Craig Kelly (politician)

Craig Kelly MP (born 29 September 1963), an Australian federal politician, is a member of the Australian House of Representatives. Since the 2010 federal election, he has represented the electorate of Hughes, in New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia, succeeding Danna Vale.

Early years and background

Prior to his election, Kelly was a first grade rugby union player with Southern Districts, and a small business owner in the manufacturing and trade sector. He was the founder and president of the Southern Sydney Retailers Association,^[1] and a well-known advocate for small business, including making recommendations to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.^[2][3]

Politics

National Disability Insurance Scheme

In 2013 Kelly was nominated by the then Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, as the representative of the Coalition on the bipartisan committee overseeing the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Kelly was the only sitting member of the House of Representatives with first-hand knowledge of raising a child with severe disabilities.^[4]

Kelly issued the following statement on being nominated:

"Beginning the implementation of the scheme is arguably the most important action that will be undertaken by the 43rd parliament.

As the only member of the House of Representatives to have the first-hand experience of raising a child with a serious disability, and dealing on a day-to-day basis with the complex and inadequate patchwork of support, let me say this: I understand why this is needed and I know that it needs to be done right.“It is an honour to have been nominated by the Leader of the Opposition, and appointed by the parliament to serve on this important committee.

I understand I carry the weight of the hopes and needs of carers, families and people with disabilities right across the country. I pledge not to let them down.’’^[4]

Defence travel leave entitlements 2012

Kelly and the President of the NSW Commandos Association, Barry Grant, fought Labor Government cuts in the 2012 budget to entitlements for defence personnel to travel home during holiday times. Kelly and Grant put together a petition in favour of reinstating the entitlements that was circulated Australia-wide, attracting well over 10,000 signatures. With Kelly's help a disallowance motion was moved in the House of Representatives that forced the Labor Government to reinstate the entitlements. This affected upwards of 22,000 service men and women.^[5]

Carbon pricing

Kelly opposed carbon pricing in Australia and addressed in a rally of about 2,000 people in Hyde Park, describing the reform as a "poisonous, toxic tax" and claiming that the Federal Labor Government was destroying Australia's prosperity by undermining the country's competitive advantage. He also stated that "Every Coalition member will sign a blood oath to get rid of this tax."^[6]

Constitution amendment on local government 2013

Kelly was one of only three members of the House of Representatives to speak against the proposal to change the Australian Constitution to enable the Federal Government to place any terms and conditions on financial assistance given to local government councils.

During the debate in parliament Kelly said:

Our Australian Constitution is not just another piece of legislation; it is the document that is the heart of our very democracy. In drafting our Constitution, our forefathers well understood the dangers of centralisation of powers. They understood that decisions about how our nation is governed are best decided by those closest to the coalface. So our Constitution was designed with built-in checks and balances, to limit the power of politicians and government bureaucrats so that no particular person or group had total control. It has served our nation well for over 100 years. Therefore, we should not make any change to our Constitution lightly.^[7]

Wind farms

Kelly has been an critic of federal subsidies for industrial wind farms. In a speech in parliament he criticised the use of federal funds to obtain wind power of "questionable reliability" in favour of spending on other critical social needs.^[8] He attended a "wind power fraud rally" of 150 people in front of Parliament House, Canberra, which called for the abolition of the renewable energy target and a ban on any new wind farms.^[9]

Craig Thomson tit-for-tat

In 2012, Kelly was referred to the parliamentary privileges committee over a range of allegations, including a failure to declare on his register of interests his directorship of several companies.^[10] The Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, alleged Kelly had failed to disclose his directorship of three entities which he had not officially relinquished until March 2011, eight months after the 2010 election.^[11] Under parliamentary rules, members have 28 days to declare any interests, including shareholdings and company directorships.^[11]

On the same day as the accusations were levelled at him, Kelly defended himself on the floor of the House of Representatives stating:

Earlier today the Leader of the House made a number of assertions relating to me and my register of members' interests. His comments to the House were incorrect, and I would like to clarify the inaccuracies in those assertions. The Leader of the House asserted that I am a solicitor. I am not a solicitor, and I do not have a law degree. I have never held myself out to be a solicitor nor made any representation to that effect to any person. I have not derived any income or personal benefit from any matters relating to this allegation.

The Leader of the House also asserted that I failed to declare my directorship of several companies. I took steps to resign my directorships of all companies named in August 2010. I provided instructions to my accountant to this effect. My accountant today has confirmed that this is correct, but he did not act on my instructions until March 2011 due to ill-health and hospitalisation on his behalf. At the time I completed my register of members' interests I understood the instructions had been implemented, and I believed them to be correct.

The Parliamentary privileges committee decided not to pursue the matter any further. It was suggested that the move was an attempt by the Labor government to divert attention from accusations against Craig Thomson.^[13]

References