Peter Breen (Australian politician)

Last updated

Peter Breen
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office
27 March 1999 23 March 2007
Personal details
Born (1947-11-04) 4 November 1947 (age 77)
Coonabarabran, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Political party
Alma mater University of Sydney
Profession Lawyer

Peter James Breen (born 4 November 1947) is an Australian politician, advisor, and lawyer. Elected at the 1999 New South Wales state election, Breen served as a member of the Legislative Council for eight years, representing his own Reform the Legal System party for most of this time. Breen later worked as an advisor for Senator Ricky Muir in 2014, and was involved in the founding of the Renewable Energy Party. From 2016 to 2018, he served as an advisor to Senator Brian Burston.

Contents

Early life

Breen was born as the eldest of eight children in Coonabarabran. At a young age, his family moved to Sydney, at first living in Kingsford before moving to Campbelltown in 1956. In Campbelltown, Breen's family lived in war service housing at the St Elmo Estate, and Breen's father managed the local bowling club. As a child, Breen attended a Catholic primary school and St Gregory's Agricultural College for high school. [1] :23 After graduating St Gregory's, Breen attended St Columba's College, which was then a seminary. [1] :24

Career

Breen began a legal career as a law clerk in the office of John Marsden. [1] :24 Breen was a solicitor before entering politics, achieving a Diploma of Law from Sydney University. He was originally a member of the Liberal Party, serving as President of the Campbelltown Young Liberals from 1971 to 1972. [2] Breen left the Liberal Party following the 1975 dismissal of Gough Whitlam and subsequent federal election, upset over what he described as a "shady deal" between then-Liberal leader and Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and Governor-General John Kerr. [1] :27–28

Breen worked for Queensland's Electoral and Administrative Review Commission during the early 1990s as a senior projects officer, and assisted with the drafting of a human rights charter. [1] :56–57 Breen founded the Australian Bill of Rights Group as a political party, serving as its secretary from 1995 to 1998. [1] :57 [2] The group organised with a number of other progressive political parties, including the then-nascent Australian Greens, and ran a joint ticket for the 1997 Australian Constitutional Convention election under the label "Greens, Bill of Rights, Indigenous Peoples". Breen stood as the ticket's second candidate in New South Wales, and the first candidate — Catherine Moore of the Greens — was successfully elected to the convention. [1] :57 [3]

In 1998 Breen joined Reform the Legal System. In the 1999 New South Wales election he was elected to the Legislative Council. [2]

Breen joined the Labor Party on 5 May 2006. [4] At the time, Breen cited a desire to oppose the Howard government's WorkChoices reforms as a key reason for joining Labor. [5] Breen's Labor membership was sponsored by Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid, waiving the need for any union or factional membership. [1] :111 Given that Breen's prospects of re-election to the Legislative Council were slim, he hoped to gain Labor preselection in the federal seat of Page. [1] :110–111 However, Breen resigned from the Labor Party on 18 July. As part of Breen's campaign to overturn the conviction of Stephen 'Shorty' Jamieson in the murder of Janine Balding, he described a "love" that he held for Jamieson in an unpublished book. [4] Morris Iemma, the leader of the Labor Party and Premier of New South Wales, demanded that Breen apologise for the comments. [4] Breen refused, and shortly afterwards resigned from the Labor Party. [4] [1] :113

Breen was admitted to hospital shortly after his resignation from Labor in July 2006. [6] Breen stayed in St Vincent's Hospital for three days, and had double vision for six weeks, which he attributes in part to the stress of leaving Labor and subsequent hate mail over his defence of Jamieson. [1] :114–115 He unsuccessfully sought re-election to the Legislative Council at the 2007 New South Wales state election as the lead candidate for the Human Rights Party. [2] [7]

Breen submitted in favour of Phuong Ngo as part of a 2009 inquiry into the evidence used to convict Ngo. [8] Following a finding against Ngo in April 2009, Breen remarked that the legal system "can't afford to allow convicted prisoners to be released", as it would reflect poorly on the legal system as a whole. [9]

In 2014 Breen became an adviser to Senator Ricky Muir of the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party but was sacked on 5 August 2014. [10]

After the 2016 federal election, a double dissolution in which a number of crossbenchers were elected, Breen was offered a job as an advisor by both Derryn Hinch and Brian Burston. [1] :125 However, the offer from Hinch was withdrawn after Breen's defence for criminals such as Jamieson re-emerged. [1] :125–126 Despite a number of political differences with the policies of Burston's One Nation party, and the objections of his wife who initially threatened to leave Breen if he worked for One Nation, Breen ultimately agreed to become a senior advisor for Burston. [1] :126–127 [11]

When Pauline Hanson wore a burqa onto the floor of the Senate in 2017, Breen considered resigning over what he described as a "disgraceful stunt", but hesitated when he learned that the Sydney Morning Herald planned to place his resignation on their front cover. [1] :183–186 In 2018, Hanson asked Breen to draft a letter asking Burston to resign from his positions within One Nation and the Senate. [1] :218 This letter was read live on air by Ben Fordham on 2GB. [1] :221 [12]

