Tim Smith (Australian politician)

Tim Smith

Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Rowing
Club	Melbourne Uni Boat Club
Achievements and titles
National finals	Penrith Cup 2004-2006
Medal record Men's rowing Representing  Australia World Rowing Championships 2004 Banyoles LM8-

Timothy Colin Smith (born 15 October 1983) is an Australian politician and a former representative lightweight rower. Since November 2014 he has been a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of Kew.^[1] As a rower he made five state representative appearances for Victoria, rowed for Australia at one U23 and three senior World Rowing Championships and won a bronze medal in the Australian lightweight eight at the 2004 World Rowing Championships.

Early life and education

Tim Smith was born in Melbourne in 1983. Smith's great-grandfather founded Ferguson's Cakes in 1901, which became Ferguson Plarre under his grandfather in 1980. He grew up in Camberwell, Victoria and attended Scotch College, Melbourne and Rugby School in England.

Smith attended the University of Melbourne and Ormond College where he undertook a Bachelor of Arts in history and politics. During his time as an undergraduate he was a dedicated athlete, rowing from the Melbourne University Boat Club, representing his state of Victoria and gaining selection to the Australian rowing team.

At the conclusion of his rowing career he returned to the University of Melbourne where he undertook a Masters of International Politics. As part of this degree he was accepted into the Hansard Research Scholars Programme at the London School of Economics.

Rowing career

Smith first made state selection for Victoria in 2002 in the men's youth eight which contested the Noel F Wilkinson Trophy at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships.^[2] He rowed again in the Victorian youth eight in 2003^[3]. In 2004 he was selected at stroke in the Victorian lightweight four to contest the Penrith Cup at the Interstate Regatta. That crew rowed to second place.^[4] He made further Penrith Cup appearances for Victoria in 2005 and 2006.^[5]

Smith made his Australian representative debut in 2003 at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne in a lightweight quad scull. They rowed to seventh place. That quad went on to the 2003 U23 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade where they placed fourth.^[6].

In 2004 he moved into the Australian senior squad in the lightweight eight. That boat rowed to bronze medal at the 2004 World Rowing Championships in Banyoles, Spain.^[6] In 2005 he was picked in the stroke seat of the Australian lightweight coxless four who rowed to a fourth place at the 2005 World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan.^[6] Smith then earned a full scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport and was well positioned for senior representative contention in 2006. At the World Rowing Cup I in Munich he rowed in a lightweight coxless pair to a silver medal and then at the WRC II that year in Poznan he raced as a lightweight single sculler to fifth place.^[6] At the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Eton, Dorney he partnered with Tasmanian Cameron Wurf in the lightweight coxless pair and finished in overall fourth place. He sustained a significant back injury in the lead up to the 2006 World Championships. It would prevent him from rowing on and 2006 was Smith's last Australian representative appearance.^[6]

Career

From 2007 to 2009 Smith worked in the United Kingdom and in Australia as a political adviser to several shadow ministers : the Hon Michael O’Brien MLA, the Hon. Bruce Billson MP, and the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, whilst Turnbull was the Leader of the Opposition. While studying in London he worked as a researcher for the Rt Hon. David Davis MP, Shadow Home Secretary.

On his return from London in 2008 Smith was elected to the Council of the City of Stonnington and in 2009 was elected as the youngest ever Mayor of Stonnington. As Mayor, he advocated against the previous State Labor Government’s extensions to the operation of "Clearways" on major suburban streets. At the conclusion of his mayoral term, Smith moved into professional services and in early 2012 he joined PricewaterhouseCoopers. He began in the Management Consulting practice - in Economics and Policy and subsequently in Strategy, providing strategic advice to governments across Australia and New Zealand. In early 2013, Smith was promoted to the office of the executive board of PwC Australia, based in Melbourne.

While in the private sector, Smith remained active in policy debate. He appeared on ABC TV’s national affairs program The Drum, and as a panellist on the Friday Wrap segment of ABC 774 Jon Faine's Morning Show . He has been published in national newspapers and magazines, including The Age, Herald Sun, and Spectator Australia.

Smith is a member of Canterbury Rotary and the Kew RSL. He was elected as the Member for Kew in November 2014 and as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition in February 2015.

References

• Tim Smith at FISA WorldRowing.com

External links

• Parliamentary voting record of Tim Smith at Victorian Parliament Tracker