Ian Richard Smith is an Australian political lobbyist. He is a founder of the firm Bespoke Approach, and is considered by ''The Power Index'' to be one of Australia's most influential political

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

Career

Smith's first job in Australia was as a reporter for the '' Daily Advertiser'' in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

. He later transferred to '' The Advertiser'' in Adelaide, for which he continued to write occasional opinion editorial pieces and provided political commentary. He founded the firm Bespoke Approach in 2008, and solicited former federal politicians

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...

and

Nick Bolkus Nick Bolkus (born 17 July 1950) is a former Australian Labor Party politician. He was a member of the Senate from July 1981 to June 2005, representing the state of South Australia. Early career Bolkus was born in Adelaide and educated at Adela ...

to become partners. The firm's fourth partner is Andrew Butcher, a former spokesperson for

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

. Smith modelled the business on the way that the Kissingers, Albrights and Scowcrofts lobbied in the US. Smith has worked as a media adviser for the Liberal Party of South Australia and to former Victorian premier

Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for ...

. He is a former CEO of public relations firm Gavin Anderson & Co, one of the largest in Australia. They have two children. In 2011 Smith was listed on Crikey's ''The Power Index'' as one of Australia's ten most influential political lobbyists. Smith is a former member of the Committee for Melbourne and advocated for the establishment of the Committee for Adelaide in South Australia, of which he was a member in 2015. Smith's other advisory group and board memberships include ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a United Kingdom–based street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer ho ...

'', the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes, the Northern Territory Government's Economic Development Panel, and Developing East Arnhem Land Ltd. The latter company was established by the

Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...

, the

Commonwealth government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...

and mining company Rio Tinto to drive economic development in

East Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Company captain Willem Joosten ...

. As of 2015, Smith was on the United Kingdom's Honorary Consul in South Australia. In November 2015, Smith was scheduled to appear on the ABC TV talk show, Q&A.

Not-for-profit sector

In mid-2015 Smith co-founded Barefoot to Boots with Awer G. Bul (brother of football player Awer Mabil), an organisation which helps refugees by "providing them with simple things that are otherwise inaccessible" to boost their resilience and help them to develop new skills. He has been an ambassador for LivingPositive, an organisation which aims to remove the stigma surrounding people living with

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, and for the Orangutan Project, which works on the protection of

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

s in Indonesia. Smith was chair of Jirrawun Arts, an Indigenous arts organisation in the East Kimberley.

Personal life

Smith married former leader of the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

, Natasha Stott Despoja, in a beachside ceremony in Byron Bay in 2003. They have two children, and as of 2018 were living in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ian Australian lobbyists Living people Australian businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people)