Member for Ballina
Shadow Minister for Small Business, Regulatory Reform & the North Coast

Don Page was first elected to Parliament as the Member for Ballina in 1988. He currently holds the ministerial positions of Shadow Minister for Small Business, Shadow Minster for Regulatory Reform and the Shadow Minister for the North Coast.

Since 1988, Don has been fighting for the specific needs of his coastal electorate at the highest levels of government. By joining the National Party in 1984 and becoming involved in politics, Don continued the rich heritage of public service in the Page family. Don’s father was a Shire President and his grandfather Sir Earle Page was Deputy Prime Minister for 14 years and Federal Minister for Health for seven years.

Born in 1951 and raised on a beef station in the Upper Clarence, Don is the fifth generation of the Page family to live on the North Coast.  Don is also a macadamia producer whose plantation is in the heart of the electorate, at Newrybar.  

Prior to entering politics, Don obtained a Bachelor of Economics and a Masters of Economics from the University of New England, as well as a Diploma in Rural Accounting.

When not in Parliament, Don has a keen interest in Rugby Union, having played throughout his school and university education.  This competitive spirit has been channeled into his political career, with clearly advantageous results for Ballina over the past 21years.  

Don’s initiative and desire to get on with the job is evident in the portfolios he has held while the Member for Ballina both in Government and in Opposition. 

While in Government he served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Roads, Transport and Tourism, Assistant Minister for Roads and Transport, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Planning & Housing. In opposition Don has held the portfolios of Shadow Minister for Housing and Roads,Shadow Minister for Forestry, and Shadow Minister for Land and Water Conservation.

Since he became an MP, the Ballina electorate has benefited with four new schools, as well as the redevelopment of two hospitals in Ballina and Byron Bay, the construction of the Bangalow By-Pass,the Brunswick Heads By-pass, the dual carriageway on the Pacific Highway from Tyagarah to Brunswick Heads and Brunswick Heads to Yelgun and the Ballina and Alstonville Bypasses currently under construction, and the conversion of Ballina and Byron Bay Police Stations to 24hr stations.

About the Ballina electorate

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Located on the state’s far north coast, Ballina Electorate covers an area of 1,502 sq km and has a predicted elector quota of 47,246 voters at the 2007 Election.

Major towns in Ballina include Alstonville, Ballina, Brunswick Heads, Byron Bay and Mullumbimby.

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