Andrew Robert Gee (born 13 September 1968) is an Australian politician who served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel in the

Morrison Government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

from 2021 to 2022. He was previously the Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education from 2020 to 2021. He is a member of the National Party and has represented the

Division of Calare The Division of Calare is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appoint ...

in 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 ...

since 2016. He previously served in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 2011 to 2016, representing the seat of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Early life

Gee was born on 13 September 1968 in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. As a child he lived with his family for periods in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, before they returned to Australia and settled in

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

. He attended Newcastle Grammar School, where his history teacher was

Patricia Forsythe Patricia Forsythe (born 1 March 1952) is an Australian politician and diplomat who was the Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand from March 2019 to March 2022. She was previously the Executive Director of the Sydney Business Chamber sin ...

. He subsequently went on to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, where he graduated with the degrees of

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; th ...

( Hons.) and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

, residing at St Paul's College. After commencing practice as a solicitor, Gee started a business with his brothers David and Matthew licensing consumer products and promotions for international entertainment companies. He was based in Hong Kong and his brothers were based in Singapore. He was interviewed by the '' South China Morning Post'' prior to the 1998 federal election, correctly predicting that

Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian ...

would fail to be re-elected to parliament. He returned to Australia in 1999 and began working for Colin Biggers & Paisley, becoming a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 2003. Together with his wife and young children, Gee moved to

in 2005. His legal practice was in the fields of civil litigation and family law, and had offices in Queen's Square Chambers in Orange and Sydney.

State politics

Following an earlier announcement that the Nationals' sitting member for

Russell Turner Russell William Turner (born 12 May 1941), an Australian politician, is a councillor of the City of Orange Council, since 2012. Turner was previously a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Orange between 1996 and 20 ...

, would not be seeking re-election, Gee was endorsed by the National Party as its candidate in June 2010, after a pre-selection battle with three other candidates. During his election campaign, Gee was diagnosed with

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

and given a 50% chance of survival. At the March 2011 election, Gee was elected and received a swing of 12.5 points towards the Nationals in the traditionally strong Nationals seat, winning 74.2% of the

two-party A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...

vote. Gee's main competitor was John Davis, 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 ...

candidate, Mayor of

, former Councillor on

Blayney Shire Council Blayney Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Mid-Western Highway and the Main Western railwa ...

, and local car dealer.

Federal politics

On 30 April 2016, Gee was preselected by the National Party to contest the seat of Calare at the 2016 federal election, and resigned from his state seat before the federal election. The by-election to fill the vacancy was not held until 12 November 2016. Gee won the seat of Calare at the federal election on 2 July 2016. In January 2019, Gee was appointed Assistant Minister to the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, Michael McCormack. He held the position until a ministerial reshuffle in February 2020, when he was elevated to the outer ministry as Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education and Minister Assisting the

Minister for Trade and Investment The Minister for Trade and Tourism is a portfolio in the Government of Australia, falling within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The position is currently held by Senator Don Farrell, sworn in as part of the Albanese minis ...

. Gee supported challenger

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...

against incumbent leader Michael McCormack in the 2021 Nationals leadership spill. He had previously been regarded as a McCormack supporter, with his shift regarded as key in Joyce's victory. As a result of his support, he was appointed as Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel and was elevated to cabinet. He served as Minister until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. On 26 March 2022 Gee gave a press conference in which he threatened to resign as a minister if additional funding was not provided in the Federal budget to address a backlog of claims from veterans. At this time the budget was scheduled to be handed down three days later. Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

said that the measure would receive initial funding in the budget, and that Gee was unfamiliar with how the budget process worked. A member of the Nationals told ABC News that Gee should have advocated for the funding months earlier if he had wanted to lock it in.

Political positions

In his maiden speech to Federal Parliament, Gee supported fixed parliamentary terms of four years. On November 30th 2022, despite the National Party indicating an opposition to a proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Gee announced his continued support and his intention to vote in favour of the Voice to Parliament.

Personal life

Gee surfs and has played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

games with the Orange Emulators, a recreational "Golden Oldies" team. He won the

Mumbil Mumbil is a town in the east of central New South Wales, Australia. The town is within Dubbo Regional Council, part of the Orana Region, north west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Mumbil and the surrounding area had a population of 421. ...

Black Wattle Fair's Chuck Akubra contest twice, in 2012 and 2014: participants compete to throw an

Akubra Akubra is an Australian hat manufacturer. The company is associated with bush hats made of rabbit fur felt with wide brims that are worn in rural Australia. The term "Akubra" is sometimes used to refer to any hat of this kind, however the compa ...

hat the farthest.

References

External links

National Party – Andrew Gee, Candidate for OrangeAndrew Gee – campaign websiteAndrew Gee – Barrister at Law
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Andrew 1968 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Calare University of Sydney alumni Australian barristers Australian solicitors 21st-century Australian politicians Morrison Government