Luke Xavier Linton Simpkins (born 8 June 1964) is a former Australian politician who served as 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 2007 to 2016. He represented the
Division of Cowan
The Division of Cowan is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia.
Cowan is an inner-northern Perth seat lying generally between Morley Drive and Hepburn Avenue, extending from the Mitchell Freeway in the west to the Tonkin Freew ...
in Western Australia 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 ...
.
Early life
Simpkins was born in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, and attended
Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...
from 1976–1981.
He has a Bachelor of Arts from the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
and a Graduate Certificate in Security Management from
Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Aust ...
. He was a member of the
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...
from 1986 to 1987, an army officer from 1988 to 2002, a security consultant 2003 to 2004 and 2007, and a ministerial adviser from 2005 to 2006. His army service included a stint as a cadet at the
Royal Military College, Duntroon
lit: Learning promotes strength
, established =
, type = Military college
, chancellor =
, head_label = Commandant
, head = Brigadier Ana Duncan
, principal =
, city = Campbell
, state = ...
from 1988 to 1989, and as an officer in the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police from 1989 to 2002; when he resigned in 2002, he was a commissioned officer with the rank of major. Simpkins is also a former Australian and State representative in the sport of rowing, having won two national and six state championships.
Political history
Simpkins first attempted to enter politics in 2004, contesting the seat of Cowan at the
2004 federal election for the Liberal Party against veteran Labor incumbent
Graham Edwards. He was defeated by Edwards, but received an unexpectedly strong vote, receiving an 8.2% primary vote swing towards him, with the result being unclear for several days.
Edwards retired at the
2007 election, and Simpkins won the seat against new Labor candidate Liz Prime with a 2.5% swing, one of only four pro-Coalition swings in Australia and one of only two new House seats won by the Liberal Party. He was re-elected with a 4.75% swing against former
Lord Mayor of Perth
__TOC__
The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods:
*From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia
*From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Pe ...
Chas Hopkins at the
2010 election, and again with a slight swing against at the
2013 election.
On 6 February 2015 Simpkins announced that he would move a motion, at a meeting of the party room, for a spill of the federal Liberal Party's leadership positions (the motion was seconded by fellow WA Liberal
Don Randall). Simpkins stated that such a motion would give Liberal members of parliament and senators the opportunity to either endorse the Prime Minister,
Tony Abbott
Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Abbott was born in Londo ...
or "seek a new direction." The meeting was held on 9 February 2015 and the spill motion was defeated 61 votes to 39.
At the
2016 election, Simpkins suffered a 5.20% swing against him and was defeated by Labor candidate
Anne Aly
Anne Azza Aly (born Azza Mahmoud Fawzi Hosseini Ali el Serougi, 1967) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor member of the House of Representatives since the 2016 election, representing the electorate of Cowan in Western Australia. ...
. During the election campaign, Liberal Justice Minister
Michael Keenan was accused of starting a smear campaign against Aly. Simpkins joined in the campaign targeting Aly for her previous work in counter-terrorism, despite having written to her, in 2015 before she was a Labor candidate, to convey his admiration for her work including the "content of your media interviews and approach to the threat of radicalisation".
Political views
Simpkins is an outspoken social conservative. He was one of six Liberal MPs (including fellow West Australian MPs
Wilson Tuckey
Charles Wilson Tuckey (born 10 July 1935) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2010, representing the seat of O'Connor in Western Australia for the Liberal Party. He was a minister in ...
,
Dennis Jensen
Dennis Geoffrey Jensen (born 28 February 1962) is a former Australian politician. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2004 federal election, winning the Division of Tangney for the Liberal Party. Jensen lost Liberal preselect ...
and the late
Don Randall as well as
Sophie Mirabella
Sophie Mirabella (née Panopoulos; born 27 October 1968) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who currently serves as a Commissioner on the Fair Work Commission since 24 May 2021. She was previously a Liberal Party member of the Austra ...
and the late
Alby Schultz
Albert John "Alby" Schultz (29 May 193914 July 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Hume in New South Wales.
Biogra ...
) to leave the house in protest to the apology to the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
. Simpkins declared that he worried "that it could lock in negativity about the future", that indigenous people were no longer denied employment opportunities, and that he would "again back children being taken in this situation".
He has attacked
halal
''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with ''haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification kno ...
food, declaring in 2011 that "by having Australians unwittingly eating Halal food, then we are all one step down the path of conversion, and that is a step we should only make with full knowledge and not be imposed upon us unknowingly." His position was criticised by Labor MP
Chris Bowen
Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen (born 17 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Climate Change and Energy in the Albanese government since June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was first elec ...
.
Simpkins has supported banning the
burqa
A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...
in Australia. He has also supported sleep deprivation torture as a means of gaining information, and he opposes
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
.
Later activities
In 2017, after his defeat, Simpkins reportedly joined
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 h ...
's
Australian Conservatives
The Australian Conservatives was formed in July 2016 as a conservative political activist group in Australia and as a political party in February 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but ...
party.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpkins, Luke
1964 births
Australian Army officers
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Living people
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cowan
Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates
21st-century Australian politicians