About
Dr David Gillespie was elected to the Australian Parliament in 2013 and was appointed to the Australian Government Ministry following his return at the 2016 election.
David and his wife Charlotte have three children Isabelle, Oliver and Alice, raising the family on their farm in the Hastings Valley on the outskirts of Wauchope and Port Macquarie, on which they run grass-fed Angus beef for the export market.
Dr Gillespie graduated from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of Royal Australasian College of Physicians. As an undergraduate, he gained experience training both in Papua New Guinea and British Columbia. Dr Gillespie’s post graduate specialist training included stints at hospitals in Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo, while based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. He also gained two years of paediatric experience at Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children in Camperdown, St George Hospital in Kogarah, and at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital. David obtained a Diploma of Anaesthetics (London) and Diploma of Child Health (United Kingdom (UK)) after working in the UK National Health Service.
Before entering Federal Parliament, David had 33 years of medical practice, including 21 years as specialist gastroenterologist and consultant specialist physician in Port Macquarie. David was active in postgraduate medical training as Director of Physician Training at Port Macquarie Base Hospital and was instrumental in the hospital achieving accreditation by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians for specialist training and becoming a centre for college examinations.
David and Charlotte built, licensed and ran the Hastings Day Surgery in Port Macquarie for 12 years. During this period, David also lectured and tutored at UNSW Rural Medical School from its inception.
David is using his first-hand experience in public and privately managed health delivery and small business to ensure Australia’s health system delivers high quality, cost-effective care in an affordable and fiscally sustainable manner.
