Luke Howarth

Luke Howarth
MP
Howarth visiting Woody Point Pharmacy in the electorate of Petrie
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Petrie
Assumed office
7 September 2013
Preceded by Yvette D'Ath
Personal details
Born (1972-06-06) 6 June 1972
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nationality Australian
Political party LNP
Occupation Small Businessman

Luke Ronald Howarth (born 6 June 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2013 federal election, representing the Division of Petrie. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.[1]

Howarth was born in Brisbane, Queensland. Before entering politics he was a small business owner.[2] At the 2013 federal election he won the seat of Petrie, defeating the sitting ALP member, Yvette D'Ath, who had held the seat since the 2007 federal election.[1] He increased his winning margin slightly at the 2016 federal election.[3]

In October 2018, Luke Howarth's mother, Denise, was granted access to Howarth's electorate officer's computer and e-mail address[4]. The access was then used to send propaganda to at least one constituent to push an anti-abortion flyer. The access and communication came ahead of the upcoming debate on a bill introduced by the Queensland Labor government to decriminalise abortion in Queensland.

Howarth has declined to comment regarding questions as to why a non-elected official was granted access to his parliamentary resources, if private data was breached, if further electorate resources were used, or if he is personally involved in the campaign against the proposed state legislation.

The communications sent from the electorate office falsely claimed that there will be no independent counselling prior to terminations and that staff would be obligated to "act against their conscience"[5]. Accurate and supportive advice for pregnant women can instead be found via Marie Stopes Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 "Luke Howarth Candidate for Petrie". Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "A Message From Luke". Luke Howarth MP. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  3. ↑ "Electorate: Petrie". Australia Votes. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  4. ↑ "This Liberal Politician Is Letting His Mum Send Out Anti-Abortion Propaganda From His Office". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  5. ↑ "We Need To Talk About The Abortion Myth Male Politicians Keep Perpetuating". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-10-09.


Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Yvette D'Ath		 Member for Petrie
2013–present		 Incumbent
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