Warren Entsch

The Honourable
Warren Entsch
MP
Entsch in 2012
Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives
In office
14 September 2010 – 18 September 2013
Leader Tony Abbott
Preceded by Alex Somlyay
Succeeded by Philip Ruddock
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Leichhardt
Assumed office
21 August 2010
Preceded by Jim Turnour
In office
2 March 1996 – 17 October 2007
Preceded by Peter Dodd
Succeeded by Jim Turnour
Personal details
Born (1950-05-31) 31 May 1950
Babinda, Queensland, Australia
Nationality Australian
Political party Liberal (LNP)
Spouse(s) Yolonde Entsch (nee Werner)
Children 3
Residence Cairns
Occupation Politician
Website warrenentsch.com.au

Warren George Entsch (born 31 May 1950) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007 and since 2010, representing the Division of Leichhardt. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.[1]

Biography

Entsch was born in Babinda, Queensland and served in the Royal Australian Air Force 1969–78. He was a maintenance fitter and welder, real estate agent, farmer and grazier and company director before entering politics. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Queensland until the formation of the Liberal National Party of Queensland in 2008.

Entsch was first elected to the House of Representatives at the March 1996 federal election. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Science and Resources 1998–2001 and was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources from 2001 to 2006. He then decided on retirement and did not contest the November 2007 election.

In his time outside of Parliament between 2007 and 2010, Entsch worked as an independent Director on the board of CEC Group, and a Director of the Australian Rainforest Foundation.

On 10 November 2009, Entsch announced that he would again run for pre-selection for the seat of Leichhardt[2] and was re-elected to parliament at the August 2010 election defeating the man who had succeeded him in 2007, Labor incumbent Jim Turnour. Entsch was subsequently appointed Chief Opposition Whip by then-opposition leader Tony Abbott.

At the 2016 Australian Federal Election he was re-elected as the Federal Member for Leichhardt with 39.4% first preference votes[3] marking his seventh election victory in 20 years.[4]

Support for same sex marriage

In September 2004, Entsch publicly spoke against his party's anti-gay-marriage stance, describing laws to prevent gay marriage as "offensive" and "unnecessary".[5] As a result of his pro-gay statements, the Family First Party – which preferenced Liberal/National Coalition candidates ahead of Labor candidates in almost every other seat, nationwide – directed their preferences to Labor instead of Entsch. Nevertheless, he won re-election with an increased majority of both the primary and two-party-preferred vote.

In December 2005, he pledged support for a civil union scheme after Britain began granting civil partnerships. He was interviewed for The Pink Broad (Issue 15, published Wednesday 22 February 2006), a fortnightly gay and lesbian newspaper, in which he confirmed that he planned to sponsor a private member's bill in Federal Parliament within months that promised to eradicate discrimination and the inequities faced by Australia's gay and lesbian population under Federal law.

He went on to say in the article, "I would think that if I was a gay activist, people would say 'Oh, just another bloody fairy out there trying to push his own agenda', but because of my background, people are a little bit puzzled by it and sitting up and listening. . . and in fact I'm getting a lot of people that are not gay coming up to me and saying to me 'Hey, you know, we've got gay friends and family too'. And this is what I've found here, in this place as well. . . mind you, there are some who are still a little bemused. They don't quite understand it."

In May 2006, he wrote to all coalition MPs asking them to support such a bill. When interviewed, he said this bill would encompass not only same-sex couples but any interdependent relationship: "You need to take the sex out of this debate. There are other emotions of interdependency that come into play – it's not exclusive to one gender balance or another."[6][7]

On 8 September 2010 Entsch indicated that he did not consider same-sex marriage an important issue.[8] Entsch voted against the Australian Greens 2010 motion for members of the house to poll their constituents on the issue of same-sex marriage and voted against a 2012 bill legalising same-sex marriage that was sponsored by Stephen Jones.[9][10]

On 17 August 2015, in defiance of Prime Minister Abbott, Entsch introduced a private members' bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia, saying, "The main purpose of this bill is not a complex one. It is to give same-sex couples in Australia the same right to marry the person they love as that which is currently only granted by law to heterosexual couples. This bill is designed to promote an inclusive Australia, not a divided one. A divided nation is what we will be if we continue to allow discrimination in relation to marriage on the basis of a person's sexuality."[11][12] This bill was introduced through much controversy, with the leader of the Liberal party, Tony Abbott, instructing his party room to not vote in favour of the bill.[13]

On 7 December 2017, Entsch spoke in favour of, and voted for,[14] the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill that enabled same-sex marriage in Australia.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Australian Votes 2010: Leichhardt(Key Seat)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010. Warren Entsch 54.2% vs. Jim Turnour 45.8%
  2. ↑ "Entsch Announcement". cairns.com.au.
  3. ↑ "Federal Election 2016: Leichhardt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016. Warren Entsch 54.1% vs. Sharryn Howes 45.9%
  4. ↑ "Veteran MP Warren Entsch claims outright victory in Leichhardt". The Cairns Post. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  5. ↑ The Australian. theaustralian.news.com.au http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10789749%5E2702,00.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Evolution Publishing". evolutionpublishing.com.au.
  7. ↑ "PM – Push to amend 'discriminatory' legislation". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  8. ↑ "'Disappointed, not surprised' – Warren Entsch and Leichhardt go against bellwether trend". cairnsblog.net.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Cullen, Simon (19 September 2012). "Lower House votes down same-sex marriage bill". ABC News. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  11. ↑ Henderson, Anna (17 August 2015). "Warren Entsch introduces same-sex marriage bill with warning over 'divided nation'". ABC News. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Entsch appeals for unity as same-sex marriage bill introduced". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Subscribe to The Australian – Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps". The Australian.
  14. ↑ corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Hansard Display". Retrieved 10 January 2018.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Peter Dodd		 Member for Leichhardt
1996–2007		 Succeeded by
Jim Turnour
Preceded by
Jim Turnour		 Member for Leichhardt
2010–present		 Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.