Dan Repacholi
Daniel Repacholi (born 1982) is an Australian politician and sport shooter who has served as the Australian Labor Party member for the Division of Hunter in the House of Representatives since 2022, following re-election in 2025.[1] A five-time Olympian competing in men's 10m air pistol and 50m pistol events across the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio, and 2020 Tokyo Games, he did not medal at the Olympics but earned three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games—in pairs free pistol in 2006, air pistol in 2014, and free pistol in 2018—along with three bronzes.[2][3] Prior to entering politics, Repacholi left school at age 15 to train as a fitter and turner, later working as a coal miner in the Hunter Valley from 2009 to 2017, reflecting the region's industrial heritage.[1][4] In May 2025, he was appointed Special Envoy for Men's Health, focusing on issues like mental health and preventive care among men, drawing from his personal experiences with weight management and athletic discipline.[5] His parliamentary tenure has included advocacy for regional development in a coal-dependent electorate amid energy policy debates, though he faced pre-election scrutiny over past social media associations and comments deemed inappropriate.[6][7]Early life
Childhood and family
Dan Repacholi was born on 15 May 1982 in Carlton, Victoria, and raised in Melton South, an outer suburb of Melbourne.[8][9] His upbringing was marked by a working-class family environment, with his mother working as a nurse on nights and weekends, and his father employed as a quarantine officer.[10] These parental occupations demanded resilience and adaptability, shaping a household where practical responsibilities were prioritized over material excess. Repacholi grew up alongside his older brother Jason, who later collaborated with him in trade work, and younger brother Stephen, with the siblings engaging in typical childhood outdoor play that required returning home by streetlights under strict parental oversight.[10] He also has an older half-sister, Karen, whom he discovered and connected with at age 26, maintaining a relationship for over a decade thereafter.[10] The family's dynamics fostered self-reliance, evidenced by Repacholi's decision to leave Wilson Park Secondary College at age 15—after attending Melton South Primary School—to commence a trade apprenticeship as a fitter and turner.[10][6] This path aligned with the manual labor influences of his parents' professions and the regional, hands-on ethos of his Melbourne outskirts community, emphasizing vocational skills over extended academic pursuits. Early family routines, influenced by his mother's shift work, included visits to the local Melton Pistol Club, introducing him to shooting sports through casual exposure rather than formal training.[10] Such experiences underscored a formative emphasis on discipline and family-supported initiative in a modest socioeconomic setting.[10]Education and vocational training
Repacholi attended Wilson Park Secondary College in Victoria but departed formal education at age 15, describing himself as not the greatest student and eager to leave school.[11][9] Instead of pursuing academic qualifications, he immediately entered vocational training through a trade apprenticeship as a fitter and turner, a decision that emphasized practical, hands-on skill development over institutional credentials.[4][6] He began his apprenticeship at D&H Rodwell Tooling, where he spent the next decade honing mechanical expertise in machining and tooling, foundational to trades involving precision engineering.[10][11] This pathway, completed without incurring significant debt through programs like TAFE, equipped him with employable skills that contrasted with prolonged university study, enabling direct entry into industrial work including eventual roles in mining maintenance.[6][12] Repacholi has credited this early vocational focus for providing tangible, real-world proficiency rather than theoretical knowledge, underscoring a trajectory of self-directed improvement via empirical experience.[4]Shooting career
Early involvement and training
