Dave Sharma has represented New South Wales in the Senate since December 2023. Dave currently serves as the Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, and Shadow Assistant Minister for International Development and the Indo-Pacific. He previously served as Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury.
In the Senate, Dave is a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence and is Chair/Deputy Chair of the Senate Standing Committees on Finance and Public Administration. He also currently sits on the Joint Standing Committees on Corporations and Financial Services, Public Accounts and Audit, and Law Enforcement. He has previously served across the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade, Environment and Communications, Education and Employment, and Community Affairs Senate Standing Committees, and Senate Select Committees on the Operations of the Capital Gains Tax Discount, and the Impact of Climate Risk on Insurance Premiums and Availability.
He represented the seat the people of Wentworth in the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2022.
Before entering politics, Dave was an Australian career diplomat. As a diplomat, he served overseas in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, in Washington DC, and as Australia’s Ambassador to Israel from 2013 to2017. He also worked in senior national security roles in Canberra, including leading the International Division of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as an adviser to then Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
Dave has also worked in the private sector, advising and assisting technology-oriented companies with their growth plans and serving as a company director and chair.
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Dave was born in Canada to an Australian mother and Trinidadian-Indian father. He grew up in Sydney, attendingTurramurra High School, before going on to study Law at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with first-class Honors. He also has a Master of Arts from Cambridge University and a Master of Arts from Deakin University.
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Dave has been married to his wife Rachel for almost twenty years. They have three daughters together.
