Phillip Bruce Thompson, (born 7 May 1988) is an Australian politician. His party is the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

and he sits with 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 ...

in federal parliament. He is 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 ...

, representing the

Division of Herbert The Division of Herbert is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives. Geography S ...

. He was first elected in the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

. Prior to entering politics, Thompson was Queensland

Young Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

Early life and education

Thompson was born in

Armidale, New South Wales Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

. In 2006, at age seventeen, Thompson enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

. He underwent training at Kapooka and Singleton before being posted to the

1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1 RAR was first formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion of the 34th Brigade (Australia) on Balikpapan in 1945 and since ...

, in Townsville. In 2007 Thompson was deployed to East Timor. In May 2009, Thompson was deployed to Afghanistan. Six months into this deployment, while conducting a dismounted patrol, an IED exploded a metre in front of him. He spent several years recovering from physical and mental injuries caused by the incident. The injuries at the time significantly affected his memory, hearing, and contributed to subsequent mental health challenges. In 2014, Thompson represented Australia at the inaugural

Invictus Games The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. The word 'Invictus' means 'unconquered', chosen as an embodiment of the fighting spi ...

held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

; a sporting competition for wounded, injured, or ill participants in the armed forces. In 2016, he coached the Powerlifting and wheelchair rugby teams at the event held in Orlando, Florida. He was awarded a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to the welfare of veterans.

Political career

Thompson entered politics upon being elected for the

at the 2019 federal election. He is the youngest member of the lower house in the 46th Parliament. In Thompson's first speech he stated that the well-being of Indigenous Australians and the defence community are among his priorities as an MP. He acknowledged his mother in law, his wife, and daughter as Aboriginal women and stated that "we must not forget there must not forget there is still a lot of work to be done in recognising and valuing our First Nations people and their culture." Speaking of the defence community, Thompson acknowledged "the ultimate sacrifice on operations in service to this nation and our many veterans who have succumbed to their war within back here on home soil". Thompson served on the "Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the

Juukan Gorge Juukan Gorge is a gorge in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, about from Mt Tom Price. It was named by the daughter of Puutu Kunti Kurrama man Juukan, also known as Tommy Ashburton, who was born at Jukarinya (Mt B ...

in the Pilbara region of Western Australia", which delivered its interim report in December 2020.PDF
/ref> Thompson is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.

Personal life

Thompson is married to Jenna, and has two daughters named Astin and Emery.

Controversies

During his campaign, he apologised to the

Muslim community ' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history. It is a synonym for ' ...

after directing violent threats towards Muslims on Facebook in 2012, which he says were caused by

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

from his military service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Phillip 1988 births 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Herbert People with post-traumatic stress disorder Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia