Trevor John Ruthenberg (born 24 January 1968) is a former Australian Liberal National politician who was the member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

for

Kallangur Kallangur is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Kallangur had a population of 20,405 people. Geography The North Coast railway line, Queensland, North Coast railway line form ...

from 2012 to 2015. After working in a fibreglass company, Ruthenberg joined the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

serving as a corporal for six years, in which period of time he completed a trade as an airframe fitter. Ruthenberg has lived in PNG, Indonesia, Chile, Canada, and the USA. He has directed marketing and sales projects into

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

application and developed innovative "go to market" strategies. Prior to being elected, he was Executive Officer to the

Lutheran Church of Australia The Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) is the major Lutheran denomination in Australia and New Zealand. It counts 540 congregations and 30,026 members according to official statistics. It was created from a merger of the Evangelical Lutheran Chu ...

, overseeing 85 schools, 45 aged care facilities and 60 early learning centres. Ruthenberg was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2012 landslide, winning a usually safe

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 ...

seat with a 17% swing. However, he was defeated after just one term in Parliament at the 2015 election by the Labor candidate Shane King. In 2018, he was endorsed as the candidate for the

2018 Longman by-election A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Longman took place on Saturday 28 July 2018, following the resignation of incumbent Labor MP Susan Lamb. In early counting, within an hour of the close of polls, the Australian B ...

, Longman being a

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

constituency in the federal

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 ...

. However, he was unsuccessful.

Controversy

During the campaign for the 2018 Longman by-election, Ruthenberg touted his strengths such as being awarded an

Australian Defence Medal The Australian Defence Medal is an Australian military decoration which recognises current and former Australian Defence Force personnel who completed an initial enlistment period, or four years' service. It was established on 20 March 2006; how ...

, which is given to people who have completed four years of service. However, according to the Queensland parliament's website, Ruthenberg held an

Australian Service Medal The Australian Service Medal is an Australian military decoration. It was authorised 13 September 1988 to recognise prescribed service in peacekeeping and non-warlike operations. It is awarded with a clasp to denote the prescribed operation and ...

, a distinction higher than the Defence Medal, awarded for service in or in connection with a non-war operation such as peacekeeping. Following revelation of the discrepancy by the ''Courier Mail'' on 17 July 2018 (during the Longman by-election campaign), Ruthenberg admitted the mistake and apologised, reportedly responding to the report by claiming he had "absolutely no clue" how the mistake had occurred but conceding he may have "screwed up". "If I screwed up then I screwed up and all I can do is apologise," he told the ''Courier Mail''. "It was certainly not intentional and I respect the uniform way too much to claim I earned something I didn't."

References

External links

Queensland Parliament: Former Members: Ruthenberg, Mr Trevor John
Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 1968 births {{Australia-politician-stub