Sam Birrell | |
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Member of the Australian Parliament for Nicholls | |
Assumed office 21 May 2022 | |
Preceded by | Damian Drum |
Personal details | |
Born | Shepparton,Victoria,Australia | 5 April 1975
Political party | National |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne La Trobe University |
Occupation | Agronomist |
Samuel Birrell (born 5 April 1975) [1] is a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the division of Nicholls in northern Victoria for the National Party since the 2022 Australian federal election.
Birrell grew up on a property on Victoria's Goulburn River between the towns of Murchison and Toolamba. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a schoolteacher. He attended Shepparton High School for two years then completed his secondary education as a boarder at Assumption College,Kilmore. After leaving high school,Birrell worked on a farm in Ardmona for two years before completing a degree in agricultural science at the University of Melbourne's Dookie campus. [2] He later completed an MBA at La Trobe University's Shepparton campus in 2017. [3]
After graduating university,Birrell worked as an agronomist for a rural supplies business,specialising in pest identification and soil and leaf analysis. He later worked for irrigation supplier Netafim. [2]
Birrell was appointed CEO of the Committee for Greater Shepparton in 2016. He resigned the position in 2021 to run for parliament. [4]
In January 2022,Birrell won Nationals preselection for the seat of Nicholls at the 2022 federal election,following the retirement of incumbent Nationals MP Damian Drum. [5] He retained Nicholls for the Nationals on a substantially reduced primary vote,with significant swings to the Liberal candidate Steve Brooks and independent candidate Rob Priestly. [6]
Birrell supported a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) for the Goulburn Valley. [7] In 2021 he appeared before a parliamentary inquiry into skilled migration,advocating for "an immediate global recruitment campaign to attract migrants with in-demand skills" to help fill job shortages in regional areas. [8]