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Perin Davey | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Leader of the National Party | |
| Assumed office 30 May 2022 | |
| Leader | David Littleproud |
| Preceded by | David Littleproud |
| Deputy Leader of the National Party in the Senate | |
| Assumed office 27 September 2022 | |
| Leader | David Littleproud |
| Preceded by | Matt Canavan |
| Senator for New South Wales | |
| Assumed office 1 July 2019 | |
| Preceded by | John Williams |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 February 1972 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party | National (since 1998) |
| Residence(s) | Conargo, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation |
|
Perin McGregor Davey (born 5 February 1972) is an Australian politician. She has been a Senator for New South Wales since 2019, representing the National Party. She was elected as her party's deputy leader in 2022 and is a member of Peter Dutton's shadow cabinet.
Davey was born in Sydney on 5 February 1972.[1] Her father Paul Davey was an ABC journalist who worked in the Canberra Press Gallery and later served as federal director of the National Party.[2] He was born in England and she held British citizenship by descent until renouncing it in 2018 to stand for parliament.[3]
Davey grew up in Canberra,[4] attending Curtin Primary School and Alfred Deakin High School.[2] After leaving school she spent three years as a cadet journalist for the Mudgee Guardian.[1] During the 1990s she worked as an extra via a casting agency, making television appearances on Home & Away, E Street, and Water Rats, and appearing in the films Heavenly Creatures and Two Hands.[5] She was also a safari cook in Botswana for three years.[2] Davey later worked as a consultant for public relations firm Gavin Anderson & Co. (2000–2005), as a farm administrator for the Australian Agricultural Company (2005–2010), and as water policy adviser and corporate affairs manager for Murray Irrigation Limited (2010–2017). She also had two periods of service as a reservist with the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps (1990–1993, 1998–2005).[1]
Davey served on the board of the New South Wales Irrigators' Council from 2014 to 2016 and in 2017 was nominated to the board of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority by federal agriculture and water minister Barnaby Joyce. Her nomination was opposed by South Australian water minister Ian Hunter on the grounds that she was not independent.[6] She eventually asked Joyce to withdraw her nomination, after it was reported that a New South Wales government official had been recorded offering her government data to "help irrigators exploit the Murray-Darling Basin Plan".[7]
Davey joined the Nationals in 1998 and in 2000 worked as a media adviser to Senator Ron Boswell. Before entering parliament she held various offices in the New South Wales branch, including vice-chairman of the women's council, central council member, and chairman of the Deniliquin branch.[1]
Davey was elected to the Senate at the 2019 federal election, in third place on the Coalition's ticket in New South Wales. Her term began on 1 July 2019. She was subsequently elected as the Nationals' Senate whip.[1]
In a leadership spill following the 2022 federal election, Davey was elected deputy leader of the Nationals in place of David Littleproud, who had been elected to succeed Barnaby Joyce as leader.[8]
In a Senate Estimates hearing in February 2024 Davey attracted criticism for speaking in a slurred tone after having attended a National Party drinks event.[9] However it was later reported that this incident occurred due to a health issue with Davey.[10]
Davey lives with her husband John Dickie and two daughters on a property in Conargo, New South Wales, just outside of Deniliquin.[4][3][11] As of 2019[update] she also owned an investment property in Canberra.[2]
She said her apparent slurring was the result of two emergency operations and an 11-day stint in hospital after an abscess erupted behind her tonsils in 2019. The incident had left her with ongoing speech challenges, she said.