Ronan Lee
Encyclopedia
Ronan Lee is an Irish-Australian political advisor and former Greens member of the Queensland
State Parliament. Lee represented the seat of Indooroopilly
since he was first elected as an Australian Labor Party
member in 2001. Lee joined the Queensland Greens
in 2008 citing the Bligh Government's inaction on climate change and environment protection. Since leaving Parliament in 2009 Lee has lived in Tasmania and run his environmental communications business.
Lee was educated at St Patrick's College, Cavan, St Columban's College, Brisbane and the University of Queensland where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
and surprised many by defeating former Queensland Liberal Leader Denver Beanland
in the state elections that year. The surprise result was mainly due to two factors: the huge margin that re-elected the Beattie Labor Government and the strong grass-roots campaign employed by Lee.
In 2004, Lee was re-elected to his seat. In 2006, he won a third parliamentary term when he defeated the Liberal Party's Peter Turner. Once again, Green preferences were crucial to Lee securing his seat.
With Beattie's retirement in 2007, Premier Bligh appointed Lee Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Main Roads and Local Government. In this role Lee advocated for greatly increased spending on bikeways and public transport, proposing a dramatic expansion of Brisbane's CityCat ferry fleet and a new rail line to Brisbane's western suburbs. Funding for these projects he argued should come at the expense of new highway construction.
In 2008 Bligh moved Lee to the newly created role of Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Premier in Western Queensland where he was to focus on consumer protection and organising the state's No Interest Loans Scheme for low income earners. In this role Lee was critical of broad reach of the State's anti-public nuisance laws which he said contributed to the controversial and violent arrest of a homeless pensioner.
Following the success of the tree clearing campaign Lee shifted focus with a campaign to protect Queensland's remaining wild rivers, the environment issue for which he has been most closely associated. Sponsoring Parliamentary ePetitions and working with peak environment groups again including The Wilderness Society, the Wildlife Protection Society of Queensland and Queensland Conservation to promote grassroots campaigns and lobbying of MPs and bureaucrats. Queensland's Wild Rivers Act was passed in 2005 with the first "wild river declarations" in 2007 with protection for Gulf of Carpentaria river systems Settlement Creek, Morning Inlet, and the Gregory and Staaten Rivers, and the waterways of Fraser and Hinchinbrook Islands. Since then the Queensland Government protected river systems on Cape York Peninsula - the Archer, Stewart and Lockhart River Basins and the Wenlock River.
Lee is opposed to nuclear power and as a Labor MP Lee campaigned against nuclear power and uranium mining. As a Green MP Lee introduced two private member's Bills to Parliament aiming to permanently ban uranium mining and uranium exploration. Both bills received their first reading in parliament but lapsed once the 2009 Queensland election was announced and the parliament dissolved.
Despite his long-term environment activism Lee was labelled a strange fit by some political commentators for the Greens as a result of his social conservative views on abortion
and the use of embryonic stem cell
s in research. The Greens policy favours reproductive freedom and embryonic stem cell research but representatives often cite conscience reasons to exercise a free vote.
Lee subsequently lost the seat of Indooroopilly to the Liberal National Party
's Scott Emerson
at the March 21, 2009 election with Emerson taking 44.45 per cent of the vote; the ALP's Sarah Warner 26.54 per cent; and Lee 25.93 per cent. A factor in Lee's loss was the fact that his defection split the left-of-centre vote between the Greens and the ALP. Despite Lee's defection a "sweetheart preference deal" was developed with the Queensland Labor Party, under which Labor preferences were supposed to be delivered to Lee in return for Greens' preferences in 14 key Labor seats. For Lee, this failed to gain any electoral ground as Labor beat him on the primary vote. Therefore Labor's preferences were not distributed.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
State Parliament. Lee represented the seat of Indooroopilly
Electoral district of Indooroopilly
The district of Indooroopilly is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland.The district is based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, and straddles both sides of the Brisbane River. It is named for the suburb of Indooroopilly and also includes the...
since he was first elected as 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 in 2001. Lee joined the Queensland Greens
Queensland Greens
The Queensland Greens is a Green party in the Australian state of Queensland, and a member of the federation of the Australian Greens. The party was founded in November 1991 and made its electoral debut at the 1993 federal election...
in 2008 citing the Bligh Government's inaction on climate change and environment protection. Since leaving Parliament in 2009 Lee has lived in Tasmania and run his environmental communications business.
