James Edward Madden (born 12 April 1958) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

politician. He has been the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Ipswich West 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 ...

since 2015.

Early life and education

Madden was born and raised in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. He is a fifth generation Ipswich West resident since his family came to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1863. He attended St Mary's Primary School and went on to graduate from St Edmund's College. He studied

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

at UQ Gatton before working as an

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

. He later studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

QUT Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The unive ...

. In his maiden speech Madden stated that perhaps his proudest achievement was, along with his late mother, successfully reviving the tradition of the discontinued

Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

service at Woodend in 1999, which now attracts a crowd of 1,000 people.

Career

Before the 2015 election, Madden was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and councillor for

Somerset Regional Council The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, about northwest of Brisbane and centred on the town of Esk. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Esk and th ...

from 2012 to 2015.

Queensland state election results

Jim Madden was the

candidate for Ipswich West in the

2015 Queensland state election The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a s ...

. He ran against sitting Liberal National member

Sean Choat Sean Kenneth Choat (born 2 February 1970) is an Australian Liberal National politician who was the member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Ipswich West from 2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The pass ...

. Madden won the district with 57.72 percent of the

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

and a positive swing of 14.87 percent. Madden was re-elected after the

2017 Queensland state election The 2017 Queensland state election was held on 25 November 2017 to elect all 93 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the unicameral Parliament of Queensland. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Annastacia P ...

with 58.7 percent of the two-candidate-preferred vote. At the

2020 Queensland state election The 2020 Queensland state election was held on 31 October to elect all 93 members to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Labor Party was returned to government for a third-term, led by incumbent premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. With 47 ...

, Madden was re-elected with 50.1 percent of the first preference vote and 64.3 percent of the two-candidate-preferred vote.

Member for Ipswich West

In October 2015, Liberal National member

Ian Rickuss Ian Phillip Rickuss (born 27 July 1954) is an Australian politician. Born in Brisbane, he was a bank clerk and horticulturist before entering politics. In 2004, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the National Party me ...

called some Labor MPs, including Madden, "

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

s". Madden responded that Rickuss was "out of touch" and that "jokes made at the expense of the

LGBTI Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, ...

community are unacceptable now." In December 2015, Madden stepped down from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

's ethics committee after taking responsibility for a suspected

leak A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a tank or a ship's hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter the container. Leaks are usuall ...

. Ethics committee members were prohibited from revealing information about their deliberations. He thought his comments to a ''

Queensland Times ''The Queensland Times'' is an online newspaper serving Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich and surrounds in Queensland, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia. The circulation of ''The Queensland Times'' is 10,804 Monday to Friday a ...

'' journalist were "innocuous" but admitted he "should not have spoken to him at all." He said this mistake was due to his inexperience as a "relatively new member of

and the ethics committee." He received no further punishment for his role in the leak. In February 2016, Madden supported the proposed lockout laws since be believed they were proven effective elsewhere and would address alcohol-fuelled violence. In March 2017, Madden supported the Criminal Law Amendment Bill which removed "unwanted sexual advancements" as a

partial defence In legal systems based on common law, a partial defence is a defence that does not completely absolve the defendant of guilt.A
cla ...

for

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

s accused of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. He described the previous law as a "

gay panic defence The gay panic defense or homosexual advance defence is a legal strategy in which a defendant claims to have acted in a state of violent, temporary insanity, committing assault or murder, because of unwanted same-sex sexual advances, usually bet ...

" which was "archaic". He said the message of the

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

was that discrimination was "not acceptable and that we value the LBGTI community". In October 2018, he voted in favour of a bill which made

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

available, on request, up to 22 weeks' gestation and introduced "safe access zones" of 150 metres around clinics. Madden supported an amendment lowering the gestation limit from 22 to 16 weeks. On 18 April 2023, he announced his intention to retire from politics at the 2024 election.

Personal life

Madden is a practicing

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

References

External links

Jim Madden MP

Parliament of Queensland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madden, Jim 1958 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian lawyers University of Queensland alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Roman Catholics Australian people of Irish descent