Greens Leader, Senator Di Natale, had also failed to declare his farm business, and had allegedly underpaid his family’s Au Pairs.

The 2016 election campaign in Batman was labeled “tumultuous” and one of the most hard fought at the time. Feeney was narrowly re-elected on 2 July 2016 with 51.03%of the 2PP vote.

Personal

Feeney is married to Liberty Sanger, principal of law firm Maurice Blackburn. Their son, Ned Sanger Feeney was born in June 2014. Feeney lists his interests as history, protecting Antarctica, foreign affairs, and is particularly active in issues around fisheries, and Marine Environment protection.