John Gilbert BrogdenAM (born 28 March 1969) is an Australian mental health and suicide prevention advocate,suicide survivor,businessman and former NSW politician. Brogden is the President of LifeLine International,Patron and former Chairman of Lifeline Australia,Chair of AusPayNet,Director of Colonial First State Superannuation,Chair of the Urban Property Group Advisory Board and Chairman of Furlough House Retirement Village.
On Australia Day 2014,he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the community,particularly to Lifeline,to the business and financial sectors,and to the Parliament of New South Wales.
Early life and family
Brogden was born in Balmain and raised in Sydney. His father Gilbert Arthur Brogden,a carpenter,was born in Taranaki,New Zealand in 1933 and emigrated to Australia in 1960.[citation needed] His mother,Judith Anne (née Bourne) (1941 –2021) was born in Balmain and worked as a School Secretary.[citation needed] He was educated at St Joan of Arc,Haberfield,St Patrick's College,Strathfield and the University of Sydney where he gained a Master of Public Affairs (MPA).[1]
His wife,Lucy Brogden AM,is an organisational psychologist and national mental health and suicide prevention advocate,a carer,a Patron of Partners in Depression,Patron of the Sydney Women's Fund and Lifeline Northern Beaches,Chair of the Diabetes Australia Research Trust,a,Director of the National Film and Sound Archives and of Be Kind Australia. She is Governor of Queenwood School for Girls. From 2017 to 2022,she was the Chair of the National Mental Health Commission advising the Prime Minister and Minister for Health on mental health policy. They have three children.[2][3]
Political career
John Brogden joined the Liberal Party in his final year of high school in 1986. Between 1989 and 1994 he was an adviser to Attorney General John Hannaford,Premier John Fahey and Police Minister Ted Pickering. From 1992 to 1993 he was President of the NSW Division of the Young Liberal Movement,and a member of the NSW Division's State Executive. In 1994,he served a year as Treasurer of the Movement and ran unsuccessfully for preselection in the state seat of Vaucluse.[4] Brogden had lost the Vaucluse preselection to Peter Debnam[5] and Debnam would later succeed Brogden as Liberal leader in 2005.
Brogden was elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly as the Member for Pittwater in May 1996 in a by election following the resignation of former Fahey Government Minister Jim Longley. In 1999,he was promoted to the Shadow Ministry as the Shadow Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning,Sydney Water and Youth Affairs.[citation needed]
In the leadup to the 2003 New South Wales state election,Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski was struggling in the polls against Premier Bob Carr. On 25 March 2002,Brogden announced a challenge. Three days later on 28 March 2002,[6] his 33rd birthday,he succeeded in a 15–14 vote,becoming the youngest ever leader of a state or federal Liberal Party.[7]
What was not known at the time was that state Liberal director Scott Morrison had a plan to have Chikarovski replaced by Malcolm Turnbull,with the plan abandoned as a result of Brogden's successful challenge. Turnbull and Morrison went on to be elected to Federal Parliament and in 2015 Turnbull became Prime Minister and Morrison his Treasurer. Morrison succeeded Turnbull as Prime Minister in 2018.[8]
At the 2003 election,the Liberals won one seat from Labor and lost one to Labor. Notwithstanding the electoral defeat,Brogden improved his and the party's standing in the polls over the next two years. Many people believing that Brogden would win the 2007 New South Wales state election,especially when Bob Carr resigned from politics and Morris Iemma was elected as the new Premier.[9]
Brogden confronted the government over a number of issues,often focussing on health and police corruption. He aggressively pursued the Carr government over its involvement in the Orange Grove affair,in which a shopping centre was shut down,allegedly for zoning reasons,amidst claims of political pressure from The Westfield Group,which ran a neighbouring shopping centre. Brogden also pursued scandals relating to patient care at Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals.[citation needed]
Despite the improvement in the opposition's opinion-poll ratings during 2004 and early 2005,Brogden's hopes that he would gain the premiership in 2007 were not to be fulfilled. He became embroiled in controversy for his behaviour at a function in Sydney on 29 July 2005.
As a result of the controversy,Brogden resigned as Leader of the NSW Opposition on 29 August. Nevertheless,he announced his intention to remain as the Member for Pittwater.[10][11]
The next day however,30 August,police attended Brogden's electorate office at around 10.30 pm,after concerns were raised by members of his family. They found him unconscious in a back room,having attempted suicide.[12][13] When the Sydney Morning Herald called Brogden's deputy Barry O'Farrell at about 11 pm to question him about possible leadership contention,he told them,"Excuse me if I say I don't care about the leadership at the moment,but I am following an ambulance with John Brogden inside. He has attempted self-harm. It sort of puts things in perspective,doesn't it?".[14][15] Brogden was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital that night,and discharged the following day into respite care at the Northside Clinic. On 1 September,Brogden and his wife issued a short statement thanking people who had sent messages of support,and inviting people wishing to help further to donate to beyondblue,an organisation dedicated to supporting people with depression,anxiety and suicide related experiences.[16]
Brogden resigned from parliament on 28 September. A by-election was held for the seat of Pittwater,which,in a backlash to the Liberal Party and media treatment of Brogden,was won by Pittwater Council mayor Alex McTaggart,running as an independent.[17][18] At the 2007 state election,McTaggart was defeated by Liberal candidate Rob Stokes,a former adviser to Brogden.
