Michael Ferguson | |
---|---|
21st Deputy Premier of Tasmania | |
Assumed office 8 April 2022 | |
Premier | Jeremy Rockliff |
Preceded by | Jeremy Rockliff |
Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Bass | |
Assumed office 20 March 2010 | |
Preceded by | Sue Napier |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bass | |
In office 9 October 2004 –24 November 2007 | |
Preceded by | Michelle O'Byrne |
Succeeded by | Jodie Campbell |
Personal details | |
Born | Burnie,Tasmania | 23 March 1974
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse | Julie |
Children | Eloise,Thomas,James |
Alma mater | University of Tasmania |
Occupation | Politician Teacher |
Website | http://michaelferguson.com/ |
Michael Ferguson (born 23 March 1974) is an Australian politician who is currently the Deputy Premier of Tasmania since April 2022. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the Division of Bass since the 2010 state election. Ferguson was appointed to cabinet after his party's victory in the 2014 state election and has served continuously as Minister in a range of portfolios including Finance,Health,Infrastructure,Transport,State Growth and Science and Technology. He is also the Leader of the House.
Ferguson previously served in federal parliament as a Liberal Party of Australia member in the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2007,representing the federal electorate of Bass. [1] He was defeated at the 2007 federal election.
He was educated at the University of Tasmania,holding degrees in Applied Science and Education. [2] In the past,his broad community activities include many local tourism and progress associations as well as community radio.[ citation needed ] He has worked as a teacher from 1996 to 2002,and a member of the Meander Valley Council. He has received awards including winning the Regional Initiative category for the Young Australian of the Year Awards for Tasmania in 2002,and Tasmanian Young Achiever of the Year (2002) by the National Australia Day Council.[ citation needed ]
Before entering politics,he was a teacher in public secondary schools in Northern Tasmania and adviser to Guy Barnett,Liberal Senator for Tasmania.[ citation needed ]
In his first parliamentary term Ferguson concentrated on issues such as education,health,family and employment and served on numerous parliamentary and backbench committees. He was the secretary of the Government Education,Science and Training policy committee and is acknowledged as having played a key role in brokering the passage of the Voluntary Student Unionism legislation through a hostile senate with his (implemented) proposal for a sports infrastructure transition fund.[ citation needed ]
Soon after the 2007 election Ferguson was appointed as the CEO of the Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust.[ citation needed ]
He was subsequently elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly at the 2010 state election, [2] securing the highest number of primary votes in Bass (1.5 quotas) and the second highest vote in the state. In April 2010 Ferguson was appointed as Shadow Minister for Education and Skills;and Shadow Minister for Innovation,Science and Technology.[ citation needed ]
Ferguson was re-elected at the 2014 state election,at which the Liberals gained government,and was appointed Minister for Health and Minister for Information Technology and Innovation. [3]
As Health Minister,Ferguson has led an ambitious and somewhat contentious reform of the Tasmanian health system by merging the previously three health services into one and changing the services delivered at each of the four hospitals in the state. [4] [5] He has also taken charge of the redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital to ensure that the much-promised building eventuates. [6] [7]
His tenure has not been without incident with his appointment of an interim CEO of the merged health service having a side interest in alternative therapies [8] and a series of electrical and computer failures at the ambulance service. [9]
In January 2020,Premier Will Hodgman resigned and Ferguson was a candidate to succeed him as Premier and Liberal leader but ultimately withdrew from the leadership contest. Treasurer Peter Gutwein was instead elected unopposed as Hodgman's successor. There was speculation that Ferguson would succeed Gutwein as Treasurer [10] but in the end Premier Gutwein chose to retain the Treasury portfolio.
