Gavin Priestley ICAN Coordinator

Gavin has worked for Telstra for the past twenty years, resigning as the Area General Manager for Telstra Country Wide in Western NSW – an area that covered approximately 50% of the geography of NSW.

Gavin spent 5 years with Telstra in Western NSW. Previously, he managed the internet section of Telstra Wholesale based in Sydney. During his time with Telstra he managed several teams in areas such as the transport industries, with particular focus on aviation, as well as major transport and government bodies related to transport nationally.

Gavin also spent several years managing the relationship between Telstra and the NSW state government, including the health and education departments.

His interests include flying light aircraft which has been invaluable in his work covering huge distances in NSW.

Over the last twenty years, Gavin has also run superfine merino sheep in Hargraves, NSW.

His involvement in ICAN stems from his disillusionment with party politics, which was set in stone by the cavalier way critical legislation was forced through federal parliament during 2005

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These decisions, such as the sale of Telstra, were executed even though the majority of Australians opposed them. Gavin believes party politics has overridden the will of the people, and Australia’s democratic process is undermined by a lack of crossbench representation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.