Business career
Brogden is currently the President of LifeLine International. In May 2018,Brogden was appointed as Chief Executive Officer at Landcom.[19] Prior to this appointment,he was Chairman of the Board at UrbanGrowth NSW/Landcom from 2012 to 2018. Prior to this he was the Managing Director &CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors from 2015 to 2017,the CEO of the Financial Services Council from 2009 to 2015 and the CEO of Manchester Unity from 2006 to 2008.[citation needed]
Related Research Articles
Sussan Penelope Ley is an Australian politician who has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition since May 2022. She has been member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales seat of Farrer since 2001 and was a cabinet minister in the Abbott,Turnbull and Morrison governments.
Kerry Anne Chikarovski is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales and Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002,the first woman to hold the post.
Barry Robert O'Farrell is an Australian former politician who was Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan from February 2020 to 30 June 2023. O'Farrell was the 43rd Premier of New South Wales and Minister for Western Sydney from 2011 to 2014. He was the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 2007 to 2014,and was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1995 to 2015,representing Northcott until 1999 and representing Ku-ring-gai on the Upper North Shore of Sydney from 1999 to 2015. He was President and Independent Board Chair of Diabetes Australia,Chair of the Wests Tigers Rugby League Football Club and CEO of Racing Australia Ltd until taking up his role in India.
Peter John Debnam,is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Vaucluse between 1994 and 2011. Debnam is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party,Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney,Redfern/Waterloo and Citizenship. He also held the shadow portfolios of Infrastructure and Energy.
Alexander George Hawke is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Immigration,Citizenship,Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs from 2020 to 2022 in the Morrison government. Hawke has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitchell since 2007,representing the Liberal Party.
Pittwater is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. Located in Sydney's north-east,it is 175.32 km2 in size,and comprises a part of the local government area of Northern Beaches Council,mostly the portion that was formerly Pittwater Council.
Alexander John McTaggart is an Australian politician who was an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Pittwater between 2005 and 2007. At the time of his election,McTaggart was also the Mayor of Pittwater Council.
Steven Bruce Scott Pringle is a naval officer in the Royal Australian Naval Reserves. He was the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from March 2003 to March 2007,representing the Electorate of Hawkesbury.
The Sydney University Liberal Club (SULC) is a student association operating under the auspices of the University of Sydney Union (USU). The club hosts policy debates,annual dinners,student election campaigns,and guest speaker events with members of parliament. It is an affiliate of the Australian Liberal Students' Federation.
John Francis Ryan is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1991 to 2007. He was the Liberal Deputy Leader in the Legislative Council from 2003 to 2007.
Elections to the 53rd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 22 March 2003. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The Labor Party led by Bob Carr won a third four-year term against the Liberal-National Coalition led by John Brogden.
An election campaign was held ahead of a general election for the 54th Parliament of New South Wales on Saturday,24 March 2007. The result—a win for the social-democratic Labor Party and its new leader Morris Iemma—was widely perceived as a foregone conclusion,with opposition leader Peter Debnam conceding as much the week before the poll.
Anthony John Roberts is an Australian politician. Roberts is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Lane Cove for the Liberal Party since 2003. He is the longest-serving Member of the Legislative Assembly and so holds the honorary title of "Father of the House."
Bradley Ronald "Brad" Hazzard is a retired Australian politician who served as the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly district of Wakehurst between May 1991 and March 2023.
Jonathan Richard O'Dea is a former Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Davidson for the Liberal Party from 2007 until 2023. He served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2023.
Robert Gordon Stokes is a retired Australian politician. Stokes served as the New South Wales Minister for Infrastructure,the Minister for Cities,and the Minister for Active Transport in the Perrottet ministry between 21 December 2021 and 25 March 2023. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Pittwater for the Liberal Party between 2007 and 2023.
A by-election was staged in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly district of Pittwater on 26 November 2005. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member and former Liberal Party leader John Brogden.
Matthew John Kean is an Australian politician,who was the Treasurer of New South Wales in the second Perrottet ministry of New South Wales between October 2021 and March 2023. He was also the Minister for Energy between April 2019 and March 2023 and was also the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from August 2022 till March 2023. He has been Shadow Minister for Health since 2023 and has represented Hornsby for the party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2011.
David Bernard Coleman is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2013 federal election,holding the New South Wales seat of Banks. Coleman served as the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention from December 2020 until May 2022. He previously served as Minister for Immigration,Citizenship,Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs in the Morrison government from August 2018,although in December 2019 he took indefinite leave for personal reasons. He had earlier served as Assistant Minister for Finance in the Turnbull government from 2017 to 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
