Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Keith Wolahan
Australian politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Keith Wolahan (born 30 September 1977)[1] is a former Australian politician and member of the Victorian Bar. He represented the seat of Menzies in the House of Representatives for the Liberal Party from 2022 to 2025.[2][3] Prior to entering politics, he was an Australian Army officer, serving three tours of Afghanistan as a commando officer, and also practised as a commercial barrister for twelve years.[4][5]
Scholia has a profile for Keith Wolahan (Q111536427).
Remove ads
Early life
Summarize
Perspective
Family background
Wolahan was born in Dublin, Ireland,[1] migrating to Australia with his parents and two brothers in 1988.[6] He was educated at Ringwood Secondary College.[4]
Education and legal career
Wolahan studied at the University of Melbourne where he graduated with Bachelor's degrees in Arts (Politics) and Commerce (Economics).[6][1] He continued studying at Monash University, completing a Bachelor of Law (Honours).[1] He was awarded the Sir Charles Lowe Moot Prize.[7]
Wolahan began his career in law with the national firm, Mallesons Stephen Jacques where he specialised in mergers and acquisitions.[8][5] In 2010 he became a barrister,[1] specialising in commercial and consumer trials.[9]
In 2013, Wolahan graduated from University of Cambridge with a master's degree in International Relations.[6][1]
Military service
Wolahan joined the military while at University, eventually joining 2 Commando Company, 1st Commando Regiment.[10] Wolahan was promoted to Captain in 2004 and saw several periods of active service, including four postings overseas with 2 Commando:[8][11]
- East Timor 2007 for six months as the Special Operations Liaison Officer for the Apprehension Task Group during the Battle of Same.[11][1]
- Afghanistan 2008 for six months as the Operations Officer with the Special Operations Task Group HQ in Kandahar.[11][12][1]
- Afghanistan 2009–10 for six months as a Platoon Commander within the Special Operations Task Group HQ based in Tarinkot.[13]
- Afghanistan 2014 embedded as the Deputy Chief of Operations with a United States Special Operations Command task force based in Bagram.
Wolahan lost two friends in the War in Afghanistan: Marcus Case and Greg Sher.[4][14] He joined two other Afghanistan veterans in the 47th Parliament of Australia: Andrew Hastie and Phillip Thompson.[14]
Remove ads
Political career
Summarize
Perspective
Preselection
Wolahan defeated the sitting member Kevin Andrews in a preselection contest, 181 votes to 111.[15][16] Andrews entered the contest with written endorsements from then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.[17][18] It was the first time a sitting Victorian Liberal MP had been ousted by their members in more than 20 years.[17]
2022 election
The 2022 federal election saw a 6% swing against the Liberals in Menzies.[2] One of the contributing factors was a large swing in suburbs with higher proportions of Chinese ancestry, including Box Hill and Doncaster.[2]
47th Parliament
Wolahan was a member of the House Economics and Joint Standing National Anti-Corruption Commission Committees.[19] He also served as the Deputy Chair of The Joint Select Committee on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum.[20]
2025 election
Following a redistribution that shifted Menzies’ margin from a 50.7% Liberal seat to a notionally 50.4% Labor seat, the 2025 federal election delivered a -0.62% two-party preferred swing to Labor in Menzies, resulting in Labor gaining the seat with just over 51% of the two-party preferred vote.[3] He was defeated by Gabriel Ng of the Labor Party.[3]
Remove ads
Post-politics
Just weeks after his 2025 defeat, media reported that Wolahan had been successfully re-admitted to practice at the Victorian Bar.[21]
Personal life
Wolahan is married to his wife Sarah and has two children, Leo and Eva. He and Sarah were married at Heide Museum of Modern Art in Bulleen.[22]
Honours and awards
_ribbon.png){kind=small}
_ribbon.png){kind=small}
_ribbon.png){kind=small}
| Commendation for Distinguished Service | Awarded in 2011 Australia Day Honours for service in Afghanistan.[17] |
| Australian Active Service Medal | With clasp for East Timor |
| Afghanistan Medal | Operation SLIPPER |
| Australian Service Medal | With clasp for CT/SR (Counter Terrorism / Special Recovery) |
| Australian Defence Medal | |
| NATO Medal for the Non-Article 5 ISAF Operation in Afghanistan | With clasp ISAF |
| Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star | Awarded to Task Force 66 in the 2015 Australia Day Honours |
| Infantry Combat Badge | ||
| Timor Leste Solidarity Medal | (East Timor) |
Remove ads
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads