Paul William Fletcher (born 16 January 1965) is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts from 2020 to 2022. Fletcher is a member of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

, and has served as

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the

division of Bradfield The Division of Bradfield is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History Bradfield was created in the 1949 expansion of Parliament, and was named in honour of Dr John Bradfield, the designer of the Sydney Harbo ...

since 2009. Fletcher entered politics after winning the

2009 Bradfield by-election The 2009 Bradfield by-election was held for the House of Representatives (Australia), Australian House of Representatives seat of Division of Bradfield, Bradfield on 5 December 2009. This was triggered as a result of the resignation of former min ...

. He served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications between September 2013 and September 2015 under the Abbott ministry, and between September 2015 and July 2016, he served as the Minister for Major Projects, Territories, and Local Government. He briefly served as the Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects between October and December 2017. He served as Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities from July 2016 to August 2018 in the second Turnbull ministry, and

Minister for Families and Social Services The Minister for Social Services is the Australian federal government minister who oversees Australian Government social services, including mental health, families and children's policy, and support for carers and people with disabilities, and ...

in the first Morrison ministry.

Early life

Fletcher was born in

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, the son of Clive and Mary Fletcher. His father was a professor of

computational engineering Computational science and engineering (CSE) is a relatively new discipline that deals with the development and application of computational models and simulations, often coupled with high-performance computing, to solve complex physical problems ...

. He arrived in Australia with his family at the age of two, and held

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

until 2009 when he renounced it to stand for parliament. Fletcher grew up in the eastern suburbs of

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 ...

, where he was the

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...

in 1982. He subsequently attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, graduating with first-class honours in economics and laws. At university he co-wrote two plays, titled ''The Fax of Life'' and ''Annually Fixated''. In 1993 Fletcher was awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to go to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's Graduate School of Business in New York City, where he completed a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree. Fletcher is one of seven Liberal MPs in the

46th Parliament of Australia The 46th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The 2019 federal election gave the Coalition of t ...

who have obtained degrees at an

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

university, the others being

Alan Tudge Alan Tudge (born 24 February 1971) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2010 federal election. He was a cabinet minister in the Morrison government fr ...

, Angus Taylor,

Andrew Laming Andrew Charles Laming (born 30 September 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, for the Liberal National Party of Queensland from 2004 to 2022. H ...

Dave Sharma Devanand Noel "Dave" Sharma (born 21 December 1975) is an Australian former politician and former public servant and diplomat who served as member of parliament for Wentworth from 2019 to 2022. He lost the seat at the 2022 election to indep ...

Greg Hunt Gregory Andrew Hunt (born 18 November 1965) is a former Australian politician who was the Minister for Health between January 2017 and May 2022. He was a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives between November 2001 and 2022, repre ...

and

Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg () (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisio ...

Professional career

In his early career, Fletcher worked as a management consultant, a corporate lawyer for Mallesons Stephen Jaques, and a corporate strategist for TNT Limited. From 1996 to 2000, he worked as chief of staff to Minister for Communications Richard Alston, a Liberal Party politician. Fletcher joined

Optus Singtel Optus Pty Limited (commonly referred to as Optus) is an Australian Telecommunications in Australia, telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore, Si ...

in 2000 and worked as director of corporate and regulatory affairs until 2008. He was a staunch opponent of

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 ...

, accusing the latter company of being a monopoly. After leaving Optus, Fletcher founded Fletchergroup Advisers, a strategy consultancy focusing on the communications industry. He also wrote a book entitled ''Wired Brown Land? Telstra's Battle for Broadband'' that was published in 2009, discussing Telstra's bid to operate the Australian Government's proposed

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a Government-owned corporation. Internet service provider ...

Political career

Fletcher joined the Young Liberals at the age of 16. In 2009, he won

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 ...

from a field of 17 people to be the Liberal Party candidate at the

, following the retirement of former Liberal leader

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is a business leader and former Australian politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NA ...

. Bradfield, a seat located in the North Shore of Sydney, has been held continuously by the Liberal Party since its creation in 1949, and is one of the safest Liberal Party seats in Parliament. He was required to renounce his dual British citizenship before entering Parliament, as required by Section 44 of the

Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a written constitution, constitutional document that is Constitution, supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a Federation of Australia, federation under a constitutio ...

. Fletcher had previously unsuccessfully sought Liberal Party pre-selection in the

Division of Cook The Division of Cook is an Australian electoral division in the State of New South Wales. History Cook was created in 1969, mostly out of the Liberal-leaning areas of neighbouring Hughes. It was thus a natural choice for that seat's one-ter ...

in 2007. Under the Abbott government, Fletcher was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications. In September 2015 Fletcher was appointed as the Minister for Major Projects, Territories, and Local Government in the Turnbull government. Fletcher has served as the Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities since July 2016. Fletcher is a member of the Moderate/Modern Liberal faction of the Liberal Party. In June 2022 he was appointed Manager of Opposition Business in the House.

Personal life

Fletcher is married to jeweller Manuela Zappacosta and they have one son, and they live with her son from a previous marriage.

References

External links

Australian Parliament House biographyPaul Fletcher's campaign website for the Bradfield by-election 2009Australian Telecommunications Users Group biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Paul 1965 births Living people English emigrants to Australia People who lost British citizenship Naturalised citizens of Australia 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 Bradfield Australian businesspeople University of Sydney alumni Columbia Business School alumni People from Devizes Abbott Government Turnbull Government 21st-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia Morrison Government Fulbright alumni