On 8 April 2022,after Gutwein resigned as Premier,deputy party leader Jeremy Rockliff became party leader,and Ferguson was elected as deputy party premier to replace Rockliff. Ferguson was sworn in as Deputy Premier of Tasmania that afternoon. [2] [11] [12]
Ferguson has been described as a "conservative" Liberal,and is opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion. [13] In 2018,he criticised the Tasmanian Greens and the Labor Party for their reforms to make birth certificates gender-optional,citing it as a social experiment on children that Tasmanian parents would be "disgusted" by. [14]
Ferguson opposed the 2023 Voice to Parliament. [15]
Guy Barnett is the Attorney-General for Tasmania and a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the Division of Lyons. Guy Barnett is currently the Minister for Justice and Health under Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Guy Barnett served previously as the Minister for Primary Industries and Water,Minister for Resources,Minister for Trade,Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction in the Second Gutwein Ministry. He was previously a member of the Australian Senate.
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William Edward Felix Hodgman is an Australian diplomat and former politician who has been the High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore since February 2021. He was the 45th Premier of Tasmania and a member for the Division of Franklin in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from the 2002 state election until his resignation in January 2020. He became premier following the 2014 state election,having been Leader of the Opposition since 2006. He was re-elected to a second term in government following victory in the 2018 state election.
William Michael Hodgman AM QC was an Australian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served as Minister for the Capital Territory in the Fraser government from 1980 to 1983. He was active in both state and federal politics,serving in the Tasmanian Legislative Council (1966–1974),Australian House of Representatives (1975–1987),and Tasmanian House of Assembly. His son Will Hodgman was Premier of Tasmania for 6 years,until his resignation in January 2020.
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Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings is an Australian former politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014,the first woman to hold the position. Born in Goroka,Papua New Guinea,she was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Franklin from 2002 to 2018,and was the party's leader during her period as premier,replaced by Bryan Green after her government's defeat at the 2014 state election. Giddings came from the Labor Left faction. As of 2024,she remains the most recent premier of Tasmania from the Labor Party.
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Vanessa Goodwin was an Australian politician. She was the Liberal Party member for the seat of Pembroke in the Tasmanian Legislative Council from the Pembroke by-election on 1 August 2009 until her resignation due to brain cancer on 2 October 2017.
The 2010 Tasmanian state election was held on 20 March 2010 to elect members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The 12-year incumbent Labor government,led by Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett,won a fourth consecutive term against the Liberal opposition,led by Will Hodgman,after Labor formed a minority government with the support of the Greens.
Jacqueline Anne Petrusma is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2010 to 2022,representing the electorate of Franklin,and served as a minister in the governments of Will Hodgman,Peter Gutwein and Jeremy Rockliff.
Sarah Jane Courtney is an Australian financial analyst,viticulturist and a former politician. She was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Liberal Party in the Division of Bass at the 2014 state election. As a Senior Minister in the Second Hodgman Ministry,First Gutwein Ministry,and Second Gutwein Ministry,Courtney was responsible for the policy development,service delivery and overall governance of a significant part of the public sector,including accountability for the multibillion-dollar health and education budgets.
Madeleine Ruth Ogilvie is an Australian lawyer and politician. She is a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the Division of Clark and is the Minister for Small Business,Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries,Science and Technology,Racing and Heritage in the Rockliff ministry. She was previously the Minister for Hospitality,Racing,Small Business,Women and Disability Services in the Second Gutwein Ministry for six weeks.
Susanne Lynnette Hickey is an Australian politician. She represented the electorate of Denison from the 2018 state election until her defeat at the 2021 election,sitting with the Liberal Party until March 2021,when she quit the party and became an independent.
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The 2021 Tasmanian state election was held on 1 May 2021 to elect all 25 members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly.
The Tasmanian Labor Party,officially known as the Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as Tasmanian Labor,is the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Labor Party. It has been one of the most successful state Labor parties in Australia in terms of electoral success.
The 2024 Tasmanian state election will be held on 23 March 2024 to elect all 35 members to the House of Assembly.
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The Rockliff ministry is the current ministry of the Tasmanian Government,led by Jeremy Rockliff of the Tasmanian Liberals. It was formed on 8 April 2022,after Rockliff was elected unopposed as leader of the Liberal Party and sworn as the state's 47th Premier by Governor Barbara Baker. The ministry replaced the Second Gutwein ministry,after former Premier Peter Gutwein resigned from his position and quit politics.