About Dan
Dan Tehan is a country boy at heart and is passionate about representing the people of Wannon.
Dan grew up on a family farm in rural Victoria, with his three brothers and two sisters. His father ran Merino sheep and Hereford cattle while his mother started her own small business in a nearby town to earn off-farm income.
From an early age, Dan’s parents and grandparents taught him that people in rural communities deserve a fair go and that you need to be prepared to stand up and fight for what you believe in.
Dan’s mother represented rural Victoria in our State Parliament, his father was actively involved in the Victorian Farmers Federation, and his grandfather helped form the National Farmers’ Federation.
Dan’s education, personal experience and career have given him a real understanding of the needs of people living in our region. Importantly, it has also taught him how to get the action to address these needs.
His education at a country primary school and high school taught him the importance of attracting and retaining the best teachers in our local schools. His Honours Degree at Melbourne University and Master’s Degree in Foreign Affairs and Trade at Monash University highlighted the importance of country students having access to an independent youth allowance that enables them to afford a tertiary education. In between school and university, Dan spent a year working as a farmhand, witnessing first-hand the detrimental impact of the Hawke/Keating Government’s high-interest rate policy of country Australia.
The focus of Dan’s career has always been on achieving outcomes for rural and regional communities. As a diplomat, Senior Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff to the Minister for Small Business and Tourism, he worked on real issues that have a direct impact on our communities such as reducing the level of regulation on small businesses, assisting farmers to sell their goods overseas and improving the standard of mobile phone and internet services in country areas.
In 2010, Dan was elected to Federal Parliament where he has held the positions of Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Youth Mental Health, and Chair of the Coalition Friends of Tourism.
He has served as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Minister for Education, Minister for Social Services, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Minister for Defence Personnel, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of Anzac.
Dan is currently the Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.