Chris Crewther

Christopher John Crewther (born 6 August 1983) is an Australian politician. He is the Member for Dunkley in the Australian House of Representatives. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, serving under the current Coalition Government led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Crewther succeeded the previous member, Bruce Billson, at the 2016 federal election.^[1] He was the youngest Member of Parliament in the Australian House of Representatives from 2 July 2016 to 28 July 2018.

Early life

Crewther was born in Mitcham and spent the first few years of his life in Kilsyth/Mooroolbark, before moving to Horsham in the Wimmera when he was four. He grew up and undertook all his schooling in the country, attending Murtoa Secondary College and Horsham College. He has two Master's degrees from the Australian National University in International Law and Diplomacy, the latter in which he was awarded top student achieving the James Ingram AO Prize for Excellence in Diplomatic Studies.^[2] He also has a law degree with honours from the University of Canberra, with a Science minor. He undertook part of a Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Science at The University of Melbourne.

Prior to entering politics Crewther worked in roles including running his own small business, as CEO of an economic development corporation responsible for a region of 48,000 square kilometres with $3 billon gross regional product, and as an International Lawyer through the United Nations at the Kosovo Property Agency in Kosovo (in the former Yugoslavia), resolving property claims for those who lost possession of their property due to the 1998-99 conflict.^[3] He is also a Non-Executive Director of Zoe Support Australia, helping young pregnant and parenting mothers get back into education, and has been a Director of Global Voices, helping engage and involve young people in international diplomacy.^[1]

Crewther is an avid Collingwood supporter, having a proud family history associated with Collingwood, being related to Tom Sherrin (inventor of the Australian football and President of Collingwood), two other Collingwood Presidents Syd Sherrin and Tom Sherrin Jnr, and two former Collingwood players, Norm Crewther and Bill Proudfoot.

Politics

Crewther was the Liberal candidate for the outer regional/rural seat of Mallee in 2013, which has been held by the National Party since its establishment in 1949. He was elected to parliament in 2016 in the inner regional/outer metropolitan seat of Dunkley.

In a speech to parliament in late 2016, Crewther revealed he lived with Tourette syndrome. He further discussed his condition during an interview on the Lateline program on 2 March 2017. He is the patron for the Tourette Syndrome Association of Australia.^[4]

Crewther is currently Chair of the Foreign and Aid Sub-Committee, under the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which in February 2017 launched an inquiry into Australia establishing legislation to tackle modern slavery, similar to but improving upon the UK's 2015 Modern Slavery Act. The Sub-Committee handed down its final report in December 2017. Resulting from this Inquiry, a Modern Slavery Bill was introduced into Parliament in June 2018, and was passed by the Australian House of Representatives on 17 September 2018. Crewther was recognised for his work initiating and leading the Inquiry leading to a Modern Slavery Act, being named amongst the global Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders.

Crewther is also a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, Chair and Secretary of the Government's Policy Committee for Home Affairs & Legal Affairs, and a member of the Government's Policy Committee for Infrastructure and Regional Development.

References