Vaughan Gregory Johnson (born 20 July 1947) is an Australian politician who served in 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 ...

from 1989 to 2015.

Early life

Born in Bourke, New South Wales, he was a grazier and contractor before entering politics.

Political career

Having moved to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, he was a councillor on Quilpie Shire Council from 1970 to 1973. From 1972 to 1973, he was Chairman of the

Quilpie Quilpie ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Quilpie, Queensland, Australia. In the , Quilpie had a population of 595 people. The town is the administrative centre of the Quilpie Shire local government area. The town of Toompine ...

Branch of the National Party. In 1989, Johnson was elected to the

as the National Party member for Gregory. He followed the Queensland Nationals into the Liberal National Party in 2008, and held the seat until his retirement in 2015.

Government Minister (1996–98)

After

Rob Borbidge Robert Edward Borbidge (born 12 August 1954) is a former Australian politician who served as the 35th Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party, and was the last member of that p ...

became Premier, Johnson was made Minister for Transport and Main Roads.

Opposition frontbencher (1998–2010)

Following the heavy coalition defeat at the 2001 election he was elected Deputy National Leader, a position he held until

Lawrence Springborg Lawrence James Springborg (born 17 February 1968) is an Australian politician. He led the National Party in the Queensland Parliament from 2003 to 2006 and again in 2008, before becoming the first leader of the merged Liberal National Party ...

replaced

Mike Horan Michael James Horan, AM (born 1 July 1944) is a former Australian politician who represented the seat of Toowoomba South in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 18 May 1991 to 24 March 2012. Originally he was a member of the National P ...

as leader in 2003. He held many shadow cabinet positions between 1998 and 2010 including Shadow Minister for Sport and the Shadow Minister for Police and Corrections. He was removed from the frontbench by LNP leader

John-Paul Langbroek John-Paul Honoré Langbroek (born 31 January 1961) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing the centre-right Liberal Party and its successor, the centre-right Liberal National Part ...

in November 2010, however he returned as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Western Queensland after Langbroek was replaced by

Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is a former Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Quee ...

. He was appointed Government Chief Whip following the LNP victory at the 2012 election. In October 2014, Johnson announced that he would retire from the Queensland Parliament at the next election. The Premier of Queensland,

, praised his contribution to Queensland, saying "Vaughan will forever be known as the bloke who fought tooth and nail for the farmers and graziers, truck drivers, small business owners and everyone in between right across Western Queensland."

Controversies

In 2014 on Fairfax Radio, Johnson stated "I'm not against Asian people, don't get me wrong – but a lot of those Asian people come from an environment where they have no comprehension of road rules in their own country". Johnson issued a letter later that day apologising for his remarks, adding "I wanted to convey that all drivers in Queensland must take care on the roads".

Personal life

Johnson is married with three children. In 2020 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day honours list

References

1947 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly People from New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub