Hunter MP Big Dan reflects on his move into federal politics

He's been putting it off for years, citing his Olympic Games commitments as the reason for the delay, but wife Alex has clearly had enough.

"She's put the foot down. The trouble is we'll have to knock half the house down and live in the caravan, which isn't too appealing," he says.

The caravan - "it's a Majestic Knight" - sits proudly out front of the modest four-bedroom Cessnock property and tells you a lot about the recently-minted federal Member for Hunter. He may have traded the mines for politics, but he's as blue collar as they come.

"We use the caravan a lot," the 41-year-old says. "We go away to Seal Rocks at Christmas and love it up there. But being up the coast on holiday in the caravan is a lot different to living in it for a couple of months in your backyard when it's a building site."

Aside from wife Alex, "we" includes daughters Zoe and Asha who are "nearly 10 and nearly eight" respectively.

It has taken a few weeks to pin down Repacholi for an interview.

If the high pressure world of federal politics and two young daughters isn't time consuming enough, he has somehow also managed to squeeze in time to prepare for, and then successfully defend, his 10-metre Air Pistol title in the National Championships in Darwin.

He won it in a thriller on the very last shot, which strengthens his chances of being selected for his sixth consecutive Olympics for the 2024 Games in Paris - he has the Olympic rings and Southern Cross tattooed on his back, in fact - after competing in Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, Rio in 2016, and Tokyo in 2020.

Still, he admits it probably won't be enough to sway Alex again, but he'll fight the good fight anyway.

The son of a nurse and a quarantine officer, Repacholi grew up in Melton, Victoria, and left school at 15 to become a toolmaker. After meeting Alex he moved to NSW and spent 12 years in the mining industry. "Open cut stuff, I was a gravel scratcher. I was a union rep for a few years and have always been a Labor man."

We're enjoying a beer at his local pub to discuss his first 12 months as a politician.

"Honestly, if you said to me two years ago that I would be sitting here as the Member for Hunter, I would have laughed at you," he says. "But you know what, it's the best job in the world, and I mean that 100 per cent.

"People like myself, blue collar people, don't get these opportunities. The way I look at it, if I'm here for three years or I'm here for 30 years, no matter what I'm having a good time in this role and doing the best job I possibly can."

If 'best job in the world' sounds a bit rich, he truly believes it.

"How many jobs are there where people can call your office with their problems - they might not seem massive issues, but they're a big deal in these people's lives - and we can make a few calls to find out what's going on and hopefully fix them," he says. "It's incredibly satisfying."

And when you can't help?

"We can't always give always give good news obviously, but they're happy you've gone to every length you can for them."

Which brings us to a moment he couldn't possibly have prepared for. Just 48 hours after our chat came the horrific post-wedding bus crash near Branxton which caused 10 deaths and multiple injuries.

Repacholi visited the site the next morning and was moved to tears as he spoke in Parliament the following day.

"The sudden rawness of it, when there's so little you can do to ease the suffering of a whole community of people all around you... it's heart-breaking, it really is," he recalls.

Repacholi didn't come in to the job in the usual way through a Labor rank and file vote, which caused some rankling among members, but rather, he was approached by the Labor Party through his predecessor Joel Fitzgibbon.

"I'd met Joel at functions and at the pub occasionally and we had chatted, just general stuff, but politics is not something I'd ever considered," he admits.

That's not surprising, because he sure doesn't look like a typical pollie. He stands 203cm (6'8") and weighs 142 kilos (just over 22 stone) - "I've lost some, I was 151.7 kilos just after Christmas".

It's no surprise that he's a committed carnivore, although equally comfortable with a beer or Hunter wine in hand.

"Lentil salads don't figure too prominently, put it that way," he says. "Rib eye, scotch fillet, a juicy porterhouse... I love them all, and I'm a massive lamb chops fan."

And then there's his trademark beard, which looks like it has come straight off the set of Game of Thrones.

He grew it when Alex was pregnant with their first child Zoe.

"She was growing something, so I thought I'd grow something too," he says.

"If we win the next election I might shave it off for charity, but I'll grow it back.

"It's not the longest beard in Parliament by the way. Pat Dodson, who's a great bloke, has me covered."

He first met Alex on a night out in 2009 when Cessnock was hosting the national pistol shooting titles.

"When I mentioned I was in town for the shooting and that I was an Olympian, she thought it was the worst pick-up line ever," he says, breaking into a laugh. "She looked me up on Wikipedia the next day though, so I made an impression."

His working-class roots shine through on any number of levels.

His attire for starters, where wearing a tie is overwhelmingly one of his job's greatest evils. "It's the thing I hate most. I'm a shorts and t-shirt guy," he says.

And then there's his view of politicians.

"Not all politicians are stuck-up wankers," he says. "People should be able to come up to us in a pub and say hi. I'm no better than anyone else. We all just have different roles we play in what we do."

His language too. It's forthright, with the occasional expletive - although by mining standards he's a poet laureate - such as when he described India as a "shit hole" on a social media post, admittedly long before his political career, but which caused a bit of a furore at the time. It has long since been deleted.

While accepting of people who see things more conservatively than he does - "that's healthy, we can all have robust discussion, then a beer afterwards... in the end we all have a vote" - he admits to being frustrated in parliament by the Opposition "who say no to pretty much everything".

"In general we're all there to make Australia a better place," he says.

"So with issues like housing, both sides want the best outcome but we see different ways to get there. I get that.

"But I can't understand their position on the $15billion Reconstruction Fund, for example. That's bringing manufacturing back to Australia - something we'd lost for so long - to regions like the Hunter... safe, secure employment. It's something that should have been approved with the snap of a finger. It's bullshit, putting politics above people."

On the very tricky tightrope walk between the mining industry and the environment - ask Joel Fitzgibbon about that one - he's unashamedly supportive of mining provided it meets environmental requirements (you can hear the Greens screaming in frustration).

"Not one coalmine in this state is government owned. They're owned by private companies and they will decide when they will or won't close," he says.

"We have the best quality, cleanest coal in the world. If other countries don't use our coal, they'll buy elsewhere, which will just put more emissions in the air."

He strongly supports Tanya Plibersek's decision as Environment Minister to approve a new mine in central Queensland - "it was a no brainer, it passed the environmental standards required and was smack bang in the middle of a mining area" - as much as he agrees with her decision to knock back a potential new mine by Clive Palmer that was just 10 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef catchment.

"Both correct decisions," he says.

The thorny issue of soaring energy prices, which the Coalition has been hammering in Question Time, is another red flag issue.

"The Coalition sat on the fence for 10 years, had 22 different energy policies, however many energy ministers... so it's a bit rich coming from them.

"And then we learn Angus Taylor hid a report until after the election that we were about to experience a 20 per cent energy price rise. I've been kicked out of Parliament twice over that. At least I got my point across - obviously a bit too strongly and had to spend some time in the sin bin."

A bit like he may have to do at home unless the renos get under way soon - and this time, not even the Paris Olympics can save him. For a straight shooter, that's just how it is.

3:20 PM (4 minutes ago)

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