Peter John McGauran (born 16 November 1955) is a former Australian politician who served as a National Party member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

. He represented the

Division of Gippsland The Division of Gippsland is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Gippslan ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

from 5 March 1983 to 9 April 2008. He is the brother of former Senator

Julian McGauran Julian John James McGauran (born 5 March 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian Senate, representing the state of Victoria. Elected as a member of the National Party, he resigned from the Nationals an ...

. He was born in

Yallourn Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station, Victoria, Yal ...

, Victoria, and was educated at

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. ...

, Kew and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. He was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics. McGauran was an active member of the Young Nationals and was accorded the accolade of 'Mr YNP Pin-Up Boy' at the 1983 NSW Young Nationals State Ball held in Moree. McGauran was appointed

Minister for Science and Technology A Science Ministry or Department of Science is a ministry or other government agency charged with science. The ministry is often headed by a Minister for Science. List of Ministries of Science Many countries have a Ministry of Science or Ministry ...

in the Howard government in 1996, however, on 26 September 1997, he was forced to resign his position due to ministerial impropriety in relation to the "Travel Rorts" affair. He returned to the ministry in 1998, as Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation 1998–2001, Minister for Science 2001–04, and Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs 2004–05. In July 2005 he was promoted to Cabinet and became Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, a position he held until 3 December 2007, the Howard Government having been defeated by the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

under

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

at the 24 November election. After the resignation of Nationals leader

Mark Vaile Mark Anthony James Vaile (born 18 April 1956) is a former deputy prime minister of Australia and former leader of the National Party of Australia. Vaile is currently a non-executive director of a number of public listed corporations. Early li ...

, McGauran was expected to seek the leadership; however he dropped out of the race, stating that it was time for younger members to contribute to the party, and that he looked forward to using his experience to help them. On 4 April 2008, McGauran announced he would shortly be resigning from parliament, citing plans to pursue interests in the

thoroughbred racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing i ...

industry. His resignation was effective on 9 April. He was succeeded by

Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester (born 13 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans ...

in the resulting June 2008 by-election. After announcing his resignation, he revealed events that occurred in 1996, where he was physically assaulted by

Alphonse Gangitano Alphonse John Gangitano (22 April 1957 – 16 January 1998) was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria. Nicknamed the "Black Prince of Lygon Street", Gangitano was the face of an underground organisation known as the Carlton Crew. H ...

, an underworld figure who was later murdered. In January 2018, McGauran was appointed by Trade Minister

Steven Ciobo Steven Michele Ciobo ( ) (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian politician who represented the Division of Moncrieff in the House of Representatives from the 2001 federal election until his retirement at the 2019 election. He was a membe ...

as the Consul-General of Australia in Houston,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

References

External links

Newspaper article on Peter McGauran
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGauran, Peter 1955 births Living people Australian diplomats Australian people of Irish descent National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Melbourne Law School alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gippsland Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia People educated at Xavier College People from Yallourn 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia