David Crisafulli

Crisafulli was born in April 1979 in Ingham, Queensland.^[1][2] He is one of two children born to Karen and Antonino "Tony" Crisafulli; his parents are both of Italian origin. His father's family originates from the village of Novara di Sicilia in Sicily. His paternal grandfather Francesco Crisafulli immigrated to Australia in 1960 to work as a cane-cutter and later established his own sugarcane farm on the Herbert River.^[3]

Crisafulli was raised in Ingham where he attended Canossa Primary School and Gilroy Santa Maria College.^[3] He graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism degree from James Cook University in Townsville in 2000.^[2] While at university he also worked full-time as a cadet reporter at the Herbert River Express.^[3]

In 2000, Crisafulli moved into television, becoming a journalist with WIN News in Townsville, and was made chief of staff of the Townsville newsroom in 2002. During that time, he also worked as a correspondent for The Australian and Sunday Mail newspapers, did weekly work for DMG Regional Radio as a newsreader, and lectured in journalism at James Cook University.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, Crisafulli was appointed a ministerial media advisor to the then Howard government Minister and Liberal Senator for Queensland, Ian Macdonald. In 2004, Crisafulli successfully ran for what was then the 100% Labor Party-controlled Townsville City Council, on a conservative platform. He became the youngest person ever elected to the council.^[4] In 2008, when the Townsville and Thuringowa councils were merged, he stood as a candidate at the first election for the enlarged council.^[5] Crisafulli made a deal with Les Tyrell, the former Thuringowa mayor, to run in partnership for the mayor and deputy mayor positions; Tyrell won election as mayor and Crisafulli as deputy mayor.^[6] He served as deputy mayor until his resignation in 2012 to run for a seat in the Queensland Parliament. During his second term on Council, he became the chairman of the Townsville City Council Planning Committee.

In the 2012 Queensland state election, Crisafulli was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in the seat of Mundingburra, as a member of the Liberal National party.^[7] He was appointed the Minister for Local Government in the new Newman government. In February 2013, his role was expanded when he became Minister for Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience.^[8] He re-contested Mundingburra at the 2015 Queensland state election but was defeated by the Labor candidate Coralee O'Rourke.^[9]

Following his 2015 election loss, Crisafulli and his family relocated to Hope Island on Queensland's Gold Coast.^[10] He subsequently ran a small business giving advice about dealing with government and business development opportunities.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2017, he defeated incumbent Broadwater MP Verity Barton for LNP preselection to contest the 2017 election,^[11] and subsequently won the Broadwater seat.^[12] In December 2017, after the election of Deb Frecklington as Leader of the Opposition, Crisafulli was appointed the Shadow Minister for Environment, Science and the Great Barrier Reef, and Shadow Minister for Tourism.

On 12 November 2020, Crisafulli became Leader of the Opposition in Queensland, after the Liberal National Party elected him as party leader following the resignation of Deb Frecklington.^[13]

Crisafulli describes himself as a centrist^[14] and as a decentralist.^[15]

Crisafulli opposes allowing trans women to compete against cisgender women in sport and voted for an unsuccessful bill tabled by Katter's Australian Party (KAP) leader Robbie Katter that sought to ban trans women from playing women's sports in Queensland.^[16]

Crisafulli opposed the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, but decided not to campaign against it and members of the LNP were given a free vote on the issue.^[17]

Crisafulli has said if he is elected as premier, he would not roll back Indigenous treaty legislation. This was despite facing pressure from his LNP party grassroots to do so.^[18][19] However On 19 October 2023, a few days after the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum Crisafulli announced the LNP will be dropping its support for Treaty.^[20][21][22]

Crisafulli lives in Hope Island with his wife Tegan and their two children.^[10] He owns a cane farm near Ingham.^[23] He is a supporter of the North Queensland Cowboys rugby league club.^[23]