Mal Brough

Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough (pronounced /ˈbrʌf/ Bruff; born 29 December 1961) is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland. Brough was President of the Queensland Liberal Party from May to September 2008.^[1]

Early life

He was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and was an Australian Army officer and businessman before entering politics. Former Family Feud host Rob Brough is his brother. Brough has Aboriginal ancestry.^[2]

Federal politics

Brough was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business 2000–01 and Minister for Employment Services 2001–04. In July 2004 he was moved to the portfolios of Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue. He was Minister for Families and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) and thus a member of the Howard Cabinet from January 2006 to November 2007.

Brough was the public face of the government's controversial Northern Territory Emergency Response, a package of measures designed to combat high rates of child neglect and abuse in the territory.

Brough lost his seat of Division of Longman in the 2007 election, following a 10.32% swing to the Labor Party's Jon Sullivan.^[3]

He was not a candidate at the 2010 federal election but has not ruled out a return to politics altogether.^[4]

State politics

Brough was elected as the President of the Queensland division of the Liberal Party in May 2008. He remained in that position after a vote in July 2008 to merge into the new Liberal National Party of Queensland, which he opposed, as the merger had not received final ratification from the federal Liberal Party. On 26 September 2008 he resigned from his post, saying “You try and do the right thing and, quite frankly, at this point it’s all over the shop and it’s no wonder voters get so disenchanted with the non-Labor side of politics.”^[5]

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