House of Representatives
Darren Chester
Darren Chester is the The Nationals MP for Gippsland. First elected 28 June 2008.
- 2008 Won Gippsland, entered parliament
- 2013 Became defence parliamentary secretary
- 2015 Became assistant defence minister
- 2016 Became infrastructure minister
- 2017 Left cabinet
- 2018 Returned as veterans minister
- 2021 Left Veterans Affairs ministry
- 2022 Contested Nationals leadership
- The Nationals
What do they focus on?
Not enough tracked speeches or amendments to say yet.
Bars show tracked speeches and amendments by policy area.
How do they vote?
Share of recorded votes on the same side as each party's majority.
349 tracked votes while with The Nationals.
How do they compare?
- Years in parliament i Total time served across every stint in either chamber, up to the end of the tracked record. 18 yrs 0.2 avg 8.5 yrs 33.3
- Votes against their party i Recorded votes cast against their own party's majority side. The average is across party members only. 2 avg 0.6 26
- Bills introduced i Bills they introduced to Parliament, counted across the tracked record. 0 avg 2.8 46
- Amendments sponsored i Amendments to bills they put forward during debate, counted across the tracked record. 2 avg 7.9 226
His generally pragmatic centre-right Nationals politics are reflected by a score anchored to the Coalition despite an occasional vote with Labor and the Greens. No topic strip is shown because their economic, social and environment votes followed the party line.
What have they done lately?
In 2026, Chester opposed Treasury Laws tax reform and income-tax changes, arguing they lacked an election mandate and would harm farmers, small businesses and family wealth. Several amendments he supported were defeated, while he voted No on others that also failed or passed.
He supported Export Finance Australia’s strategic-reserve bill while seeking further changes, and backed the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner bill, calling for an earlier implementation review.
When do they vote against their party?
2 times across 349 tracked votes. Most recently:
- 04 Aug 2022 Report sectoral emissions plans
- 03 Aug 2022 House passed the bill
What do they say in debate?
27 tracked speeches across 27 bills.
- 9 backing a bill
- 4 with reservations
- 14 against
- 0 no clear position
Go deeper
Every figure links to a cited page.
About these numbers
Based on 766 tracked bills from the 47th and 48th Parliaments, current to 6 July 2026. This is a sample of parliamentary activity, not the complete record.
Career markers come from dated public records. Voting figures use division lists only. For party members, the left-to-right marker begins at the party position. It moves only when the member votes against that party and on the same side as a neighbouring party; other cross-party combinations do not affect it. Independents and minor-party members are placed by their votes in divisions where the Greens and the Coalition took opposite sides. If this position differs from a member’s broader public politics, a note appears below the strip.