David Van


David Van is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and was sworn in to the Australian Senate on 1 July 2019, as a Senator for Victoria.
Van has an undergraduate degree in Horticulture, and as part of his degree studied the regeneration of Australian bush post the Ash Wednesday fires in the Blackwood forest that was burned as part of the Trentham East fire complex.

Career

Prior to entering politics, Van was the managing director of South Melbourne public relations firm the De Wintern Group since 2003 where he advised clients on Royal Commissions and other Government inquiries. He was a board director of the Australian Association of Franchisees. A St Kilda resident, he was also the co-convenor of neighbourhood group Friends of St Kilda Hill, which was outspoken about crime and safety, specifically in relation to the Gatwick Hotel boarding house and public housing.

Politics

He was elected to the Senate at the 2019 federal election from the marginal third position on the Liberal ticket. He was assigned a party role as "patron" for the Labor-held House seat of Dunkley. In his first speech in September 2019, Van spoke of his belief in the "dignity of work", defended the coalition government's welfare policies, and stated that he believed in "free markets, freedom of speech, and most importantly in my view, getting government out of people's lives to the most practicable extent possible".
Two months into his term, Van called for the phasing out of single-use plastics in Australia and highlighted his belief that the real solution to reducing pollutants would come when market efficiencies and consumers encourage the producer to innovate. Van has also played a role in bringing together a forum of Victorian Consul-Generals through regular diplomatic roundtables.