As the rift between Hanson and Burston grew wider, Breen attempted to mediate their dispute, attempting to negotiate a position for Burston atop One Nation's ticket for the Legislative Council at the 2019 New South Wales state election.:222–224 During this time, Breen considered standing as a candidate for One Nation in the seat of Barwon at the state election, which covered his home town of Coonabarabran, as a protest against unconventional gas mining in the Great Artesian Basin. [1] :224,235 Breen's wife was incensed at this proposal, which she viewed as both hypocritical and devoid of integrity. [1] :224–226 However, Breen's time associated with Burston and One Nation would come to an end imminently, as he was fired from Burston's office in June 2018. [1] :226 [13] [14]

Renewable Energy Party

Renewable Energy Party
Leader Peter Breen
Founded22 March 2016
Dissolved26 March 2018
Preceded by Human Rights Party [15]
Headquarters Byron Bay, New South Wales
Ideology Green politics [16]
Website
http://www.renewableenergy.org.au/ at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-05-28)

In 2016, Breen was a key person in the Renewable Energy Party [17] and candidate for the Australian Senate to represent New South Wales in the Australian federal election. [18]

The Renewable Energy Party was an Australian political party registered by the Australian Electoral Commission on 22 March 2016. [19]

In the 2016 federal election the Renewable Energy Party fielded two senate candidates in each of New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, and a total of eight candidates for the House of Representatives in Victoria (4), Tasmania (3) and New South Wales (1), [20] none of whom were elected. [21]

On 1 February 2018, the Australian Electoral Commission issued a notice that it was considering deregistering the party on the grounds that it had ceased to have at least 500 members. [22] On 26 March 2018, the party was deregistered due to failure to respond to the earlier notice. [23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Breen, Peter (2019). Candidates Disease. A political memoir. Australia: Wilkinson Publishing. ISBN   9781925642667.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Mr Peter James Breen (1947- )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  3. "Constitutional Convention Report" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. p. 88. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Breen, Peter (21 July 2006). "A Form of Love". Stateline (Interview). Interviewed by O'Neill, Sharon. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014. ... he joined the Labor Party. On Tuesday [18 July 2006], just 10 weeks later, he resigned, after he refused the premier's demand that he apologise for his comments.
  5. "Independent crosses floor to fight WorkChoices". ABC News . 9 May 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025. Upper House Independent MP Peter Breen says he has joined the Labor Party to help fight the Commonwealth's changes to WorkChoices.
  6. "Breen admitted to hospital". ABC News . 25 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  7. Green, Antony (April 2009). "New South Wales Legislative Council Elections 2007" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. p. 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  8. "Adler approached to fund Ngo report, court told". ABC News . 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025. Professor Coutts said lawyer Peter Breen claimed to have new evidence that the records were not necessarily accurate.
  9. Review of John Newman assassination finds Ngo remain in prison. PM (radio). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 April 2009. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  10. "Ricky Muir sacks adviser Peter Breen; third staffer of Motoring Enthusiasts Party senator to depart". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  11. Aston, Heath (6 September 2016). "Usual suspects: veteran political operatives filling crossbench offices" . Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025. Former Muir staffer Peter Breen has been taken on by One Nation's NSW senator Brian Burston as his senior adviser.
  12. "EXCLUSIVE | Rogue One Nation Senator refuses to step down after being handed a 'PLEASE RESIGN'". 2GB . 1 June 2018. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  13. Elton-Pym, James (18 June 2018). "Letter reveals One Nation concerns over legality of NSW branch". SBS News . Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025. Senator Brian Burston, who has now joined Clive Palmer's rebranded movement, recently sacked Peter Breen as his advisor.
  14. Raylic, Tom (22 June 2018). "Brian burstin' for a new crew after split with One Nation leaves him high and dry" . Crikey . Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025. The most recent staff member to be booted is chief-of-staff Peter Breen, a lawyer and former member of the New South Wales parliament. Breen was given his marching orders on June 8 in the middle of the Burston-Hanson tensions.
  15. "Our People". Renewable Energy Party. Archived from the original on 27 July 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  16. "website policy section". Archived from the original on 28 May 2016.
  17. "Our People". Renewable Energy Party. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  18. "Senate candidates". Australian Electoral Commission. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  19. "Renewable Energy Party". Australian Electoral Commission. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  20. "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  21. "State and territory results". Australian Electoral Commission. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  22. "Notice of intention to deregister Renewable Energy Party" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  23. "Notice of deregistration Renewable Energy Party" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2018. Notice under s 137(4) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 On 26 March 2018, Gabrielle Paten, Assistant Commissioner, as a delegate of the Electoral Commission, deregistered the Renewable Energy Party under subsection 137(4) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. Reason: s 137(4) – failure to respond to notice under s 137(1).