Peter McGauran

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The Hon. Peter John McGauran (born 16 November 1955), Australian politician, was a National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Gippsland in Victoria, from March 1983 to 2008. He is the brother of Senator Julian McGauran. He was born in Yallourn, Victoria, and was educated at the Jesuit Xavier College in Melbourne and the University of Melbourne. He was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics.

McGauran was appointed Minister for Science and Technology in the Howard government in 1996, however, on September 26 1997, he was forced to resign his position due to Ministerial impropriety in relation to the "Travel Rorts" affair. He returned to the ministry in 1998, as Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation 1998-2001, Minister for Science 2001-04, and Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs 2004-05. In July 2005 he was promoted to Cabinet and became Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, a position he held until November 2007.

After the resignation of Nationals leader Mark Vaile, McGauran was expected to challenge for the leadership, however he dropped out of the race, stating that it was time for younger members to contribute to the party, and that he looked forward to using his experience to help them.

On 4 April 2008, McGauran announced his resignation from parliament, citing plans to pursue interests in the thoroughbred racing industry.^[1] With the resulting June 2008 by-election to be contested by the three major parties, the seat is at risk of being lost to Labor for the first time, after the margin declined to 5.91 percent at the 2007 federal election, a worsening of coalition polling since the election, and continued division over a Liberal-National merger.^[2]

After announcing his resignation, he revealed events that occurred back in 1996 where he was physically assaulted by murdered underworld kingpin Alphonse Gangitano.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Newspaper article on Peter McGauran

Political offices
Preceded by Peter Cook	Minister for Science & Technology 1996 – 1997	Succeeded by Nick Minchin
Preceded by Richard Alston	Minister for Arts and the Centenary of Federation 1998 – 2001	Succeeded by Rod Kemp
Preceded by Nick Minchin	Minister for Science 2001 – 2004	Succeeded by Brendan Nelson
Preceded by Gary Hardgrave	Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs 2004 – 2005	Succeeded by John Cobb
Preceded by Warren Truss	Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 2005 – 2007	Succeeded by Tony Burke
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Peter Nixon	Member for Gippsland 1983 – present	Vacant

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Persondata
NAME	McGauran, Peter John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	16 November 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH	Yallourn, Victoria, Australia
DATE OF DEATH	Living
PLACE OF DEATH