Repacholi commenced pistol shooting at the age of 12 in the Melbourne area of Victoria, where he participated at local ranges and demonstrated early aptitude after becoming legally eligible to handle firearms.[13][14] His initial involvement centered on pistol disciplines, joining the Melton Pistol Club as a junior member to build foundational skills.[2] Early training emphasized core marksmanship principles, including proper stance, grip, aim acquisition, and controlled trigger pulls, practiced consistently at club facilities to foster precision and mental focus required for events like 10m air pistol. By age 17, this regimen had elevated him to Australia's top-ranked pistol shooter, reflecting dedicated local sessions supplemented by national-level coaching on technique refinement and equipment calibration.[15] Concurrently, Repacholi navigated trade-offs between shooting and vocational pursuits, beginning an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner around age 15 while maintaining rigorous practice schedules. This balance underscored causal connections between physical conditioning from manual labor—enhancing core stability and endurance—and shooting proficiency, as sustained fitness directly supported steady firearm control during extended sessions.[16]Olympic Games participation
Repacholi debuted at the Olympics in Athens 2004 at age 22, competing in the men's 10 m air pistol and 50 m pistol events. He scored 571 in qualification for the 10 m air pistol to place 36th, and 551 in the 50 m pistol to finish 23rd, failing to advance to finals in either discipline.[3][17] At the 2008 Beijing Games, Repacholi again entered both pistol events, recording 573 (31st) in 10 m air pistol qualification and 540 (40th) in 50 m pistol, with scores reflecting challenges in consistency against top international competitors who averaged higher precision under similar conditions.[3][18] His third appearance came at London 2012, where he achieved personal best qualification scores of 575 (28th) in 10 m air pistol and 557 (19th) in 50 m pistol, demonstrating improved technical execution but still short of finals thresholds dominated by scores exceeding 580 in air pistol.[3][19] In Rio 2016, Repacholi's results dipped to 565 (44th) in 10 m air pistol and 545 (28th) in 50 m pistol, amid a field where qualification cutoffs demanded sub-1 cm grouping accuracy over 60 shots, underscoring the sport's narrowing margins for advancement.[3][20] Repacholi's fifth Olympics in Tokyo 2020 featured the men's 10 m air pistol, where he scored 568 to place 30th, and the mixed team event with partner Ellie Cole, qualifying at 576 before a semifinal score of 380 for 8th place—his career-best Olympic result, though finals required totals over 385.[3][21]| Olympic Games | Event | Qualification Score | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athens 2004 | 10 m Air Pistol | 571 | 36th[3] |
| 50 m Pistol | 551 | 23rd[3] | |
| Beijing 2008 | 10 m Air Pistol | 573 | 31st[3] |
| 50 m Pistol | 540 | 40th[3] | |
| London 2012 | 10 m Air Pistol | 575 | 28th[3] |
| 50 m Pistol | 557 | 19th[3] | |
| Rio 2016 | 10 m Air Pistol | 565 | 44th[3] |
| 50 m Pistol | 545 | 28th[3] | |
| Tokyo 2020 | 10 m Air Pistol | 568 | 30th[3] |
| Mixed Team | 576 (qual) / 380 (semi) | 8th[3] |
Commonwealth Games and other achievements
Repacholi competed at four Commonwealth Games, earning three gold medals and three bronze medals in pistol events. At the 2006 Melbourne Games, he won gold in the men's 50m free pistol pairs and bronze in the men's 10m air pistol pairs, while placing fourth individually in the 10m air pistol and 11th in the 50m free pistol. In 2010 at Delhi, he claimed bronze in the individual 10m air pistol and finished fourth in the pairs event. His performances peaked in later editions: gold in the individual 10m air pistol at the 2014 Glasgow Games, paired with bronze in the 50m free pistol; and gold in the individual 50m free pistol at the 2018 Gold Coast Games, with a fourth-place finish in the 10m air pistol.[23] Beyond the Commonwealth Games, Repacholi amassed over 50 Australian national titles in pistol disciplines, including multiple championships in 10m air pistol and 50m free pistol. He set a national finals record of 228.3 in an unspecified pistol event at the 2017 National Championships in Cessnock, New South Wales. Repacholi also participated in ISSF World Cup competitions, posting competitive qualification scores such as 578 in 10m air pistol at a 2005 event and 567 in 2024 at Munich, though major podium finishes in these international series remain limited in available records.[10][24][25][26] Following his transition to politics, Repacholi maintained involvement in shooting sports through occasional competition, securing the men's 10m air pistol national title in 2024 and both 10m air pistol and 50m pistol titles in 2025, marking his 14th national championship in the former discipline since resuming competitive shooting. These results underscore his enduring proficiency and advocacy for accessible training in pistol shooting, emphasizing practical support for the sport amid regulatory discussions.[27][28][29]