David Feeney

David Ian Feeney (born 5 March 1970) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the division of Batman in the House of Representatives from 7 September 2013 to 1 February 2018. Before that, he was a member of the Australian Senate for Victoria from 2008 until his resignation to contest Batman. Feeney resigned as a member of Parliament on 1 February 2018 as he was unable to produce any documentary evidence disproving he was a dual citizen, which is a breach of section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. Background and early career Feeney was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1970, his father having emigrated from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Feeney attended Mercedes College, Adelaide, before moving to Melbourne in 1987, where he attended the University of Melbourne. He later completed post-graduate study at Monash University, with a Masters in Public Policy and Management (MPPM). Feeney worked in the National Office of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) as a Federal Industrial Officer from 1994 to 1999. At the TWU, Feeney served as a union advocate before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). Feeney served as Victorian State Secretary of the Labor Party and State Labor Campaign Director from March 1999 to December 2002, where he had considerable success as a fund-raiser and campaign director. At the 2002 state election, Victorian Labor won 20 seats, holding 62 seats in the parliament of 88—the largest majority in Victorian history. Following that election, he joined the private staff of Premier Steve Bracks as his Director of Strategy. In 2005, Feeney returned to his home state of South Australia to become Labor's Assistant National Secretary and campaign director for SA Labor at the March 2006 state election. Feeney helped SA Labor win six seats previously held by the opposition Liberal Party.