Graham Perrett

Graham Perrett MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Moreton
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2007
Preceded by	Gary Hardgrave
Personal details
Born	(1966-01-05) 5 January 1966 St George, Queensland
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Lea Scoines
Children	2
Alma mater	Queensland University of Technology
Occupation	Solicitor

Graham Douglas Perrett (born 5 January 1966) is an Australian Labor politician, and a member of the Australian House of Representatives in the seat of Moreton. Perrett has a diploma of teaching, and a Bachelor of Laws, and has previously worked in the Queensland Government under Peter Beattie.

Perrett was born in St George in Queensland in 1966 (seventh child in a family of ten children),^[1] and received a diploma of teaching in 1985.^[2] He taught for three years in schools on the Darling Downs and Far North Queensland, then another eight years in Brisbane.

In 1993, he completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours through the University of Queensland. His honours thesis was a study of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Perrett later received a Bachelor of Laws from Queensland University of Technology in 1999. He worked as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland from 1999 to 2005 in Quinn & Scattini.^[3] After working with the Queensland Independent Education Union as an organiser he was given a role as Senior Policy Adviser for then Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie in 2005, and later for the Minister for Health, Stephen Robertson. Perrett previously ran unsuccessfully for the federal seat of Moreton in 2004.^[2]

Perrett has represented the seat of Moreton, Queensland, since the 2007 Australian federal election^[4] where he ended Gary Hardgrave's 11-year term in office with a 7.6-point swing.^[5] Perrett described the victory as surprising, stating "In my wildest dreams I certainly didn't expect that the seat would be decided as early as it was".^[5] Perrett also claimed the victory, over a former multicultural affairs minister, could be put down to the fact that "people are ready for hope and aren't prepared to stick with the tired old fear factor of John Howard".^[4]

A major issue in the 2007 Moreton campaign was the Australian Labor Party (on behalf of Perrett) branding Perrett's rival, Gary Hardgrave, a "racist", after the standing member said that Moreton was being "exhausted" by the influx of African refugees.^[4] Perrett campaigned primarily on issues relating to health and education in the lead up to the election, whilst Hardgrave focused primarily on roads, according to a radio interview.^[6]

Graham Perrett published his first novel, The Twelfth Fish , in October 2008. The sex scenes in The Twelfth Fish drew attention from the political class and the media. In the lead-up to the 2010 federal election a Christian group put out a flyer calling Perrett the Member for Porn. Perrett won his seat in the 2010 election with a margin of 1.1 points and went on to publish a sequel in September 2013, The Big Fig.^[7][8]

In his teaching days Perrett played in a band called Once I Killed a Gopher with a Stick and remains a keen fan of music and literature. He enjoys writing and bushwalking.^[9]

Since the 2016 federal election, Perrett currently holds the position as Opposition Whip.

References