CITY ICONS
LEADING MAN
Queensland Opposition Leader, David Crisafulli, is a passionate politician and an even more passionate Gold Coaster. WORDS RHONDA OXNAM
DAVID CRISAFULLI is a man with a vision. A vision to start opening up new tourism operations utilising our natural resources. A vision where we have the best environmental standards and the best technology to produce quality products. A vision for mining to be at the cutting-edge; for farmers to once again be the backbone of the nation and for new developments and new opportunities to be available right across the state. A vision for low unemployment rates and hospitals and schools that put the patient and the student before everything else. A vision to return Queensland to number one. And listening to the State’s Leader of the Opposition speak with such passion and such conviction, it is very easy to imagine those visions coming to fruition. As proud first generation Australian, David has witnessed first-hand how a strong work ethic and a desire to succeed can help you achieve whatever you set your mind to. “My grandfather came to Australia to cut cane in the heat of Queensland sun when he was about my age,” David explains. “He didn’t speak a word of English but he worked his backside off and by the time he passed away, he had bought a couple of farms and done really well for himself. “My dad left school when he was 12, but to his credit he took over the reins and now runs a very successful farming enterprise. “I’m very proud of both of them.” While farming was (and still is) very much a part of his heritage, David’s career has taken a very different path. “I was 18 when I first got a job as a cadet journalist at the local paper, 21 when I started in television and 24 when I was elected to council,” David says. “At one stage I was doing breakfast radio in the morning and television during the day, then at night I would run some lectures at the local university for young journalism students – which I enjoyed immensely – and on weekends I was a correspondent for The Australian and the Sunday Mail writing sport.” While this was perfect grounding for the long hours he is undertaking in his current role, it was also the catalyst for him entering politics in the first place.
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“As a journalist I was increasingly becoming frustrated with my local council in Townsville which was very partisan and, in my opinion, very misguided in its views with the community,” David explains. “It was a 100 per cent Labor Party Council and the only council outside of Brisbane which has endorsed political candidates. “I was encouraged to run as a young conservative and I ran my first campaign with $3000 I’d saved up and two pairs of shoes. “I just doorknocked and doorknocked and doorknocked and I won a seat in what was a very Labor area.” He went on to attain the position of deputy mayor before making the shift to state politics. “I was getting frustrated by the way the local government was getting treated by the state so I made the decision to run for a state seat,” he says. “I was elected as part of the 2012 landslide, which was the first time we had won that seat in a general election for 100 years, and I was put straight into the Ministry as Local Government Minister. “During that time, I was able to effect change and help restore power to local government, rebuilding communities like Bundaberg, and it was an amazing experience.” However, in 2015, there was a big correction and while David won on primaries, preferences meant he lost the seat. Ever the diplomat, he admits it was a turning point in both his life and his career. “It was scary and very humbling but it was probably a lesson I needed in life,” he recalls. “Around that time, I was asked by someone to write a proposal to put to government which was very well received so I set up a Media/ Government Strategy business and within a few months I had an office on the Gold Coast employing a couple of staff and things were going really well.” Seeing the potential, David and his wife Tegan, who he had met in Ingham while they were both working at Coles (“Tegan worked in the bakery and I was in the deli,” he recalls.), made the move from Townsville to Hope Island. “Within a month of making the decision to relocate, we had sold our home and bought one here, traded in the ute and bought a sedan, swapped the big dog for a little dog, and enrolled the girls in school,” David says with a wry smile.
“From the moment we got here I’ve had an amazing affinity with the Gold Coast,” he says. “People say to me’ why do you think the Gold Coast is such an amazing city?’ and automatically they think you are going to say the beaches, or the hinterland or the themeparks. “They are all great, they are magnificent … and so are the restaurants and the café culture and we are starting to get a vibrant arts scene … but that’s not what I love about the Gold Coast. “To me, it is the city of aspirations. “The majority of the people on the Coast aren’t born and raised here, they have come from somewhere … and overwhelmingly they have come because they want more … they want more for their kids, they are prepared to make sacrifices to get ahead, and I love that. “As soon as I arrived, I was welcomed with open arms … and I wasn’t welcomed because I was David Crisafulli, the former politician, I was welcomed because it’s that sort of place. “It’s an amazing city, it’s a deep city and it’s a place where people aspire to be … and that suits my values.” With the family settled in their new home town, another shot at politics beckoned. David was elected the Member for Broadwater in 2017 and subsequently took over the reins as leader of the Queensland Liberal National Party in November 2020. Now over 100 days into the role, David says there is a lot to be done to rebuild the party, however, he is definitely up for the challenge. “I’m a different style of Opposition Leader,” he says. “I’m not a whinger and I’m not a stirrer, that’s just not my style. “I am a values-driven politician, therefore if something’s good, I say it’s good regardless of the politics, likewise, if I feel something is wrong, I won’t take a backward step. “That means there are days when people say I should go harder and days they say I should go softer. “That’s understandable but people will learn from me that if I say something, it’s not because a pollster has told me to say it, it’s not because a focus group has told me you need to talk more about this or that, it’s because I truly believe in my value set. “As a party we are working to rebuild, refresh and reenergise and it’s an exciting time for me, both personally and professionally.”
