Sam Birrell

Samuel Birrell (born 5 April 1975)^[1] is a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the division of Nicholls in northern Victoria and a member of the National Party. In the 2022 Australian federal election, Birrell won a race between a Liberal Party candidate and independent candidate Rob Priestly. ^[2][3]

Birrell grew up on a property on Victoria's Goulburn River between the towns of Murchison and Toolamba. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a schoolteacher. He attended Shepparton High School for two years then completed his secondary education as a boarder at Assumption College, Kilmore. After leaving high school, Birrell worked on a farm in Ardmona for two years before completing a degree in agricultural science at the University of Melbourne's Dookie campus.^[4] He later completed an MBA at La Trobe University's Shepparton campus in 2017.^[5]

After graduating university, Birrell worked as an agronomist for a rural supplies business, specialising in pest identification and soil and leaf analysis. He later worked for irrigation supplier Netafim.^[4]

Birrell was appointed CEO of the Committee for Greater Shepparton in 2016. He resigned the position in 2021 to run for parliament.^[6]

In January 2022, Birrell won Nationals preselection for the seat of Nicholls at the 2022 federal election, following the retirement of incumbent Nationals MP Damian Drum.^[7] He retained Nicholls for the Nationals on a substantially reduced primary vote, with significant swings to the Liberal candidate Steve Brooks and independent candidate Rob Priestly.^[8]

Birrell supported a Designated Area Migration Agreement (DAMA) for the Goulburn Valley.^[9] In 2021 he appeared before a parliamentary inquiry into skilled migration, advocating for "an immediate global recruitment campaign to attract migrants with in-demand skills" to help fill job shortages in regional areas.^[10]