Biography

Matthew Canavan

by Maggie Cage,

Synopsis

Matthew Canavan is an Australian politician who was elected to the Senate, representing the state of Queensland at the 2013 federal election for the term beginning 1 July 2014.

In the First Turnbull Ministry, Canavan has served as the Minister for Northern Australia between 18 February and 19 July 2016. He is also the member of the Liberal National Party.

Early life and education

Matthew Canavan was born as Matthew James Canavan on the Gold Coast in 1980 17th December. He belongs to white ethnicity and holds an Australian nationality.

Canavan grew up in the Logan area south of Brisbane in Slacks Creek to the hard working lower-middle-cla s s family.

Canavan ‘s father, Bryan, was a manager at Woolworths who became a sales representative for Nestle, while his mother, Maria, stayed at home to look after her three children before joining the Commonwealth Bank as a teller.

Canavan was educated at the Chisolm Catholic College, which sowed in him the seeds of a religious faith that would come to exercise a major influence over his personal and intellectual development.

Career

On 25 July 2017, Matthew Canavan resigned from Cabinet over doubts as to his eligibility to be a member of the Parliament, after discovering that he was considered by the Italian authorities to be a citizen of Italy.

Canavan's mother had registered him as an Italian resident abroad with the Italian consulate in Brisbane in 2006.

Canavan stated that he was unaware of this until his mother was prompted to inform him following news of the resignation of two Greens senators holding dual citizenship.

The government has taken the view that Canavan is not in breach of the Constitution as the registration was not made with his knowledge or consent, and therefore intends to move to have the matter determined by the High Court.

Canavan was the chief of staff to former senator and current member of New England, Barnaby Joyce. He was also previously an executive at KPMG and an economist at the Productivity Commission.

Personal life

The 35-years-old politician was married to a gorgeous lady named Andrea. When he was 22, he along with his wife moved to the nation’s capital Canberra, just a few weeks before the devastating 2003 bushfires.

The couple spent five years in Canberra and then weren’t able to stay there as Canavan took up an offer with KPMG in Brisbane at the end of 2007.

The young pair was not able to spend time in Brisbane and then Canavan successfully applied to the productivity Commission as a director. At that time he started to consider his future in politics.

Net worth

Matthew Canavan has earned a good amount from his political career but due to his secretive nature, the exact figure is still a mystery. However, it is certain that he has acc u mulated a net worth of millions.