Company director, former Ambassador and Member for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, has been preselected by Liberal Party members to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate.
Dave has been selected to replace Senator the Hon Marise Payne, after more than a quarter century of distinguished service to the people of NSW and Australia.
"Marise was an outstanding Senator, and her many achievements as the former Foreign and Defence Minister have left our state and our nation a far better place," said Mr Sharma.
"I am privileged to have this opportunity to follow Marise, and her extraordinary contributions – from helping to establish the historic AUKUS partnership to the first ever ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership."
"I would like to thank the Party members for the opportunity to hold the Albanese Government to account in the Senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across NSW struggling to deal with Labor's cost of living crisis."
"I believe strongly in the need to safeguard Australia's future for our children, and so I have always been drawn to public service. The opportunity to serve in the Senate will allow me to fight for our nation's national security interests in a time of greater global turmoil.
Raised by a single dad, after his mother passed away at the age of 12, Dave grew up in Sydney, attended his local public high school, and went on to study law at Cambridge University, before going on to serve as an Australian diplomat and later ambassador in Papua New Guinea, Washington DC and Israel.
Dave and his wife Rachel are raising three daughters, "I know first-hand how families in NSW are struggling with the cost of living and raising a family".
"I want to work alongside our community and businesses, on getting the government to finally focus on Labor's spiralling cost of living crisis that is having a huge impact on families right across the city and the state."
"Under this Government the costs of food, housing, insurance, electricity and gas have been steeply rising, and Australia's inflation is now higher than most advanced economies."
