David Van was never expected to win his Senate position

David Van was never expected to win his seat, and the odds were so low some didn’t even think a preselection would be necessary.

Liberal Party Senator David Van. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

When Victorian Liberal Party preselectors wandered into Melbourne’s Scots’ Church at 156 Collins Street on March 16, 2019, no one was thinking PR man David Van would get over the line.

Indeed, no one was seriously expecting the low-key battle for the No.3 position on the Senate ticket to amount to anything at all.

“We didn’t even expect to get up, didn’t expect to win that Senate position,’’ a senior Liberal said. It became a three-way State Assembly battle between Senator Van, 58, now state MP Ann-Marie Hermans and party member David Burgess, with Senator Van splitting the pack in the manner of Steven Bradbury’s short-track ice skating gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Another Liberal said Senator Van had been equally surprised on election night when it looked like he might secure a quota and be off to the bush capital.

By the time the athletic senator had made it to the Midwinter Ball in Canberra in 2019 with partner Nerilee Rockman by his side, he was still something of a political myth.

Everything in Senator Van’s life seemed outwardly to be cloaked in a brown cardigan, even though his social media page showed campaigning or meetings with high-profile Victorian Liberals James Paterson, Katie Allen, numbers man Frank Greenstein, state MP David Davis and former federal leader Brendan Nelson.

Before entering parliament in 2019, Senator Van worked for communications and public relations firms in Australia and the US before founding his own company, the De Wintern Group, in 2003.

The company was an unremarkable outfit in a tinsel industry.

He has a Master of International Relations degree from Monash University and, according to his website, has been pursuing a Master of Strategy and Security degree through UNSW at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Senator Van, in his own words, was a woman’s man. Of sorts.

He paid tribute in parliament to the “wonderful women” in his life, including the three sisters he grew up with in what he called an “ideal” childhood.

“I am fortunate that I don’t have a ‘log cabin’ story. My childhood was ideal and I wish all children experienced the wonderful childhood I had,” he said in 2019.

“My life has always been full of the most wonderful women. My sisters, Kristine, Lisa and Madeleine, and my niece, Lucia, have given me so much joy and I love them all very much.”

Senator Van also paid tribute to “life partner” Ms Rockman, a mining industry executive, who he thanked for standing by him as he entered parliament.

“She is one of Australia’s most talented corporate women and I admire how she has never let gender get in the way of her success, even while working in a male-dominated industry,” he said.

While relatively unknown, the Victorian senator made news in his home state for flying to Ukraine last year despite travel advice urging Australians not to visit the war-torn nation. “I’ve been privileged this week to meet the Ukrainian people, their government and their defence forces, who are the bravest people I’ve ever met,” he said at the time.

The trip raised eyebrows not only because it defied travel advice, but because it was funded by drone company DefendTex, which Senator Van spruiked upon his return without mentioning the organisation had paid for his Ukraine visit.

Senator Van first met DefendTex chief executive Travis Reddy in 2019 when he and then defence industry minister Melissa Price awarded the company a $2m innovation grant.

The Victorian senator declared in his register of interests DefendTex Ltd had paid for his travel to Ukraine in August 2022, and told The Australian earlier this year he had “done everything I need to do” in disclosing the matter.

As for his behaviour around women, there appear to have been some concerns but only ever amounting to corridor gossip. He has denied wrongdoing.

One senior Victorian Liberal said there had been “lots of rumours like this” surrounding Senator Van.

“I never had first-hand knowledge or proof that they were true, but they were serious and persistent,” the Liberal said.

One member who knows Senator Van well said there had been no proof of poor behaviour; but he wasn’t shy.

“He’s not a hard factional player at all. He has been for and against different people at different times,’’ the member said. “We never thought he would win and it always seemed that he was quite independent. There wasn’t a whole lot of interest in him.’’