Colin Einar Boyce (born 30 October 1962) is an Australian politician who is a member of 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 ...

, representing the

Division of Flynn The Division of Flynn is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The current MP is Colin Boyce, a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland. He was first elected in 2022. Geography Federal electoral division boundaries in Au ...

since 2022. He is a member of the Liberal National Party and sits with the National Party in federal parliament. Boyce was also previously the Liberal National Party member for Callide in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

from 2017 to 2022.

Early career

Prior to becoming the state member for Callide, Boyce served as a councillor on Taroom Shire Council from 2005 until 2008. In 2008, he unsuccessfully attempted to be elected as the Division 6 candidate on

Banana Shire Council The Shire of Banana is a local government area located in the Capricorn region of Queensland, Australia, inland from the regional city of Gladstone. The shire was named after the first township in the region (Banana), which in turn was named f ...

. However, at a 2017 by-election, his wife Terri Boyce was elected to represent the same division. Boyce is a qualified

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 ...

and farmer who has been described as "an old-style Queensland National".

State politics

Boyce was elected as the member for Callide in the 2017 state election. In August 2020, he attracted some media attention when he

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

and voted against his own party, not offering his support for a bill to appoint a special commissioner to oversee mine rehabilitation.

Federal politics

In January 2021 Boyce announced he would seek LNP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

for the federal

to contest the 2022 federal election, following the retirement of

Ken O'Dowd Kenneth Desmond O'Dowd (born 30 June 1950) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, representing the Division of Flynn for the National Party. Background O'Dowd was born in Glads ...

. Boyce subsequently won pre-selection and was officially announced as the LNP's candidate for Flynn on 13 July 2021 while visiting the

Gladstone Power Station The Gladstone Power Station is a power station at Callemondah, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. It is Queensland's largest power station, with six coal powered steam turbines generating a maximum of 1,680 MW of electricity. Power from ...

with Deputy Prime Minister

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...

, Senator

Matt Canavan Matthew James Canavan (born 17 December 1980) is an Australian politician. He was elected to the Australian Senate representing the state of Queensland at the 2013 federal election for the term beginning 1 July 2014. He won re-election at the ...

and outgoing Flynn MP Ken O'Dowd. Boyce officially resigned from his position as the state member for Callide in Queensland Parliament on 29 March 2022. Although Boyce wasn't required to resign until the federal election was officially called, he decided to do so to focus on his bid to win the Federal seat of Flynn, beginning by promoting the

Australian federal budget An Australian federal budget is a document that sets out the estimated revenues and expenditures of the Australian Treasury in the following financial year, proposed conduct of Australian government operations in that period, and its fiscal poli ...

which was handed down the night of his resignation from state parliament. Boyce's decision to resign early drew criticism from

Robbie Katter Robert Carl Ignatius Katter (born 3 March 1977) is an Australian politician. He serves as the member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Traeger, having previously represented Mount Isa from 2012 to 2017. He is the leader of Katter's ...

who said Boyce had missed the chance to side with the

Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral Co ...

to support their bill to wind back

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

regulations. His resignation triggered the

2022 Callide state by-election A by-election was held on 18 June 2022 for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Callide following the resignation of Colin Boyce to contest the 2022 federal election. Background 2020 election results Key dates Candidates ...

, which Queensland speaker

Curtis Pitt Curtis Warren Pitt (born 1 February 1977) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland since 2009, representing the district of Mulgrave. On 14 February 2015, he was sworn in as Treas ...

announced would be held on 18 June 2022. During his campaign to be elected as the member for Flynn, Boyce attracted media attention after making comments which appeared to question the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

's plan to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 by describing it as "flexible" with "wiggle room". Boyce was successful in his election to federal parliament in the election in May 2022, achieving a narrow victory over Labor candidate Matt Burnett. Following his election to federal parliament, Boyce was criticised by Queensland resources minister Scott Stewart who said during parliamentary question time on 24 May 2022 that Boyce had made it clear that he was "an LNP

climate change denier Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or the ...

." This was followed by an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' two days later which revealed Boyce was a foundation member of The Saltbush Club, and in 2019 had been a signatory to an international statement which claimed there was no climate emergency.

References

External links

Parliamentary Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyce, Colin 1962 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Flynn Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia