Chris Bombolas

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Chris Bombolas (known often just as Bomber) is an Australian politician and television presenter. A former sports reporter for the Nine Network in Brisbane, he now serves as the Australian Labor Party member for Chatsworth in the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Bombolas was born in Newcastle, New South Wales and moved to Brisbane in 1970. He completed his secondary education at Brisbane State High School before attending the Queensland University of Technology, where he gained a Bachelor of Business degree in Communications, majoring in journalism and public relations. He became a radio host and worked for 4BC, 4BK and Triple M before joining Channel Nine, Queensland in 1985. Bombolas reported on sport, read the sport news on weekends and occasionally commentated for Brisbane Broncos games that were broadcast in Brisbane. He was one of many on-air staff at the network to accept voluntary redundancies in June 2006, ending a 21-year association with the Nine Network.

Several weeks later, Bombolas announced his intention to run for the Australian Labor Party in the seat of Chatsworth in the 2006 election. This saw him challenge the incumbent member, Liberal shadow treasurer and leadership aspirant Michael Caltabiano. The campaign was amongst the most high-profile of the election, due to the high name recognition of both Bombolas and Caltabiano, but Bombolas ultimately emerged successful, narrowly winning the seat.