David Albert Lloyd Johnston (born 14 February 1956), Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician, has been a Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 member of the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 since July 2002, representing the state of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. Johnston was born in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 and was educated at University of Western Australia

University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...

, where he graduated in law. He was a barrister in Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

 before entering politics.

On 6 March 2006, Johnston was made Minister for Justice and Customs (effective 9 March), following the resignation of Senator Ian Campbell

Ian Campbell (Australian politician)

Ian Gordon Campbell , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing Western Australia between 1990 and 2007.-Early life:...

 from the Human Services portfolio and Campbell's replacement by former Justice minister Chris Ellison

Chris Ellison

Christopher Martin Ellison , is a former Liberal member of the Australian Senate. He represented Western Australia in the Senate from July 1993 to January 2009.-Background:...

.

Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...

, on becoming Leader of the Opposition

Opposition (Australia)

Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in Australia fulfils the same function as the official opposition in other Commonwealth of Nations monarchies. It is seen as the alternative government and the existing administration's main opponent at a general election...

, promoted Johnston to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Defence. In September 2010 he was re-appointed to that role by Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, after the 2010 election.

External links

• Senator David Johnston, Senate of Australia homepage