John Murphy (Australian politician)
Encyclopedia
John Paul Murphy Australia
n politician, is an Australian Labor Party
member of the Australian House of Representatives
since October 1998, representing Lowe
and then Reid
, New South Wales
. He was born in Dunedoo, New South Wales
. He was educated at Waverley College in NSW and worked with the Veterans Affairs Department for 20 years before moving to the Merit Protection Review Agency for eight years, including six years as Manager. Murphy served as a Councillor on Drummoyne Council (now part of Canada Bay Council) from 1995 to 1998.
Murphy gained pre-selection for the ALP over the high profile Michael Costello, former head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian Stock Exchange following protests by local ALP members who did not want Costello (who lived outside the electorate) being imposed on them.
Lowe's previous MP was Paul Zammit, a Liberal who turned Independent in protest over the Howard Government's policies on aircraft noise. Standing as an independent in the 1998 election, Zammit's preferences flowed to Murphy to help him win the seat for Labor. Murphy has retained his seat at every subsequent election.
He is nominally a member of the NSW Right and holds socially conservative views on most moral issues, such as abortion and stem-cell research. Murphy campaigned against the Howard Government's removal of cross-media ownership restrictions and has been a long-standing critic of media proprietors, such as Rupert Muroch and the late Kerry Packer. He has also campaigned against any expansion of Sydney Airport and once told the House of Representatives that the Chairman of Sydney Airport, Max Moore-Wilton, "should be flogged" for his failure to act on aircraft noise which is a major issue in his electorate of Lowe.
Murphy was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Health Stephen Smith
from December 2001 to February 2003 and then Parliamentary Secretary to federal Labor leaders Simon Crean
, Mark Latham
, Kim Beazley
and Kevin Rudd
from February 2003 to December 2007. When Rudd become Prime Minister, Murphy became the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade. He left this position in a ministerial reshuffle which occurred on 19 February 2009 citing family reasons.
In September 2008, Murphy complained to Parliament that his wife received an inadequate portion of beef stroganoff, that she had bought from the parliamentary cafeteria. Murphy subsequently apologized for the misuse of parliamentary time following concerns raised by the media and fellow parliamentarians.
Following a electoral redistribution in 2009, Murphy's electorate was renamed Reid following significant changes to its boundaries. On 4 December 2009 he was preselected unopposed as Labor's candidate for the federal electorate of Reid.
John Murphy is noted in the media as having a strong opposing views to Gay Marriage in Australia. In an interview on the 27 August 2011, Murphy claimed that in his electorate he had a large number of Christian and Islamic voters and that granting permission to homosexuals and lesbians to marry was "a step too far". The interview sparked further debate on the topic within the Labor Party of which Murphy is a member.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician, is an Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
since October 1998, representing Lowe
Division of Lowe
The Division of Lowe was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was located in the inner western suburbs of Sydney, on the south shore of the Parramatta River...
and then Reid
Division of Reid
The Division of Reid is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the western suburbs of Sydney, and includes the suburbs of Abbotsford, Auburn , Berala , Breakfast Point, Burwood , Cabarita, Canada Bay, Chiswick, Concord, Concord West, Croydon , Drummoyne,...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He was born in Dunedoo, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He was educated at Waverley College in NSW and worked with the Veterans Affairs Department for 20 years before moving to the Merit Protection Review Agency for eight years, including six years as Manager. Murphy served as a Councillor on Drummoyne Council (now part of Canada Bay Council) from 1995 to 1998.
Murphy gained pre-selection for the ALP over the high profile Michael Costello, former head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian Stock Exchange following protests by local ALP members who did not want Costello (who lived outside the electorate) being imposed on them.
Lowe's previous MP was Paul Zammit, a Liberal who turned Independent in protest over the Howard Government's policies on aircraft noise. Standing as an independent in the 1998 election, Zammit's preferences flowed to Murphy to help him win the seat for Labor. Murphy has retained his seat at every subsequent election.
He is nominally a member of the NSW Right and holds socially conservative views on most moral issues, such as abortion and stem-cell research. Murphy campaigned against the Howard Government's removal of cross-media ownership restrictions and has been a long-standing critic of media proprietors, such as Rupert Muroch and the late Kerry Packer. He has also campaigned against any expansion of Sydney Airport and once told the House of Representatives that the Chairman of Sydney Airport, Max Moore-Wilton, "should be flogged" for his failure to act on aircraft noise which is a major issue in his electorate of Lowe.
Murphy was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Health Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith (Australian politician)
Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia....
from December 2001 to February 2003 and then Parliamentary Secretary to federal Labor leaders Simon Crean
Simon Crean
Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...
, Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
, Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
and Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
from February 2003 to December 2007. When Rudd become Prime Minister, Murphy became the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade. He left this position in a ministerial reshuffle which occurred on 19 February 2009 citing family reasons.
In September 2008, Murphy complained to Parliament that his wife received an inadequate portion of beef stroganoff, that she had bought from the parliamentary cafeteria. Murphy subsequently apologized for the misuse of parliamentary time following concerns raised by the media and fellow parliamentarians.
Following a electoral redistribution in 2009, Murphy's electorate was renamed Reid following significant changes to its boundaries. On 4 December 2009 he was preselected unopposed as Labor's candidate for the federal electorate of Reid.
John Murphy is noted in the media as having a strong opposing views to Gay Marriage in Australia. In an interview on the 27 August 2011, Murphy claimed that in his electorate he had a large number of Christian and Islamic voters and that granting permission to homosexuals and lesbians to marry was "a step too far". The interview sparked further debate on the topic within the Labor Party of which Murphy is a member.