Richard Luigi Di Natale (; born 6 June 1970) is an Australian former politician who was a Senator for Victoria. He was also the leader of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

from 2015 to 2020. Di Natale was elected to the Senate in the 2010 federal election. A former

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

, Di Natale became federal parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens on 6 May 2015 following the resignation of Christine Milne. He was the leader of the Greens during the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

federal elections.

Early life

Di Natale was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to Italian immigrants. His mother was born in San Marco in Lamis, Apulia, while his father was born in

Syracuse, Sicily Syracuse ( ; ; ) is a historic city on the Italian island of Sicily, the capital of the Italian province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace ...

. Di Natale attended Parade College, graduating in 1987, and

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education trad ...

degree in 1993. He later obtained

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) are interdisciplinary profes ...

and Master of Health Science degrees from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

. Prior to entering parliament, Di Natale was a

and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

specialist. He worked in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, on

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

prevention in India and in the drug and alcohol sector.

Political career

Di Natale joined the Victorian Greens in 2000. He was as a Greens Senate candidate in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Di Natale also ran for the position of Lord Mayor of

in 2004, coming second to the elected John So. In both 2002 and 2006, Di Natale was narrowly defeated in the seat of Melbourne in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

, almost unseating ALP health minister Bronwyn Pike. He received 48% of the two-party preferred vote in both elections. Di Natale acted as health spokesperson for the Greens in Victoria and in 2002 spoke about the Greens' support for harm reduction policies to manage illicit drug use. In April 2007, Di Natale spoke out about the health implications of climate change, and later that year voiced concerns about terror laws in relation to the then suspect Muhamed Haneef. Di Natale was nominated as the Australian Greens' lead senate candidate for Victoria for the 2010 federal election. Greens leader Senator

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...

labelled Di Natale as the Greens' "next strongest hope" at this election. At the 2010 election, Di Natale won a Senate seat representing Victoria. His term began on 1 July 2011. Upon taking up his seat in the Senate, Di Natale became the Greens' federal spokesperson for health. His other portfolios include sport and multiculturalism. Di Natale was elected unopposed as parliamentary leader of the Greens party room on 6 May 2015 following the resignation of Christine Milne from the position. The Greens achieved mixed results at the 2016 federal election. The Party targeted several House of Representatives seats, but did not win any additional seats despite achieving large swings. The party also lost a senator. Di Natale argued that the Greens' election strategy had been successful, with voters now seeing them as a major party. Di Natale has written in favour of legalising cannabis and against the war on drugs, as well as his support for a

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

Parliamentary career

Bob Brown and Richard Di Natale DSC 2958

At the 2010 federal election, the

achieved a shared balance of power in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and the sole balance of power in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In the Senate, they were in a shared balance of power position after the 2007 federal election and the 2013 federal election. Di Natale secured almost $5 billion towards Medicare-funded dentistry, which he described as "laying the foundations for Denticare" – the Greens' policy of universally available Medicare-funded dentistry. Di Natale campaigned against the

Future Fund The Future Fund is an independently managed sovereign wealth fund established in 2006 to strengthen the Australian Government's long-term financial position by making provision for unfunded superannuation liabilities for public servants that wil ...

's holdings in tobacco funds, a campaign that was ultimately successful with the Fund divesting the entirety of its tobacco holdings (approximately AUD $250 million) in 2012. Di Natale also helped establish Senate inquiries into a number of issues of public significance including budget cuts, medicinal cannabis, the emergence of "superbugs", hospital funding, air pollution, pharmaceutical transparency, sports science and gambling reform. Di Natale conducts ongoing campaigns for improved human rights in Indonesia's West Papua, timely access to cost-effective drugs through Australia's

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a program of the Australian Government that subsidises prescription medication for Australian citizens and permanent residents, as well as international visitors covered by a reciprocal health car ...

, and science-based public health policies in areas such as wind farms and vaccination policy. Di Natale was the Chair of the Senate Select Committee into the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

2014 federal budget budget cuts and Deputy Chair of the Senate Select Committee into health. He is the co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends for Drug Policy and Law Reform, the Parliamentary Friends of West Papua and the Parliamentary Friends of Medicine. On 3 February 2020, Di Natale resigned as leader of the Greens and announced his intention to resign from the Senate, citing family responsibilities. Adam Bandt was elected unopposed to replace Di Natale for the leadership role. Lidia Thorpe was selected by Greens members to fill the

vacancy caused by Di Natale's resignation. Di Natale resigned from the Senate on 26 August 2020.

Political views

Di Natale supports legalising recreational cannabis usage, and has admitted to having smoked marijuana before.

Personal life

Di Natale, his wife and two sons live on a hobby farm in the foothills of Victoria's Otway Ranges. His sister, Deborah, is married to former Victorian Greens leader

Greg Barber Gregory John Barber (born 31 August 1966) is a former Australian politician, who was a Greens member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2006 and 2017. Early career Barber obtained a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the ...

and was a City of Yarra councillor from 2002 until 2004. Growing up in Melbourne, Di Natale played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for the

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

and Oakleigh Football Clubs in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

and is a long time Richmond Tigers fan.

References

External links

Home Page

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Richard Di Natale on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Natale, Richard 1970 births Living people Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Australian politicians of Italian descent Australian general practitioners La Trobe University alumni Australian LGBTQ rights activists Medical doctors from Melbourne Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Monash University alumni Coburg Football Club players Oakleigh Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Leaders of the Australian Greens 21st-century Australian politicians Australian public health doctors Australian people of Sicilian descent People of Apulian descent People educated at Parade College Politicians from Melbourne