Brendan Michael Smyth (born 27 July 1959) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

representing the electorate of Brindabella for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

from 1998 until 2016. From 2002 to 2006 Smyth was the ACT Leader of the Opposition and served briefly as the

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

during 2000 and 2001. He has held the ACT portfolios Urban Services, Business, Tourism and the Arts, and Police and Emergency Services. Prior to his election to the ACT Legislative Assembly he served briefly as the Member for

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in 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 ...

, also representing the Liberals.

Career

Smyth was born in Sydney and moved to

in May 1969. He worked at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

until 1995 when, representing the Liberal Party, he contested the 1995 by-election for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

seat of Canberra. Normally a safe Labor seat, its previous member

Ros Kelly Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments ...

had left under a cloud, having been forced to resign her ministry a year earlier over the sports rorts affair, and Smyth received a 16.1% swing to claim the seat. At the

Australian federal election Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar princi ...

on 2 March 1996, Smyth contested the new federal House of Representatives seat of Namadgi, essentially the southern portion of his old seat, even though it had been drawn with a notional Labor majority of 10.9 percent. He was defeated by Labor's

Annette Ellis Annette Louise Ellis (born 13 October 1946), Australian politician, was a Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from the Australian Capital Territory, from March 1996 to August 2010, representing the Division of Namadgi ...

. , he is the last non-Labor member to represent an ACT-based seat. He subsequently shifted to territory politics, winning election to the Legislative Assembly in the 1998 election representing the

Tuggeranong The District of Tuggeranong () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks and is the southernmost town cent ...

-based multimember electorate of Brindabella. He was the Opposition Leader for the ACT Liberal Party in the 2004 ACT elections, but lost the election. Smyth resigned from the ACT Legislative Assembly on 15 July 2016, to take up a newly created government position as Commissioner for International Engagement for the ACT. The ensuing casual vacancy was filled by conducting a countback of votes at the 2012 ACT election.

References

External links

Canberra Liberals People: Brendan Smyth
1959 births Living people Deputy Chief Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory Liberal Party of Australia members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Canberra Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in the Australian Capital Territory People from Canberra 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians {{Canberra-stub

Career

See also

References

External links