David Gordon Cadell Brownhill (born 16 November 1935) is an Australian politician. He was a

National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia, commonly known as the Nationals or simply the Nats, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. Traditionally represe ...

member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

from the 1984 federal election until his resignation on 13 April 2000. Brownhill was born on Beaudesert Station, near

Mudgee Mudgee () is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gov ...

. He was educated by correspondence, at Cullenbone Public School and

Sydney Church of England Grammar School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

. He undertook national service training in 1954 and worked as a jackeroo in western New South Wales and on his family farm until establishing his own farm near

Quirindi Quirindi ( or ) is a small town on the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Liverpool Plains Shire. At the , Quirindi had a population of 2,602. It is the nearest link to Gunnedah, New South Wales, Gunnedah to the northw ...

in 1959. He married Helen Julia Arnott on 26 September 1959. A long-serving member of the then-Country Party, he served on the party's state central council and state executive for almost twenty years and was a state and federal campaign director in the 1980s. Brownhill was elected to the Senate at the 1984 election. Following the announcement of the 1987 Senate election results, other Senators negotiated, against Brownhill's objections, to allocate him a three-year rather than a six-year Senate term. Brownhill was shadow parliamentary secretary to the leader of the National Party from 1989 to 1996 under

Charles Blunt Charles William Blunt (born 19 January 1951) is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the National Party of Australia from 1989 to 1990. Early life Blunt was born in Sydney and graduated from the University of Sydney with a de ...

and

Tim Fischer Timothy Andrew Fischer (3 May 1946 – 22 August 2019) was an Australian politician and diplomat who served as leader of the National Party of Australia, National Party from 1990 to 1999. He was the tenth Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, d ...

, was National Party whip from 1990 to 1993 and National Party Senate deputy leader from 1993 until his resignation. Following the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

's victory at the 1996 election, Brownhill served as Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Industries from 1996 to 1997 and as Parliamentary Secretary for Trade from March 1996 to October 1998, when he resigned from the ministry. He served on no fewer than 90 parliamentary inquiries during his time as senator. Following his resignation from the Senate, Brownhill was the chairman of the

Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Wine Australia is an Australian Government statutory corporation that promotes and regulates the Australian wine industry. It was created as the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) in 1981 to replace the Australian Wine Board by the ...

from 2000 until 2006. Brownhill was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for service to the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownhill, David Living people 1935 births Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Australian Senate 20th-century Australian politicians