David Bushby

Who is David Bushby?

David Christopher Bushby, Australian politician, a Liberal member of the Australian Senate since August 2007, representing the state of Tasmania.

Bushby was born in Launceston, Tasmania, the son of the Hon. Max Bushby, OBE, a Tasmanian MP and later Speaker of the State House of Assembly. He was educated at the University of Tasmania, where he graduated in economics and law, and the Australian Maritime College, from where he received a diploma in business. Prior to entering parliament, Bushby was a practising lawyer and political adviser.

In May 2007, Bushby was preselected for Tasmanian Liberal Senate ticket in the number two position ahead of the 2007 election. Consequently, Bushby appeared destined to enter the federal parliament at the beginning of the next Senate term in July 2008 given the highly electable nature of this position on the ticket. In fact his entry to federal parliament came sooner. On 30 August 2007, Bushby was appointed to the Senate by the Tasmanian parliament to fill the casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Paul Calvert.

On the 1 June 2011 David was caught up in a sexism scandal with Penny Wong, Labor Minister for Finance. He commented "meow" in response to her reply to him, and she labelled it "school-yard politics".