| Senator Richard Di Natale |
|
|---|---|
| Senator for Victoria | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 July 2011 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 June 1970 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Greens |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Otway Ranges |
| Occupation | Doctor |
| Profession | Health |
| Website | http://www.richarddinatale.com.au |
Richard Di Natale (born 6 June 1970) is an Australian politician and member of the Victorian Greens. Di Natale was elected to the Australian Senate in the 2010 Australian federal election.[1] He was the lead Senate Candidate in the 2007 federal election but was narrowly defeated, despite achieving a primary vote above 10 percent.
Di Natale is a public health specialist and drug and alcohol clinician. He has worked on HIV prevention and drug treatment in developing countries, as a general practitioner in remote indigenous communities and in a number of different public health settings.
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Di Natale was born in Melbourne in 1970 to Italian immigrant parents and grew up in Melbourne's northern suburbs. He graduated with a medical degree from Monash University and has a Masters in Public Health, a Masters in Health Sciences and is a Fellow of the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.
In 2004, Di Natale was the Greens second Senate candidate, behind David Risstrom, who missed out on winning a Senate spot.[2][3]
In both 2002 and 2006, Di Natale was narrowly defeated in the seat of Melbourne in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, almost de-seating the Labor health minister Bronwyn Pike. Richard received 48% of the two party preferred vote in both elections, missing out on a win.[4][5] Di Natale has acted as health spokesperson for the Greens in Victoria and in 2002 spoke about the Greens support for harm reduction policies to manage illicit drug use.[6]
Di Natale also ran for the position of Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 2004, coming second to the elected John So.[7]
In April 2007, Di Natale spoke out about the health implications of climate change,[8] and later that year voiced concerns about terror laws in relation to the then suspect Dr Mohamed Haneef.[9][10]
Dr Di Natale was nominated as the Australian Greens lead senate candidate for Victoria for the 2010 federal election. Greens leader Senator Bob Brown described Dr Di Natale as the Greens "next strongest hope" at this election.[11]
At the 2010 Australian Federal Election held on 21 August 2010, Dr. Di Natale successfully won a Senate seat representing Victoria. His term began on 1 July 2011. Upon taking up his seat in the Senate Di Natale became the Greens' Federal spokesperson for Health, including preventive; Dental Health; Sport; Gambling; Multiculturalism; East Timor; and West Papua.
Di Natale lives in the Otway Ranges with partner Lucy and two children.[12]
He is a supporter of the Richmond Tigers AFL team.[12]
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