David Oldfield (politician)
| David Oldfield | |
|---|---|
| Leader of One Nation New South Wales | |
|
In office 8 October 2000 – 20 March 2004 | |
| Deputy | Brian Burston |
| Preceded by | Party Created |
| Succeeded by | Judith Newson |
| Vice President of Pauline Hanson's One Nation | |
|
In office 11 April 1997 – 1 October 2000 Served with David Ettridge | |
| President | Pauline Hanson |
| Preceded by | Party Established; Office Created |
| Succeeded by |
David Ettridge John Fischer |
| Leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation in New South Wales | |
|
In office 11 April 1997 – 1 October 2000 | |
| Deputy | Brian Burston |
| Preceded by | Party Established; Office Created |
| Succeeded by | Beven Reagan |
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
|
In office 27 March 1999 – 24 March 2007 | |
| Succeeded by | John Ajaka |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
25 June 1958 Manly, New South Wales, Australia |
| Citizenship | Australian |
| Political party | One Nation (NSW) (2000-2004) |
| Other political affiliations |
Liberal (1990–96) Pauline Hanson's One Nation (1997–2000) Independent (2000; 2004-2007) |
| Spouse(s) | Lisa Oldfield (2001-present) |
| Children |
Henry (born 2010) Albert (born 2012) |
| Parents |
Ernest Oldfield June Oldfield |
| Residence | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Occupation |
Politician; Businessman |
David Ernest Oldfield (born 25 June 1958) is a former Australian Politician who co-founded and was Deputy Leader of the populist Pauline Hanson's One Nation party.
Having previously been involved in municipal politics as a member of the City of Manly Council, as well as being a Liberal candidate for Manly and serving as a political advisor to then-Liberal Party minister (and former Prime Minister), Tony Abbott - David Oldfield became acquainted with parliamentary newcomer, Pauline Hanson, who in the wake of her election to the Australian House of Representatives, she controversially gained notoriety for comments about Indigenous Australians, Asians on top of Immigration and Multiculturalism. While working Tony Abbott, Oldfield began to construct Pauline Hanson's One Nation. One Nation was formed in 1997, and Oldfield was appointed an informal Deputy Leader, serving with David Ettridge.
The structural basis of One Nation was orchestrated solely by Ettridge and Oldfield, who acted as the policy masterminds behind Pauline Hanson's Populist image and political style. However, in 2000 Oldfield was expelled from One Nation after a dispute with Hanson, and formed the splinter group One Nation NSW, serving as its leader from its creation in 2000, to its dissolution in 2004.
David Oldfield was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2007, under One Nation, One Nation NSW and briefly as an Independent twice. In 2006, Oldfield announced that he would not re-contest the 2007 New South Wales election.
As of today, he lives in Sydney with his family, being only minorly involved with political issues. He formerly hosted radioshows on radio 2UE and radio 2GB.
Early life and early political career
Oldfield grew up in Manly, a beachside suburb of Sydney. He was attended Balgowlah Boys School. Manly is part of the federal constituency of Warringah, which became occupied in 1994 by Oldfield's future employer, the then-Liberal minister and future Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. In 1996, Oldfield became employed as a staff member for Tony Abbott.[1] Oldfield later become one of his advisaries. While in that position, Oldfield secretly co-founded the right wing One Nation Party in concert with independent Queensland MP Pauline Hanson and campaign specialist David Ettridge. He and Ettridge were seen as the masterminds of the structure of One Nation behind Hanson's populist image and style.
Political career
After One Nation was formed, Oldfield acted as an informal Deputy Leader alongside David Ettridge, and both held the position as senior advisors to Pauline Hanson in relation to the party policies, and the party's structural survival, with both Oldfield and Ettridge going to extreme lengths to secure the party's unity. Examples being forcing members to prematurely sign resignation forms, and disendorsing anyone who refused to sign or anyone who had any disagreement or objection to the party policies. Also, Oldfield would exclusively disendorse anyone who crossed him. Due to the experiments of Oldfield and Ettridge, the Australian public believed that Pauline Hanson acted as a puppet, controlled by the masterminds in Oldfield and Ettridge, however Hanson publicly denied this multiple times.
One Nation was described as a 'phenomenon', based on public agreement of the party policies which led to extreme electoral success for such a minor party. At the 1998 Queensland election, One Nation gained 22% of the vote, winning 11 and 89 seats in the unicameral Legislative Assembly. At the 2001 Western Australian election, One Nation gained 10% of the vote, winning 3 seats in the Legislative Council.
Oldfield himself won a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Council at the March 1999 state election.
The success of One Nation began to decline after the 1998 federal election, where Pauline Hanson lost her seat, and only elected one senator. In 2000, Oldfield was expelled from One Nation by Hanson. He later founded a separate party, One Nation NSW, a splinter group similar to the historical Lang Labor and Democratic Labour Party. The party did not achieve as much success as the original party, and in 2004 Oldfield left the New South Wales party and sat as an Independent. In August 2006 he announced that he would not contest the March 2007 election.
Media career
In 2006 he was a contestant on Australia's Celebrity Survivor.
Oldfield commenced as a talkback radio host with Sydney radio station 2GB in November 2007.[2] In 2009, Oldfield became the highest rating radio presenter in Sydney with 25.2% of the overnight audience.
In 2010, Oldfield was fired by 2GB.
In May 2010, he began hosting the afternoon shift as a relief presenter on 2UE. After three days, Oldfield was suspended by the station for making inflammatory remarks with respect to asylum seekers. In his on-air comments, Oldfield suggested an immigration policy whereby:
- "We’ll turn on the electric fences, we’ll stop them from coming, and the ones that are here: we’ll make sure they can’t escape, and if they do try it, they’ll be fried."[3]
In December 2010, Oldfield replaced Steve Liebmann as the host of the Mornings program on 2UE.
In April 2012, Oldfield moved from the Mornings program to present Nights on 2UE.
Personal life
Oldfield is married to Lisa Oldfield, a former co-host of Channel 9's daytime television program, The Catch-Up. In August 2010 the couple had their first child, Henry (Harry), and in July 2012 welcomed another boy, Albert (Bert).[4]
In her autobiography, Pauline Hanson describes a two-week affair she states she had with David Oldfield.[5] Oldfield initially denied the affair but later failed a lie detector test and subsequently apologised to his wife for his deception, which led to a temporary separation. They reconciled in 2009.[6]
References
- ↑ "Mr Lonely Hearts: Cruising With David Oldfield". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 July 1998. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011.
- ↑ "Overnight with David Oldfield". 2GB. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
- ↑ "David Oldfield suspended by 2UE". The Spy Report (Media Spy). 7 May 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
- ↑ Davies, Rebecca (19 October 2010). "David, Lisa Oldfield welcome first child". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ↑ Ellen Connolly (18 March 2007). "Pauline Hanson tells all". The Daily Telegraph.
- ↑ "Oldfield apologises to wife after failing lie detector". The West Australian. 29 March 2007.
External links
- Parliamentary biography: The Hon. David Ernest OLDFIELD (1958 - )
- Sydney Morning Herald Saturday 11 July 1998