Fighting for what Wannon needs

Dan’s education, personal experience and career have given him a real understanding of the needs of people living in our region. Importantly, it has also taught him how to get action to address these needs.

His education at a country primary school and high school taught him the importance of attracting and retaining the best teachers in our local schools. His Honours Degree at Melbourne University and Masters Degree in Foreign Affairs and Trade at Monash University highlighted the importance of country students having access to an independent youth allowance that enables them to afford a tertiary education. In between school and university Dan spent a year working as a farmhand, witnessing first-hand the detrimental impact of the Hawke/Keating Government’s high interest rate policy on country Australia.

Dan’s career has always involved achieving outcomes for rural and regional communities. As a diplomat, Senior Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff to the Minister for Small Business and Tourism he worked on real issues that have a direct impact on our communities – like reducing the level of regulation on small business, assisting farmers to sell their goods overseas and improving the standard of mobile phone and internet services in country areas.