Australian Young Liberals

Richard Wilson – President

Richard has been a member of the Young Liberal Movement for over ten years, and has held the offices of Branch President, State Councillor and State President (Western Australia).  Additionally, he has been a member of both the Policy and Campaign Committees of the Western Australian Liberal Party.  In 2006 he was awarded the Liberal Party’s Meritorious Service Award (Youth) by former Prime Minister John Howard.

Sandy Tanner – Vice-President and ACT President

Sandy, 26, is the President of the ACT Young Liberals.  Sandy first joined the ACT Young Liberals in 2000 and in the past has served as Vice-President (Administration) and editor of Voltairium, the ACT Young Liberal journal.  In 2003 he was awarded the Phillip Williams Perpetual Trophy for ACT Young Liberal of the Year.  From 2004 until 2006 Sandy was President of the Indi Young Liberal Branch in North-East Victoria where he lived whilst working for the Federal Member or Indi, Sophie Mirabella MP.  Sandy was on the campaign team of former Federal Young Liberal Vice-President, Alistair Coe, in the recent 2008 ACT Legislative Assembly Elections.  Sandy now works as an adviser to Alistair, and recently graduated with a Law degree from the Australian National University.

Michael Van Dissel – Secreatary and South Australian President

Michael is a chartered accountant working at an insolvency practice.  The Federal Vice President is responsible for federal policy as well as assisting the President in the campaigns and activities of the Young Liberals.  As Federal Vice President Michael also sits on the Federal Executive of the Liberal Party of Australia.

Michael has been a member of the Young Liberals for the last 11 years and been the State President of the South Australian Young Liberals for the last two years.  Prior to this Michael was for three years president of the Adelaide Young Liberals—South Australia’s largest Young Liberal branch (with over 150 members).

While at Adelaide University, Michael was involved in the Australian Liberal Students’ Federation through university politics.  Michael is an Honorary Life Member of the Adelaide University Liberal Club.

Shane Goodwin – Treasurer

Shane has been a Member of the Young Liberal Movement since 2001 when he joined the party to assist with Andrew Laming’s first campaign for the seat of Bowman. Shane was the Founding Chair of the Bowman Young Liberals and has served the Queensland Young Liberal Executive as Admin Vice President (2006), Policy Vice President (2007) and as State President in 2008.

In 2008, Shane joined with the then President of the Queensland Young Nationals to merge the two conservative youth movements following the merger of the Queensland Liberals and Nationals. As a result of the Merger, Shane Goodwin is the last ever President of the Young Liberal Movement in Queensland and the first ever President (jointly held) of the Young LNP. Since relinquishing the role of State President, Shane has served the Young Liberal Movement as Federal Treasurer in 2009. Professionally, Shane is a Senior Consultant at one of Australia’s premier corporate advisory companies.

James Paterson – Strategic Engagement Chair

James was elected as the President of the Victorian Young Liberals in December 2008 on a platform of rejuvenating the Victorian branch. James is studying a double degree in Arts and Commerce at the University of Melbourne and was previosuly the Vice President of the Australian Liberal Students’ Federation.

Stuart Smith – Election Campaigns Chair

Stuart joined the Liberal Party in 2002 and has worked on election campaigns in NSW, QLD and in the US. After graduating with degrees in Accounting and Politics, Stuart has worked as an accountant and is currently a political adviser. In previous roles Stuart has served as a campaign manager and as Finance Director of the NSW Young Liberal. Stuart’s interests include fundraising, campaign training and skills development.

Trent Hasson – IT Officer and TAS President

Trent is a Queensland-born and Hobart-based member of the Young Liberal Movement.  In addition to being the Tasmanian President, he serves as the YLM IT Officer.

Trent helped revive the Liberal movement on campus at the University of Tasmania where he completed a Bachelor of Music Studies.  He has worked on a number of local, interstate and international campaigns, constantly looking for new and innovative ways to promote the Liberal message.

Whittney Jago – International Officer

Whittney is a 4th year Law/Arts student with a passion for promoting the Liberal ideals of freedom and liberty. A former Tasmanian Liberal Student President and Secretary of the Tasmanian Young Liberals, Whittney has been a member of the Liberal Party since 2004. Additionally, she has spent time employed in the polling and data collection industry, as well as in a number of roles in political offices in Tasmania. Whittney currently resides in Western Australia and is employed in a research capacity by a Liberal Senator.

Josh Koonin – Training Officer

Josh Koonin is 23 years old. He was born in Johannesburg South Africa, and came to Australia with his family aged 8. Josh joined the Liberal Party while still in high school, and has been heavily involved in NSW. In 2008 he was elected to the NSW executive as a member of its policy committee. In addition to his involvement in the Liberal Party, he has also served as the political director of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students. He has a particular interest in policy development, particularly in regard to economics and foreign affairs.

Scott Farlow – NSW President

Scott has been the NSW Young Liberal President since March 2008. Prior to becoming Young Liberal President, Scott had served as the Police Vice President of the Young Liberal Movement in NSW and had also been a State Conference President and Federal Conference Secretary.

Scott was elected to serve as a Councillor on Strathfield Council in 2004 and later became the Mayor of Strathfield in 2007. Scott has worked as an Adviser to both Federal and State MPs, including the former Leader of the NSW Opposition and State Shadow Ministers.

Graduating from the University of Sydney Scott holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is soon to graduate with an LLB. Currently Scott works as a strategic consultant.

Alex Butterworth – WA President

Alex is a 4th year Arts/Law student at the University of Western Australia and President of the WA Young Liberals. Alex is committed to ensuring that the conservative and libertarian sides of politics are represented in academic political discourse in Australia. His interests are foreign affairs, taxation law and the preservation of a traditional sense of Australian identity.

Roderick Schneider – QLD YLNP President

Roderick joined the Liberal Party in 2001, where he became Chair of the Toowoomba South branch.  He served three years as the Groom FEC Vice-Chair and regularly represented Groom in Liberal Party State Council meetings. In 2006 he established the Groom Young Liberals, an achievement recognised in his promotion to Vice President of the Queensland Young Liberals in 2008. Prior to merger, he served as an Executive member of the Liberal Party State Council. He was an active member of the Mt Coot-tha State campaign in 2009, three Federal election campaigns in Groom, and Cr Andrew Wines’ successful campaign in 2008.

Roderick graduated from USQ with a Bachelor of Commerce, and is in the final year of his Masters of Business. In his time on campus he was involved with the Business Students Club and also received two commendations for services to USQ Sport.