Brad Rowswell
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brad Rowswell (born 1986) is an Australian politician and the
Shadow Treasurer A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensional ...
of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, Australia. He has been a
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 ...
member of the
Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...
since November 2018, representing the seat of
Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...
. He was for a time the Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition and Secretary to the Shadow Cabinet; he was removed from this role on
Matthew Guy Matthew Jason Guy (born 6 March 1974) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria since 2006, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council (2006–2014) and Bullee ...
's return to the Liberal Party leadership in September 2021. Rowswell was Shadow Treasurer from December 2022 to January 2025 and was appointed Shadow Environment Minister.


Early life and career

Rowswell was born at the Sandringham Hospital and grew up in the suburb of
Beaumaris Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...
. He was educated at St Bede's College in Mentone. Rowswell once studied to be a Catholic priest. Prior to his election to parliament, Rowswell worked as a political advisor and a communications manager for the defense contractor
Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...
. Rowswell is brother of Brendan Rowswell a drink driver offended https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/page-13/has-brendan-rowswell-twin-brother-of-state-shadow-enviro-minister-brad-spun-his-way-out-of-pr-biz/news-story/52e75df628dd83215e3bd9fb62c52881


Political career and controversies

Rowswell was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Sandringham in 2018 over former councillor Felicity Frederico. There was a 9.5% swing against him, and he won the election by slightly over 500 votes. While campaigning in 2017, a fundraiser for his campaign included former tennis player and apartheid supporter and anti-
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
campaigner
Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (includi ...
. Rowswell was appointed Shadow Minister for Energy in March 2021 by Michael O'Brien. When O'Brien was subject to a
leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply a spill) is a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (leader and deputy leader in ...
and replaced by
Matthew Guy Matthew Jason Guy (born 6 March 1974) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Parliament of Victoria since 2006, representing the Northern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council (2006–2014) and Bullee ...
in September 2021 Rowswell was removed from the shadow cabinet. Rowswell was re-elected at the
2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Victorian Legislat ...
. After the election he ran in the 2022 Victorian Liberal Party deputy leadership election, losing to David Southwick, and was subsequently appointed
Shadow Treasurer A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensional ...
. Rowswell voted to expel
Moira Deeming Moira Deeming is an Australian politician and member of the Victorian Liberal Party. She has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria, for the Western Metropolitan Region since November ...
from the parliamentary Liberal Party in May 2023 because she attended a women's rights rally which was gatecrashed by neo nazi members. Rowswell is considered a conservative MP, who in his time working as a federal political adviser was close to
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
. Rowswell admitted to taking cannabis. He was accused of mocking transgender people. Rowswell voted against Moira Deeming being reinstated to the Victorian Parliamentary Liberal Party. Rowswell lost his position as Shadow Treasurer to James Newbury following John Pessuto's removal as Liberal leader Rowswell went to England to examine freeports.


References

Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 1986 births Politicians from Melbourne People from Beaumaris, Victoria People educated at St Bede's College (Mentone) {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub