Representative Jason Wood Contact information

Jason Peter Wood was born on May 24th, 1968 in Sutherland, New South Wales. He grew up in Ferny Creek, Victoria where he attended Ferny Creek Primary School and Ferntree Gully Technical School. His final year of secondary education was completed at Boronia Secondary College. Wood had a keen interest in outdoor education and briefly worked as a school camp coordinator before joining the Victoria Police in 1988.

As a member of the Victoria Police, Wood served as a detective in the organised crime squad from 1990 and was involved in investigating gangland figure Alphonse Gangitano. He completed a graduate diploma in innovative service management and a Master of Applied Science at RMIT University. In 2003, Wood became a senior sergeant in the counter-terrorism coordination unit and was known for his commendable work in the force.

Wood joined the Liberal Party in 2000 and served as the vice-president of the party’s Boronia/Dandenong Ranges branch from 2002 to 2003. He contested the Division of Holt for the Liberal Party at the 2001 federal election but was unsuccessful. Wood’s political career took off when he was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2004 federal election, retaining the Division of La Trobe for the Liberals following the retirement of Bob Charles. He served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage as well as the Joint Statutory Committee for the Australian Crime Commission.

In 2010, Wood was defeated by Australian Labor Party candidate Laura Smyth but regained La Trobe at the 2013 election. During his political career, Wood campaigned on law and order issues, particularly in relation to African youth gangs, and was appointed as the chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration in 2013.

After winning re-election in 2019, Wood was appointed as the Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs in the Morrison government. He held this position until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. Wood is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party and lives with his family in Mount Dandenong, approximately 11kms outside his electorate, in the Division of Casey.