Peter Debnam

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Liberal leader Peter Debnam appears in the 2007 campaign's first TV ad, "Something is rotten".

Peter Debnam (born 21 April 1954), Australian politician, is the leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, Redfern/Waterloo and Citizenship. He was elected unopposed on 1 September 2005 following the resignation of former leader John Brogden.

Debnam was educated at the Royal Australian Naval College, where he graduated in 1974. He served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1972 to 1980. After leaving the Navy he studied at the Macquarie University Graduate School of Management, where he gained an MBA. He held positions at Dalgety Farmers Limited, Hawker de Havilland and Australian Aircraft Consortium before entering politics.

In 1994 Debnam was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as Liberal member for Vaucluse. The following year the Liberal government was defeated by Labor under Bob Carr. Between 1997 and 2005 Debnam was successively Shadow Minister for Housing and for Planning and Urban Affairs, Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Transport, Shadow Minister for Police and Shadow Minister for Transport Services.

Following Brogden's sudden resignation as Liberal Leader, O'Farrell, as Deputy Leader, was initially the favourite to become leader, but Debnam steadily gained ground as he lobbied Liberal MPs, and on 31 August O'Farrell withdrew from the contest.

Peter is married to wife Deborah and has two adult step-children, Ben and Angela, and a grandson, William.