Representative Milton Dick Contact information

Dugald Milton Dick, the 32nd Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, is an accomplished Australian politician who has dedicated his career to public service. Born on 21 July 1972, in Brisbane, he is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and currently represents the Queensland seat of Oxley in the House of Representatives, a post he has held since the 2016 federal election.

Dugald’s interest in politics began at an early age, and as a university student, he joined the ALP at the age of 18. He quickly rose through the ranks of the party, serving as the national president of Young Labor. He also worked as an electorate officer for David Beddall (1993–1998) and Senator John Hogg (1998–2000) before transitioning to an ALP organizer.

In 2004, Dugald was appointed as the state secretary and campaign director of the ALP, having served as a delegate to the national conference since 2001. He successfully led the party’s campaign in Queensland at the 2007 federal election and subsequently announced his resignation in December 2007 to stand for political office, effective in March 2008.

Dugald began his political career in local government, winning election to the Brisbane City Council as the representative of Richlands Ward in 2008. He was endorsed by the incumbent prime minister Kevin Rudd and was the deputy leader of the opposition on the council until 2012. He subsequently served as leader of the opposition until his resignation in 2016. During his tenure, he was also the opposition spokesman for financial services.

Following Labor’s defeat at the 2013 federal election, Dugald, along with Jane Garrett, was appointed to lead a review into the party’s campaign. At the time, he publicly requested former prime minister Kevin Rudd to remain in parliament. In April 2015, he announced he would seek preselection for the federal seat of Oxley following the retirement of Bernie Ripoll. He was endorsed unopposed and retained Oxley for the ALP at the 2016 federal election.

In July 2022, following the ALP’s victory at the 2022 federal election, Dugald was nominated as the party’s candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was chosen under a factional deal in which the Right faction would choose the Speaker and the Left faction would choose the President of the Senate. On the first sitting day of parliament, 26 July, he was elected as Speaker by the House, winning with 96 votes to beat the incumbent speaker Andrew Wallace, who received 56 votes.

Dugald’s political views are generally aligned with those of the Labor Right faction. He has advocated for stronger support of the resources industry and is known to be a strong supporter of Israel, a position he developed after a sponsored visit to the country in 2017.