Neale Ronald Burgess (born 17 August 1956) is an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

from 2006 to 2022, representing the electorate of

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Political career

Burgess first ran as the Liberal Party candidate for Hastings in the

2002 Victorian state election The 2002 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 30 November 2002, was for the 55th Parliament of Victoria. It was held to elect the 88 members of Victorian Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council. The La ...

but lost the seat in the Labor ‘Brackslide’ to Labor’s Rosy Buchanan. Burgess ran again for the Liberals at the 2006 state election, and succeeded in winning back the traditionally conservative district for the Liberal Party. He later held the seat at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 state elections. Burgess voted against the ''Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008'', and later voted for banning anti-abortion protesters from protesting outside abortion clinics. In May 2018, he revealed he had changed his mind on the issue and now opposed buffer zones. In June 2022, Burgess received a parliamentary suspension following several allegations of inappropriate behaviour beginning in November 2021. Burgess strongly denies the allegations. In November 2021, Burgess announced he would not recontest

at the 2022 state election, and was succeeded by Labor's

Paul Mercurio Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in '' Strictly Ballroom'' 1992 and his role as a judge on TV series ''Dancing with the Stars''. H ...

Personal life

Burgess was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and grew up in

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne ...

. He is the father of three children. In 1994, Burgess completed a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) at the Queensland University of Technology, and was later admitted to the Bar. He worked for a number of years as a criminal law barrister. He operated a technology consulting business before entering politics.

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Neale Burgess at Victorian Parliament Tracker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Neale 1956 births Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Living people Queensland University of Technology alumni 21st-century Australian politicians New South Wales politicians