Paul is aged 44 and married to Manuela. They have two children, Gabriel aged 13 and Hugo, aged 1 year.

He was the principal of a strategic consulting firm serving the communications sector and was previously Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, at Optus for eight years.  He is a well-known figure in communications policy in Australia and recently wrote a highly regarded book on broadband and telecommunications, Wired Brown Land.

Paul previously worked as Senior Advisor, and then Chief of Staff to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, during the Howard Government.

He has dual first class honours degrees in law and economics from The University of Sydney and an MBA from Columbia University in New York where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Paul has been a member of the Liberal Party since he was 16 and was active in student politics at Sydney University.  He was a champion university debater, twice reaching the finals of the World Universities Debating Championship.

Paul was born in the United Kingdom and moved to Australia with his family when he was two.