Andrew John Broad (born 2 July 1975 in ,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

) is an Australian former politician who represented Mallee in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

from 2013 to 2019 as a member of The Nationals. He was Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister from September 2018 until December 2018. He did not run in the seat of Mallee at the federal election in May 2019.

Career

Broad is a former president of the Victorian Farmers' Federation, Director of the

National Farmers Federation The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian non-profit membershipbased organisation that represents farmers and the agricultural sector in Australia. The NFF has been a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, includ ...

and director of Australian Made. A small business owner, Broad operated his wheat and sheep farm for 16 years from the age of 22. In 2006, Broad completed a

Nuffield Scholarship Nuffield may refer to: *William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, founder of Oxford-based Morris Motors and philanthropist *Nuffield, Oxfordshire, a village in Oxfordshire, England and home of William Richard Morris from which he chose his title, Visc ...

, travelling to over 40 countries to advance his knowledge of best practice canola production, exploring biotechnology, agronomic advances and new grower techniques. Broad is a former chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy, and former co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of UNICEF, and member of the Parliamentarians Against Family Violence group. Broad is also a former member of the Coalition Backbench Committee on Agriculture and the Coalition Backbench Committee on Trade and Investment. Broad's political interests included small business measures, domestic gas reservation policy, water policy, primary producer tax concessions, school chaplaincy, domestic violence, illicit drug abuse, greater support for children with type 1 diabetes, drought policy and increases in foreign aid. In the 2024 Queensland local government elections he ran for Division 7 on the

Fraser Coast Regional Council The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains K'gari. ...

, but was unsuccessful.

Resignation and retirement

In December 2018,

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reported that Broad had used a "seeking arrangements" website to meet a younger woman. In response to the report, Broad stated that the woman making the allegations "may have engaged in criminal activity", and that he had referred the matter to the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

. Broad resigned from the ministry on 17 December 2018 as a result of the scandal. Subsequently,

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

Michael McCormack revealed that he was aware of the allegations two weeks prior to them being published. In a statement released on 17 December, the Australian Federal Police said that it had received and "assessed the information provided" by Broad, but that "no applicable offences under Australian law have been identified as any offence was outside Australia's jurisdiction". In addition, the agency stated that it had received the referral from Broad on 8 November. Broad reimbursed the costs of two flights between Mildura and Melbourne, charged to his Parliamentary account, for when he flew to Hong Kong, and did not recontest the seat of Mallee at the 2019 election. In March 2019, Broad gave his final speech in the parliament outlining his achievements, and stating his desire to spend more time with his wife and daughter. He said he had made a "dumb mistake" in using the website and that politics had "made him not as nice a person".

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Andrew Broad MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.auPersonal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broad, Andrew 1975 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Mallee Members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian farmers People from Carnarvon, Western Australia Morrison government Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019