Lee was educated at St Patrick's College, Cavan, St Columban's College, Brisbane and the University of Queensland where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Parliamentary career
In 2001, Lee obtained preselection for the seat of IndooroopillyElectoral district of Indooroopilly
The district of Indooroopilly is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland.The district is based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, and straddles both sides of the Brisbane River. It is named for the suburb of Indooroopilly and also includes the...
and surprised many by defeating former Queensland Liberal Leader Denver Beanland
Denver Beanland
Denver Edward Beanland , Australian state politician. Denver was elected as an Alderman of the Brisbane City Council in 1976 and served on that Council, including a period as Deputy Lord Mayor of Brisbane until 1986. Denver was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly, in 1986, as the member...
in the state elections that year. The surprise result was mainly due to two factors: the huge margin that re-elected the Beattie Labor Government and the strong grass-roots campaign employed by Lee.
In 2004, Lee was re-elected to his seat. In 2006, he won a third parliamentary term when he defeated the Liberal Party's Peter Turner. Once again, Green preferences were crucial to Lee securing his seat.
Parliamentary Secretary
Following the 2006 election Premier Peter Beattie appointed Lee Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communities, Disability Services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Seniors and Youth. Lee's main focus was on youth policy arguing for a greater role for young people in government decision making and in favour of improved public transport services at night and on weekends.With Beattie's retirement in 2007, Premier Bligh appointed Lee Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Main Roads and Local Government. In this role Lee advocated for greatly increased spending on bikeways and public transport, proposing a dramatic expansion of Brisbane's CityCat ferry fleet and a new rail line to Brisbane's western suburbs. Funding for these projects he argued should come at the expense of new highway construction.
In 2008 Bligh moved Lee to the newly created role of Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Premier in Western Queensland where he was to focus on consumer protection and organising the state's No Interest Loans Scheme for low income earners. In this role Lee was critical of broad reach of the State's anti-public nuisance laws which he said contributed to the controversial and violent arrest of a homeless pensioner.
Environment activism
Lee has been involved with environment causes since his youth and is best known for his involvement with The Wilderness Society who welcomed his decision to join the Greens. During his time in Parliament Lee campaigned to end broadscale land clearing in Queensland a practice often involving dragging a heavy chain strung between two bull dozers to remove every tree and which destroyed contributing to Queensland having the sixth highest rate of land clearing in the world. A ban on most clearing in Queensland came into force in January 2007.Following the success of the tree clearing campaign Lee shifted focus with a campaign to protect Queensland's remaining wild rivers, the environment issue for which he has been most closely associated. Sponsoring Parliamentary ePetitions and working with peak environment groups again including The Wilderness Society, the Wildlife Protection Society of Queensland and Queensland Conservation to promote grassroots campaigns and lobbying of MPs and bureaucrats. Queensland's Wild Rivers Act was passed in 2005 with the first "wild river declarations" in 2007 with protection for Gulf of Carpentaria river systems Settlement Creek, Morning Inlet, and the Gregory and Staaten Rivers, and the waterways of Fraser and Hinchinbrook Islands. Since then the Queensland Government protected river systems on Cape York Peninsula - the Archer, Stewart and Lockhart River Basins and the Wenlock River.
Lee is opposed to nuclear power and as a Labor MP Lee campaigned against nuclear power and uranium mining. As a Green MP Lee introduced two private member's Bills to Parliament aiming to permanently ban uranium mining and uranium exploration. Both bills received their first reading in parliament but lapsed once the 2009 Queensland election was announced and the parliament dissolved.
Defection to the Greens
After the 2006 elections, Lee was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General, and was seen by some as an indication that he was in line for a cabinet position and had previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Main Roads and Local Government and the Minister for Communities, Disability Services, Aboriginal and Torries Strait Islander Partnerships, Seniors and Youth. However, in 2008 he surprised everyone by announcing that he had resigned from the ALP and was going to contest Indooroopilly as the endorsed candidate for the Greens.Despite his long-term environment activism Lee was labelled a strange fit by some political commentators for the Greens as a result of his social conservative views on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and the use of embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...
s in research. The Greens policy favours reproductive freedom and embryonic stem cell research but representatives often cite conscience reasons to exercise a free vote.
Lee subsequently lost the seat of Indooroopilly to the Liberal National Party
Liberal National Party
The Liberal National Party is a political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed on 26 July 2008 by the merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal and National parties.-History:...
's Scott Emerson
Scott Emerson
Scott Anthony Emerson is an Australian politician and former journalist. He has been a Liberal National Party member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2009, representing the electoral district of Indooroopilly in Brisbane's inner-west.- Biography :Emerson was born in Ipswich Queensland,...
at the March 21, 2009 election with Emerson taking 44.45 per cent of the vote; the ALP's Sarah Warner 26.54 per cent; and Lee 25.93 per cent. A factor in Lee's loss was the fact that his defection split the left-of-centre vote between the Greens and the ALP. Despite Lee's defection a "sweetheart preference deal" was developed with the Queensland Labor Party, under which Labor preferences were supposed to be delivered to Lee in return for Greens' preferences in 14 key Labor seats. For Lee, this failed to gain any electoral ground as Labor beat him on the primary vote. Therefore Labor's preferences were not distributed.