Brian Burston (born 25 February 1948) is an Australian who was a former
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
from 2016 to 2019, originally representing
One Nation. After falling out with party leader
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian ...
over company tax cuts, Burston left One Nation and joined businessman
Clive Palmer
Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, the Palmer C ...
's newly relaunched
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...
. Palmer announced Burston as the new parliamentary leader of the party on 18 June 2018.
Early life
Burston was born and grew up in
Cessnock, New South Wales
Cessnock is a city in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the City of Cessnock Local government in Australia, LGA and was named after a ...
. He started an apprenticeship as a
boilermaker
A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
with
BHP
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
when he was 15. He has taught at
TAFE NSW, trained TAFE teachers at
Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
and worked as a contract
draftsman
A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...
. He was employed at the former Newcastle Teachers College.
He has been a councillor on
Cessnock City Council. He married at the age of 22, had three children and later divorced. He married his second wife, a teacher named Rosie, in 2008. Their home overlooks
Lake Macquarie
The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is ...
.
Burston became a member of
Pauline Hanson's One Nation
Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON or ONP), also known as One Nation or One Nation Party, is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. It is led by Pauline Hanson.
One Nat ...
soon after its inception. He is a former National Director of One Nation, having served alongside
David Ettridge
David William Ettridge (born 8 June 1945 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian businessman who co-founded Pauline Hanson's One Nation in 1997 with Pauline Hanson and David Oldfield.
Ettridge was One Nation's professional fundraiser and admi ...
. In concert with the overthrow and imprisonment of
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian ...
, Burston left Pauline Hanson's One Nation and joined
One Nation NSW
One Nation NSW was a minor Australian political party that operated exclusively in the state of New South Wales (NSW) from 2000 to 2007. The party was a splinter group of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON).
It was a socially conservative ...
, a splinter group of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, founded and led by
David Oldfield. After Oldfield abandoned One Nation NSW, Burston rejoined Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
Senator (2016–2019)
After Burston was elected to the Senate at the
2016 federal election, he was elected as One Nation's
party whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...
.
In his maiden speech to parliament, Burston warned that large-scale immigration was undermining social cohesion, placing pressure on infrastructure and housing affordability and increasing crime in Australia. He also criticised "aggressive
multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
", stating:
It seems that every group pride is promoted in the media and schools except for ours, the nation's. The ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
long ago abandoned any semblance of patriotism, or even balance. Other taxpayer-funded media – SBS and NITV
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...
– serve immigrants and indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
. The national flag is often ignored or dishonoured in schools, while multiculturalism and indigenous issues are now part of the curriculum. The majority of students are not supported in their Anglo-Australian
English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians, are Australians whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2021 census, 8,385,928 people, or 33% of the Australian population, stated that they had English ancestry (wheth ...
identity, but are made to feel guilty for supposed historical injustices committed by their ancestors.
Burston is a public opponent of
same sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, and was one of twelve senators who voted against what became the
. In 2017, he was one of ten senators to vote in favour of
Cory Bernardi
Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...
's motion to ban gender-selective abortion. It was defeated by ten votes to 36.
In May 2018, Burston announced he would support the
Turnbull Government's proposed corporate tax cuts, a move that contradicted One Nation policy. He was soon demoted from the role of party whip, and reportedly attempted to leave One Nation for the
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is an Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protecting the right to farm, enhancing commercial and recreational fishi ...
. On 18 June 2018, he told the Senate he had resigned from One Nation to sit as an independent, but later that day he announced that he would join Clive Palmer's
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...
, as party leader.
He became part of the economically-conservative voting bloc formed by
crossbench
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
Senators
David Leyonhjelm
David Ean Leyonhjelm ( "lion-helm"; born 1 April 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales, representing the Liberal Democratic Party from 2014 to 2019. Having been elected at the 2013 federal election, he ...
,
Cory Bernardi
Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...
and
Fraser Anning
William Fraser Anning (born 14 October 1949) is an Australian former politician who was a senator for Queensland from November 2017 to June 2019. Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views, and has been criticised ...
.
In February 2019, Burston accused fellow Party Leader and Senator Pauline Hanson of sexual harassment, in an incident which occurred in 1998.
Burston was defeated at the
2019 federal election.
References
External links
Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Brian Burston on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burston, Brian
Living people
One Nation members of the Parliament of Australia
Pauline Hanson's One Nation politicians
Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales
Members of the Australian Senate
New South Wales local councillors
21st-century Australian politicians
United Australia Party (2013) politicians
1948 births