Russell Glenn Matheson (born 16 December 1958) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n politician who served as a 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 ...

for the seat of Macarthur representing 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 ...

from August 2010 to July 2016. The seat was previously held by

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Pat Farmer Patrick Francis Daniel Farmer (born 14 March 1962) is an ultra-marathon athlete, motivational speaker, and former Australian politician who served as a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Macarthur in ...

, who lost Liberal pre-selection and retired from politics. Matheson lost the seat in the 2016 federal election to Labor candidate

Mike Freelander Michael Randolph Freelander FRACP (born 23 April 1953) is an Australian politician and paediatrician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has held the Division of Macarthur in the House of Representatives since the 2016 fede ...

with an 11.7% swing.

Early years and background

Prior to entering politics, Matheson was a Sergeant in the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

, with 23 years experience, and former local Australian football champion. He served 17 years on Council of the City of Campbelltown, including five years as Mayor as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Politics

Matheson defeated Farmer for Liberal preselection in Macarthur. The seat had been made notionally

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

with a 0.5-point

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

margin in the electoral redistribution prior to the 2010 election, however Matheson won with a notional 3.5-point swing to finish on a 3-point margin. After the 2010 election, it was revealed that Matheson failed to resign from his position on the Campbelltown Council before the election, putting himself at risk of High Court action, which would not allow him to take office as the member for Macarthur. Previously, independent

Phil Cleary Philip Ronald Cleary (born 8 December 1952) is an Australian commentator on politics and sport, particularly Australian rules football, and a former independent politician elected at the 1992 Wills by-election. Football playing career Cleary ...

and Liberal

Jackie Kelly Jacqueline Marie Kelly (born 18 February 1964) is a former Australian politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until November 2007, representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wales ...

have been faced with a by-election after failing to resign from public service positions before winning their respective seats.

References

External links

Liberal People: Russell Matheson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Russell 1958 births Australian police officers Living people 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 Macarthur 21st-century Australian politicians