Tim Smith (Australian politician)

Timothy Colin Smith (born 15 October 1983) is an Australian politician in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, serving as the Member for Kew since 2014.[1]

Tim Smith MP
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Kew
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 November 2014
Preceded by	Andrew McIntosh
Personal details
Born	Timothy Colin Smith 15 October 1983 Melbourne
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Consultant, politician

Tim Smith

Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Rowing
Club	Melbourne University Boat Club
Achievements and titles
National finals	Penrith Cup 2004-2006, Lucerne Cup 2006 (Gold Medal)
Medal record Men's rowing Representing  Australia World Rowing Championships 2004 Banyoles LM8- World Rowing Cup 2006 Munich LM2-

Early life and education

Smith grew up in Camberwell, in the inner east of Melbourne.[2] Smith's father, Colin Smith competed with the Australian rowing team at the 1974 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne.[3]

In Year 9, Smith attended Rugby School in the UK. The next year, he returned to Scotch College, Melbourne, where he began competing in rowing.[4][5][2]

He attended Ormond College at the University of Melbourne, where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts in history and politics.[4] At university, he competed with Melbourne University Boat Club, representing the Victorian and Australian rowing teams.[6] At the conclusion of his rowing career he returned to the University of Melbourne, where he completed a master's degree in International Politics.[4] As part of those studies, he won a Hansard research fellowship to study at the London School of Economics.[7]

Rowing career

Smith in the bow seat of the Australian Lightweight Four training on the Franklin River Tasmania

Smith was selected to row for Victoria for the youth eights team at the Australian Rowing Championships in 2002–2003.[8][9] He was selected for the Victorian lightweight four to contest the Penrith Cup at the Interstate Regatta 2002–2004. He placed second in 2002.[10][11]

Smith made his Australian representative debut in 2003 at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne in a lightweight quad scull. That quad went on to the 2003 U23 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade where they placed fourth.[12]

In 2004 he moved into the Australian senior squad in the lightweight eight. That boat rowed to bronze medal at the 2004 World Rowing Championships in Banyoles, Spain.[12] At the 2005 World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan he competed in the lightweight coxless four.[12] He was made an Australian Institute of Sport Residential Scholar for 2006, based in Canberra.[13] At the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Eton, Dorney he competed in the lightweight coxless pair and finished in fourth place.

In the years he was most active, 2001–2006, the boat position he frequently took was bow seat[14] who sets direction, while the stern sets the pace.[15] He sustained a significant back injury in the lead up to the 2006 World Championships. Smith retired due to this injury.[12]

Career

Following his sporting career, Smith looked at becoming a journalist, and began an internship with the Canberra Press Gallery.[4] He had joined the Liberal Party in 2005, and realised that he was too partisan to ever report impartially: "I thought, no I can't do this because I'm barracking."[4] He took roles as a political adviser in Australia and United Kingdom. His first role was in 2006 as an electoral officer for Michael O'Brien[4] who was then the Member for Malvern and the Shadow Minister for Gaming. In 2007, after completing a short course at LSE[4] Smith worked as a researcher for the UK Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis.[16] He returned to Australia in 2008 and briefly worked for Malcolm Turnbull when he was leader of the opposition.[4] Smith also staffed for Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Billson.[17]

A year after his election as a councilor for the City of Stonnington,[18] Smith was elected as the youngest Mayor of Stonnington.[19] His relationship with the state government was adversarial, particularly after Smith decided "to urge motorists to ignore clearways signs" which Victorian government had erected in his municipality.[20]

In 2012, following his time as mayor, Smith worked as a management consultant[21] in strategy and operations with Deloitte[22] and as senior consultant working with the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers.[17]

Parliamentary career

Smith defeated Mary Wooldridge for Liberal preselection for the seat of Kew and won the seat in the 2014 Victorian state election.[23][24] He became the youngest member of the parliamentary Liberal Party.[25]

He has held a number of positions in the Liberal Party's shadow cabinet. From December 2018, he was Shadow Minister for Planning and Heritage, for Local Government, for Housing, and for Population.[26] At this time, Smith began raising his public profile with regular media appearances with Jon Faine on Radio Melbourne[27] and on ABC TV show The Drum.[28] He was also published in The Australian[29] and Herald Sun.[30]

Smith advocated for a cull of bats near the Yarra River in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[31][32]

Smith was briefly prominent in the media for his attacks on the state premier Daniel Andrews and the government's response to the pandemic, describing Andrews variously with terms including "loser", "dictator" and "looney" on Twitter.[33] Smith was asked by the leader of the opposition, Michael O'Brien to tone down the attacks.[34][35] Smith conducted a Twitter poll asking voters to choose between two derogatory names to be used for Premier Daniel Andrews; "Dictator Dan" or "Chairman Dan". This created tension within the Liberal Party, including speculation that Smith was undermining Mr O'Brien.[36]

In June 2020, following Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Melbourne, Smith criticised the government for not banning the protest.[37]

In September 2020, during Victoria's second lockdown due to COVID-19, Smith created an online poll against the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews over the restrictions. In the online poll, Smith asked respondents to react to a post demanding that Mr Andrews resign over his handling of the pandemic. All reactions were rigged to correspond to "yes". However, this backfired as many online users noticed that Smith forgot about the 'care' react. This led to an avalanche of support towards the 'care' react, with 27,000 respondents, compared to 4,600 respondents of all the other options combined.[38]

References

1. "Kew - Victorian Election 2014 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
2. Tomazin, Farrah (8 March 2014). "Meet the man who split the Liberals". The Age. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
3. "1974 Lucerne Fourth World Championships - Australian Rowing History". www.australianrowinghistory.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
4. Tippet, Gary (27 February 2010). "The man who sees no clear way to lie down and roll over". The Age. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
5. Carolyn, Patrick (15 May 2020). "Is Tim Smith the Liberals' messiah or just a very naughty boy?". Herald Sun. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
6. "Meet Tim | Tim Smith MP". www.timsmithmp.com. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
7. "Kew - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
8. 2002 Interstate Regatta
9. 2003 Interstate Regatta
10. 2004 Interstate Regatta
11. 2006 Interstate Regatta
12. Smith at World Rowing
13. "Rowing Australia Annual Report 2005-2006" (PDF).
14. "Smith, Tim - Australian Rowing History". rowinghistory-aus.info. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
15. "How the eight works". 27 March 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
16. "Member Profile - Mr Tim Smith". www.parliament.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
17. Cook, Richard Willingham and Henrietta (3 March 2014). "New Kew Liberal candidate Tim Smith always wanted to captain teams". The Age. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
18. "Many young mayors (between these and Steve Staikos) have become the youngest to be electedGreek Reporter Australia | Greek Reporter Australia". Retrieved 13 September 2020.
19. "SA's young mayors ride high". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 10 April 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
20. McMahon, Stephen (24 February 2020). "Motorists face $322 slug after cars towed in High St, Armadale and Victoria St, Richmond in clearway stand-off". Herald Sun. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
21. "Struggling against Andrews, Vic Liberals consider leader swap". Australian Financial Review. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
22. "Member Profile - Mr Tim Smith". parliament.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
23. "Minister fails to win preselection for safe seat of Kew". www.abc.net.au. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
24. "Kew - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
25. "Governor's Speech". Hansard: 38–41. 23 December 2014.
26. "Vic shadow ministry". www.weeklytimesnow.com.au. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
27. Faine, Jon (16 May 2020). "Victorian Libs tearing themselves apart as Andrews soars". The Age. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
28. The Drum - Thursday 26 May, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 26 May 2011, retrieved 12 September 2020
29. "Tim Smith | Author at The Australian". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
30. Smith, Tim; Sukkar, Michael (2 March 2016). "Parent's values and rights ignored". Herald Sun. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
31. Hall, Bianca (21 April 2020). "Expert bats away call for 'ridiculous' cull of Yarra Bend flying foxes". The Age. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
32. Hall, Bianca (21 April 2020). "Expert bats away call for 'ridiculous' cull of Yarra Bend flying foxes". The Age. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
33. "Liberal MP Tim Smith stands by attacks on Daniel Andrews over Victoria's coronavirus restrictions - ABC News". www.abc.net.au. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
34. Loussikian, Samantha Hutchinson, Kylar (11 May 2020). "CBD Melbourne: Things working out nicely for Tim Smith". The Age. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
35. Loussikian, Samantha Hutchinson, Kylar (11 May 2020). "CBD Melbourne: Things working out nicely for Tim Smith". The Age. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
36. "Victorian Liberal frontbencher stands by 'loser', 'dictator' sledges against Premier". www.abc.net.au. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
37. "Active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria hit record low as Black Lives Matter protest organisers fined". www.abc.net.au. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
38. Conaghan, Rachael. "This MP Who Tried To Rig His Own Anti-Dan Andrews Facebook Poll Still Managed To Lose". Junkee. Junkee. Retrieved 11 October 2020.

• Tim Smith at FISA WorldRowing.com

External links

• Parliamentary voting record of Tim Smith at Victorian Parliament Tracker