Andrew Nikolic

Brigadier (Retd) Andrew Nikolic AM CSC MP
Government Whip in the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 February 2015
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott
Preceded by	Scott Buchholz
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bass
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 September 2013
Preceded by	Geoff Lyons
Personal details
Born	(1961-06-20) 20 June 1961 Yugoslavia
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Christine Nikolic
Children	Three
Alma mater	Officer Cadet School, Portsea
Awards	Member of the Order of Australia Conspicuous Service Cross
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1979–2008
Rank	Brigadier
Commands	Army Recruit Training Centre Parachute Training School Australian National Commander, Southern Iraq
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan Iraq War

Brigadier (Retd) Andrew Alexander Nikolic (Serbian Cyrillic: Андру Александ Николић) AM CSC MP (born 20 June 1961 in Serbia, then Yugoslavia) is an Australian politician, retired senior Australian Army officer and a former public servant in the Department of Defence.^[1] He was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal Party of Australia representative for the Tasmanian seat of Bass at the 2013 federal election.^[2][3]

Early years

Nikolic was born in Serbia on 20 June 1961, and migrated to Australia as a four-year-old. He was raised in Melbourne and Adelaide.^[2][4][5]

Military career

Andrew Nikolic enlisted in the Australian Army in January 1979, and after completing recruit training was posted to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Following 18 months' service as an infantry soldier, he attended the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, and returned to the infantry corps as a second lieutenant in June 1981. He subsequently served in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Parachute) for almost seven years as a Platoon Commander, Reconnaissance Platoon Commander, Company Commander (Alpha Company), and as the battalion operations officer.^[2]

As a captain, Nikolic served as adjutant of the Adelaide University Regiment from 1986 to 1988,^[2] after which he taught tactics at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. As a lieutenant colonel, he served as the commanding officer / chief instructor of the Parachute Training School. He is a qualified static-line and free-fall parachute instructor, and in 2000–2001 led the Army "Red Berets" Parachute Display Team.^[4] As a colonel, in 2003 Nikolic became the first commandant appointed to lead the Army Recruit Training Centre to have also graduated as a soldier.

In 2007 he was promoted to brigadier and appointed director general of public affairs, the principal spokesperson for the Department of Defence.^[6]

Nikolic's overseas postings include service as:

• a United Nations Military Observer in Israel, Syria and South Lebanon (November 1990 – November 1991);
• Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Australian National Headquarters during the first deployment of Operation Slipper to Afghanistan (October 2001 – March 2002); and
• the National Command Representative for Australian Forces in Southern Iraq (February – October 2005).

In addition to his Australian command responsibilities in Southern Iraq, he concurrently served as Chief of Staff of the British-led Multinational Division (South East).

Nikolic is a graduate of the Army Command and Staff College, Joint Services Staff College, Philippines Joint College, United States Army War College, the United Nations Senior Leaders' Course, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He holds two Bachelors Degrees in Arts and Social Science, and three Masters Degrees in Management, International Relations, and Strategic Studies.^[4][7]

Civilian career in Department of Defence

From 2008 until 2011, Nikolic was employed in the Department of Defence as First Assistant Secretary, International Policy Division (a civilian Major General equivalent position), with responsibility for providing strategic level policy advice to government on Australia's international defence relations and Australian Defence Force operations.^[1]

Political career

Nikolic's pre-selection as the Liberal Party candidate for the 2013 federal election for the seat of Bass in Tasmania—which had been held by the Labor Party since 2007—was announced on 8 July 2011.^[3] He had expressed interest in contesting the seat of Bass after the leadup to the 2010 election when he was stationed in Canberra.^[8] Although an election was not required until 30 November 2013, Nikolic began campaigning actively soon after pre-selection. He set up a website for his candidacy, and his campaigning activities in the Launceston area were reported in the media,^[3][9] along with his confrontations with local environmentalists.^[10]

Following a satirical posting about him on Facebook in May 2012, it was reported that Nikolic had threatened to contact the employers of readers who "liked" the post. Nikolic denied making these threats, and later stated that he had no intention of contacting any employer; that his request was just for the posting to be removed.^[11][12][13] The story was published by international media.^[14][15] In July 2013, the story was subsequently the subject of a ruling by the Australian Press Council.^[16] In July 2013, in response to a complaint filed by Nikolic, the Australian Press Council found that The Sydney Morning Herald "failed to take reasonable steps to ensure accuracy and fairness" on some matters in its article on the subject.^[17]

In mid-August 2013, the then sitting member for Bass, Geoff Lyons MP, made false statements to high-school students about Nikolic's military career, claiming Nikolic had "misled" journalists about his role in the military. Lyons subsequently said he was "sincerely sorry" for his remarks about his opponent.^[18] Nikolic was elected in September 2013 with a swing of almost 11 percent.^[19]

On 13 February 2015, Nikolic was appointed Government Whip by the prime minister Tony Abbott, following his dismissal of Philip Ruddock from the position of Chief Government Whip.^[20]

Family

Nikolic married Launceston-born Christine Symons in 1986, and they have owned property in Launceston for most of their married life. They have three children, two girls and a boy. After being Canberra-based for many years, they moved to Launceston in 2011.^[4][7][8][9]

Publications

• "Iran and the United States : Interests, Options, Consequences". USAWC Strategy Research Project (US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania). 30 March 2007. 
• "Let's not devalue our troops' role". The Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania): 25. 13 November 2011. 
• "Three views on how to make the North prosper". The Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania). 19 November 2012. 
• "HADR: in search of low-cost innovative solutions". Launceston, Tasmania: aspistrategist.org.au. 8 May 2013. 

Honours and awards

Ribbon	Award	Date and reference
	Member of the Order of Australia (AM)	26 January 2010[21]
	Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC)	26 January 2002[22]
	Australian Active Service Medal	[23]
	Afghanistan Medal	[23]
	Iraq Medal	[23]
	Australian Service Medal	with two clasps 'South East Asia' and 'Middle East'[23]
	Defence Force Service Medal with 2 Rosettes	for 25–29 years of service[23]
	Australian Defence Medal	[23]
	United Nations Medal	for service with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO)
	Iraq Medal	(United Kingdom)[23]
	Commendation for bravery	1987 (from the South Australian Commissioner of Police)[4]

References