Andrew Cary Powell (born 15 May 1973) is an Australian politician. He was first elected for the seat of

Glass House Glass house or glass houses may refer to: Architecture * Greenhouse, a building where plants are cultivated * Glass works or glasshouse, a manufactory building used for glassblowing * Glasshouse (British Army), a term for a military prison in the ...

to the

Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the unicameral legislative body of the Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Queensland, and the ...

for the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major conservative political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. In most other states ...

at the 2009 Queensland election.

Early life

Powell was born in Melbourne, but moved to Sydney while in primary school and later to

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 ...

. He received a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

in 1995, and a Certificate III in Public Administration from the Department of Defence in 1996. He became a public servant with the Commonwealth Department of Defence (1996–2000) before spending a year as a short-term missionary in Fiji and New Zealand. When he returned, he re-entered the public service in the Queensland Department of the Premier and Cabinet (2001–04) and then Child Safety (2005–09).

Political career

In the

2009 Queensland state election The 2009 Queensland state election was held on 21 March 2009 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament. The election saw the incumbent Australian Labor Party (Queensland Bra ...

, he was elected to 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 Assembly ...

for the seat of

, representing the Liberal National Party.

Member of Parliament

As the Shadow Minister for the Environment in 2011, Powell's environmental policies were ranked 'negative' on all four areas assessed by a collection of five environmental interest groups, including Queensland Conservation and the

Australian Marine Conservation Society The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is an Australian environmental not-for-profit organisation. It was founded in 1965 as the Queensland Littoral Society before changing its name to the Australian Littoral Society and then finally i ...

. When sent the initial reports by these groups and asked for feedback, Powell declined to respond. After retaining his seat with an increased majority at the

2012 Queensland state election The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament. The Labor Party (ALP), led by Premier Anna Bligh, was defeated by the opposition Liberal National P ...

, Powell was sworn in as Minister for the Environment and Heritage Protection in the Newman ministry on 3 April 2012. In 2014 as the environment minister, he advised Australians to boycott the American ice-cream company

Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream p ...

, saying they had damaged the reputation of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

and jeopardised jobs and tourism dollars. Land clearing, although on a downward trend under the previous Bligh Ministry, increased substantially during Powell's tenure as Environment Minister. Data from the Queensland Government's Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) shows a grand total of nearly 1.2 million hectares of land was cleared. Powell retained his seat in the

2015 Queensland state election The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a seco ...

, with a 2.5% swing towards him in the

2017 Queensland state election The 2017 Queensland state election was held on 25 November 2017 to elect all 93 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the unicameral Parliament of Queensland. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Annastacia Pal ...

, but lost his ministerial responsibilities as a result of the election of the Palaszczuk Labor Government.

References

1973 births Living people Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian public servants University of Queensland alumni 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-LiberalNational-politician-stub