Jeremy David Hanson, CSC, MLA (born 18 February 1967) is a former

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

officer and is an Australian politician with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, elected to the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory, known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly, is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building, Canberra, Leg ...

as one of seven MLAs for the

Molonglo electorate The Molonglo electorate was one of the three electorates for the unicameral 17-member Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly between 1995 and 2016. It had seven seats, and was the largest of the three electorates in terms of populat ...

at the 2008 election. He was the

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the ACT, as well as Shadow Minister for Health, Police, Corrections and Indigenous Affairs, between February 2013 and October 2016. In 2016, following a redistricting of the ACT's electorates and an expansion in size of the Legislative Assembly, he was elected as one of five MLAs for the new electorate of Murrumbidgee. Following the resignation of fellow Murrumbidgee Liberal MLA,

Giulia Jones Giulia Jones (born 1980) is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorates of Molonglo and then Murrumbidgee for the Liberal Party from 2012 until her resignatio ...

, Hanson was elected as Deputy Leader of the Canberra Liberals in February 2022. On 4 December 2023, Hanson was dumped as deputy leader and replaced by

Leanne Castley Leanne Castley (born 1974) is an Australian politician who has served as the leader of the Canberra Liberals since 2024. She is a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, serving as one of five members for the Yerrabi ...

Military career

The son of a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer who was posted to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

in 1979, Hanson completed his schooling in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and joined the Australian Army in 1986; graduating from the

Royal Military College Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, in 1911, and is situated at the foot of Mount P ...

in 1987. He holds a bachelor's degree from the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

and a master's degree in Management and Defence Studies from the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

. Before his election, Hanson served for 22 years in the Army, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was deployed to

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and earned the Conspicuous Service Cross for his work at Army headquarters. In addition, Hanson has been awarded the following medals: *ADF Gold Commendation *

Australian Active Service Medal The Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) is an Australian military decoration. It was authorised on 13 September 1988 to recognise prescribed service in "warlike" operations, backdated to February 1975. It is awarded with a clasp to denote ...

with clasps Iraq 2003 and East Timor * Iraq Medal *

Defence Long Service Medal The Defence Long Service Medal is an Australian Defence Force, Australian military award given for long service by permanent and reserve members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), irrespective of rank. It was introduced in 1998, and replace ...

with 1st clasp * Defence Medal *

United Nations Medal A United Nations Medal is an international decoration awarded by the United Nations (UN) to the various world countries members for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, a ...

with

UNTAET The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET, ), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades-long East Timorese crisis in the area occupied by Indonesian military. UNTAET provided an int ...

Ribbon *Return from Active Service Badge *Army Combat Badge

Political views

Hanson has been described as having

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

views, and is a member of the

Right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

faction of the Liberal Party. Hanson has been considered a major figure in modern conservatism in Canberra, along with former party president John Cziesla and former party leader and former Senator

Zed Seselja Zdenko Matthew "Zed" Seselja (; born 27 March 1977) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 2013 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party. He was the Minister for International Development and the ...

. have claimed that Hanson's ousting as the Canberra Liberals' deputy leader was influenced by a growing rejection of

social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...

and

right-wing populism Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establis ...

in the party in favour of a more

Moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...

approach. Despite being aligned with the party's conservative wing, Hanson supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. Hanson opposed the

Indigenous Voice to Parliament The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal a ...

proposal and endorsed the No campaign in the 2023 referendum on the matter.

Personal life

Hanson is married to Fleur, and they live in with sons William (from Hanson's first marriage) and Robbie. Hanson has dual British-Australian citizenship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Jeremy Liberal Party of Australia members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 1967 births Living people Australian Army officers Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly People educated at Kimbolton School Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Place of birth missing (living people) University of Canberra alumni University of New England (Australia) alumni Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates 21st-century Australian politicians