| Kelvin Thomson MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Wills |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2 March 1996 |
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| Preceded by | Phil Cleary |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 May 1955 Coburg, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | lawyer, public servant, electorate secretary |
| Website | www.kelvinthomson.com.au |
Kelvin John Thomson (born 1 May 1955) is an Australian politician. Since March 1996 Thomson has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Wills in Victoria.
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Thomson was born in Coburg, Victoria. He has been active in improving the local environment of Pascoe Vale and north-western Melbourne from a young age. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne and, finishing first in his class, he was awarded the Supreme Court Prize for Law.
He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1975 and was a public servant and electorate secretary to Senator Gareth Evans before entering local politics serving as a councillor in the Coburg City Council from 1981 to 1988. He was the deputy mayor from 1983 to 1984 and 1987 to 1988.
Kelvin Thomson was married to Victorian Labor MP Marsha Thomson until they separated in 2003. They have two children.
In October 1988, Thomson was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for the Electoral district of Pascoe Vale. He was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from 1992 to 1994, and in 1994 he served as the Manager of Opposition Business.[1]
In 1996, Thomson was elected to the seat of Wills. In August 1997, Thomson joined the Opposition Shadow Ministry. From 2003 to 2004 he was Shadow Minister for the Environment and Heritage; Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Roads, Housing and Urban Development from 2004 to 2005; and in June 2005 he was appointed Shadow Minister for Public Accountability and Shadow Minister for Human Services. After the election of Kevin Rudd to party leadership in December 2006, Thomson was appointed to the position of Shadow Attorney-General.[1]
On 9 March 2007, it was revealed that Thomson had provided Melbourne gangland figure Tony Mokbel with a personal reference, describing Mokbel as a "responsible, caring husband and father". Thomson resigned from Labor's front bench after the reference became public. It was later revealed by the media that up until 2000, there had only been one mention of Tony Mokbel in the media, a positive article in the Herald Sun about the contributions Mokbel's businesses made to the local economy in Moreland.[2][3]
Thomson has previously attracted controversy with his comments regarding the link between migration and terrorism.[4] Thomson repeated his call to cut immigration levels in September 2009 following the release of a report stating that the population of Australia would grow to 35 million by 2049.[5] He has since been an advocate for sustainable population levels in Australia.
Thomson has a 14 Point Plan for Population Reform [6]
| Parliament of Australia | ||
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| Preceded by Phil Cleary |
Member for Wills 1996–present |
Incumbent |
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