Christopher John Pearce (born 1 March 1963) is an Australian business executive and former politician. He was 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 ...

from 2001 to 2010, representing seat of

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

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 ...

. He served as a parliamentary secretary in the Howard government from 2004 to 2007. Outside of his political career he has worked as a senior executive in the IT and telecommunications industries.

Early life

Pearce was born on 1 March 1963 in

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It ...

. He holds the degree of

Bachelor of Business A Bachelor of Business (BBus, BBus (Major)) is a three to four year undergraduate degree in the field of business offered by traditional and newer universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is similar in format ...

from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

, and later completed an MBA at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

and a graduate certificate at the

University of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. It is constituted by eleven theological colleges from eight denominations. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest ...

. Prior to entering parliament, Pearce worked as a manager in the information technology and telecommunications industry. He began his career as a marketing executive with Yamaha Music Australia, later working for

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

as manager of its MobileNet marketing campaign, as a marketing director with United Telecommunications, as a marketing vice-president with

Iridium Satellite Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of ...

, and as Australian managing director of

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

Politics

Pearce joined the Liberal Party in 1992 and was president of its

Rowville Rowville is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Rowville recorded a population of 33,571 at the 2021 census. Rowvi ...

branch from 1996 to 1999. He also served on the Knox City Council from 1997 to 2000. Pearce was elected to the

at the 2001 Aston by-election, retaining the seat for the Liberal Party following the death of incumbent MP Peter Nugent. He was re-elected at the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and 2007 federal elections. Pearce was parliamentary secretary to Treasurer

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...

from 2004 to 2007. He was responsible for the Howard government's proposed changes to financial services legislation, reported in 2006 as "the biggest overhaul since the corporate law economic reform program began in 1997". In September 2008, Pearce was included in

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

's shadow ministry with responsibility for the financial services, superannuation and corporate law portfolio. He served as a shadow minister until June 2009, when he announced that he would retire from federal politics at the next election.

Later activities

In July 2010, it was reported that Pearce would join Telstra as a business development executive responsible for contracts with government agencies. He was appointed chair of Anglicare Victoria in 2016. He was appointed as an adjunct professor at

Deakin Business School Deakin Graduate School of Business provides Deakin University's major postgraduate business programs covering Master of Business Administration, Master of Commerce, Master of International Business, Master of Marketing, and Doctor of Business Ad ...

in 2019 and has also served as deputy chair of the St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research.

References

External links

Personal websiteParliamentary profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Chris 1963 births Living people 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 Aston Monash University alumni Australian business executives 21st-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia Deakin University alumni University of Divinity alumni