Brett Mason
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brett John Mason (born 5 March 1962) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was a
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
/ Liberal National of Queensland member of the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...
from 1 July 1999 to 15 April 2015, representing the state of
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 ...
. Mason was the Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands from September 2015 to August 2018.


Education

Mason completed BA and LLB(Hons) degrees at the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
, an MPhil degree in International Relations at Trinity Hall,
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and a PhD degree at
Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...
.


Parliamentary career

Following Mason's entry into the Senate in 1999, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing in the
Howard government The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...
from 21 March 2007 to 3 December 2007, and appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the
Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...
from 18 September 2013 to 23 December 2014. Along with senators Mitch Fifield and Mathias Cormann, Mason was one of the first to resign from the Coalition front bench in 2009 over the Shadow Cabinet's decision to support Kevin Rudd's ETS. On 24 March 2015, Mason announced he intended to resign from the Senate prior to the parliament's budget sittings in May. He resigned on 15 April 2015. The casual vacancy resulting from his resignation was filled by the appointment of Joanna Lindgren on 21 May 2015.


Diplomatic career

On 21 April 2015, six days after his resignation from the Senate, Foreign Minister
Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Federal deputy leader ...
announced that Mason would be appointed as Australia's ambassador to the Netherlands, replacing Neil Mules in mid-2015. Mason presented his credentials in the Netherlands on 2 September 2015. He completed his posting in August 2018. In June 2018 Mason was appointed the chair of the National Library of Australia's Library Council, commencing on 9 August 2018.


Honours

* Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal, 2003.


Publications

* * * Review:


References


External links


Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Brett Mason on TheyVoteForYou.org.au

Interview with Mason
  {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Brett 1962 births Living people People from Canberra Australian National University alumni Griffith University alumni Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Academic staff of Queensland University of Technology Australian barristers Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Abbott government 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Ambassadors of Australia to the Netherlands National Library of Australia Council members