Alexander Michael Somlyay (born 18 January 1946), Australian politician, was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

from March 1990 to August 2013, representing the Division of Fairfax, Queensland. Born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, he came to Australia as a child. He was educated at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

. Before entering politics he was a public servant, consultant economist and company director. Somlyay was a member of the informal conservative faction the

Lyons Forum The Lyons Forum was a ginger group or informal political faction comprising some federal members of conservative Australian parliamentary parties. It was formed in the early 1990s and was active both in Liberal Party of Australia parliamentary lea ...

when it was active in the 1990s. On 25 September 2010, Somlyay announced his current term in parliament would be his last.

Expenses investigation

An investigation by a

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

reporter published in the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

in January 2014 alleged that Somlyay had used his parliamentary office to pay his wife almost seventy thousand dollars for the year 2012-13 "for non-existent work in his electorate office." The report also alleged that Somlyay had obscured his wife's identity in his list of employed staff. Somlyay defended the payments from his taxpayer-funded budget to his wife, claiming that he had done nothing wrong. On February of the same year, the ''Herald'' again reported that the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

had found nothing that "would constitute a criminal offence" related to the employment of his wife and closed the investigation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somlyay, Alexander Michael 1946 births Living people Australian National University alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fairfax Hungarian emigrants to Australia People who lost Hungarian citizenship Naturalised citizens of Australia People from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians