On the trail with Dan Repacholi, Labor’s straight shooter in coal country
Repacholi is Parliament’s tallest MP, an ex-coal miner and a five-time Olympian. He's also become one of Labor's most effective — and unusual — communicators.
Outgoing Labor member for Hunter, Joel Fitzgibbon, picked up the phone to anoint his successor in mid-2021. The man on the other end of the line, Dan Repacholi, had other ideas.
“I didn't call him back for two days because I just really wanted to get pissed,” Repacholi explains to Capital Brief over a burger in Cessnock.
That might not seem the typical politician’s answer, but Repacholi is not the typical politician. He’s Parliament’s tallest MP, an ex-coal miner and engineer, and a five-time Olympian.
Repacholi is something of a cult figure around Parliament — the Ned Kelly beard, the ocker turn of phrase, and a yearly calendar of him visiting burger joints that has become increasingly sought-after.
