Brian Burston (born 25 February 1948) is a former Australian politician. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

from 2016 to 2019, originally representing One Nation. After falling out with party leader

Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian S ...

over company tax cuts, Burston left One Nation and joined businessman

Clive Palmer Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian billionaire businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, t ...

's newly relaunched

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

. Palmer announced Burston as the new parliamentary leader of the party on 18 June 2018, but Burston failed to win re-election at the 2019 federal election.

Early life

Burston was born and grew up in

Cessnock, New South Wales Cessnock () is a city in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the City of Cessnock Local government in Australia, LGA and was named afte ...

. He started an apprenticeship as a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

with

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

when he was 15. He has taught at

TAFE NSW TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...

, trained TAFE teachers at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

and worked as a contract

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawi ...

. He was employed at the former Newcastle Teachers College. He has been a councillor on Cessnock City Council. He married at the age of 22, had three children and later divorced. He married his second wife, a teacher named Rosie, in 2008. Their home overlooks

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. The ...

. Burston became a member of

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON), also known as One Nation (ON) or One Nation Party (ONP), is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia. It is led by Pauline Hanson. ...

soon after its inception. He is a former National Director of One Nation, having served alongside David Ettridge. In concert with the overthrow and imprisonment of

, Burston left Pauline Hanson's One Nation and joined

One Nation NSW One Nation NSW was a minor Australian political party that operated exclusively in the state of New South Wales (NSW) from 2000 to 2007. The party was a splinter group of Pauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON). It was a socially conservative Righ ...

, a splinter group of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, founded and led by David Oldfield. After Oldfield abandoned One Nation NSW, Burston rejoined Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Senator (2016–2019)

After Burston was elected to the Senate at the 2016 federal election, he was elected as One Nation's

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

. In his maiden speech to parliament, Burston warned that large-scale immigration was undermining social cohesion, placing pressure on infrastructure and housing affordability and increasing crime in Australia. He also criticised "aggressive

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

", stating:

It seems that every group pride is promoted in the media and schools except for ours, the nation's. The
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
long ago abandoned any semblance of patriotism, or even balance. Other taxpayer-funded media – SBS and
NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...
– serve immigrants and
indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
. The national flag is often ignored or dishonoured in schools, while multiculturalism and indigenous issues are now part of the curriculum. The majority of students are not supported in their Anglo-Australian identity, but are made to feel guilty for supposed historical injustices committed by their ancestors.

Burston is a public opponent of

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

, and was one of twelve senators who voted against what became the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017. In 2017, he was one of ten senators to vote in favour of

Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party h ...

's motion to ban gender-selective abortion. It was defeated by ten votes to 36. In May 2018, Burston announced he would support the

Turnbull government The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Au ...

's proposed corporate tax cuts, a move that contradicted One Nation policy. He was soon demoted from the role of party whip, and reportedly attempted to leave One Nation for the

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protec ...

. On 18 June 2018, he told the Senate he had resigned from One Nation to sit as an independent, but later that day he announced that he would join Clive Palmer's

, as party leader. He became part of the economically conservative voting bloc formed by

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

Senators

David Leyonhjelm David Ean Leyonhjelm ( "lion-helm"; born 1 April 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales, representing the Liberal Democratic Party from 2014 to 2019. Having been elected at the 2013 federal election, he ...

and

Fraser Anning William Fraser Anning (born 14 October 1949) is an Australian racist and former politician who was a senator for Queensland from November 2017 to June 2019. Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views, and has been ...

. In February 2019, Burston accused fellow Party Leader and Senator Pauline Hanson of sexual harassment, in an incident which occurred in 1998. Burston was defeated at the 2019 federal election.

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Brian Burston on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burston, Brian Living people One Nation members of the Parliament of Australia Pauline Hanson's One Nation politicians Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Australian Senate New South Wales local councillors 21st-century Australian politicians United Australia Party (2013) politicians Australian politicians who switched parties 1948 births People from Cessnock, New South Wales