Brian Gerard Loughnane (born 11 November 1957) is an Australian business and political strategic adviser. He was the federal director of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

from February 2003 until January 2016 and campaign director for the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition in the 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 federal elections in Australia. Loughnane is Deputy Chairman of the

International Democracy Union The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 fu ...

since April 2019.

Early life and education

Brian Loughnane was born in ,

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 ...

in November 1957 and was educated in Colac before graduating with an

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

in 1981.

Career

Early career

Loughnane commenced his business career with

Shell Australia Shell Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Shell. Shell has operated in Australia since 1901, initially delivering bulk fuel into Australia, then establishing storage and distribution terminals, oil refineries, and a network of service sta ...

in 1982, and was responsible for

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

at the Geelong

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

during the introduction of

enterprise bargaining Enterprise bargaining is an Australian term for a form of collective bargaining, in which wages and working conditions are negotiated at the level of the individual organisations, as distinct from sectoral collective bargaining across whole indus ...

Political career

In 1992, he was appointed as Senior Advisor to Vin Heffernan, the Minister for Small Business in the Kennett government. In 1994 he became

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...

, the federal

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. When

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

succeeded Downer as Opposition Leader in early 1995, Loughnane was appointed as Howard's Chief of Staff, serving until May 1995, before appointment to a senior executive role with

Gas and Fuel Corporation The Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria (G&FC) was a government-owned monopoly supplier of household gas in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1950 and took over two of the three main gas utilities in Melbourne – the Metropolitan Gas C ...

for twelve months. He returned to politics in 1996 and served as Chief of Staff to John Moore in his capacities as Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism and as

Minister for Defence Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. From October 2000 to February 2003 Loughnane was State Director of the Victorian Division of the Liberal Party. He was Campaign Director for the 2001 by-election for the federal

Division of Aston The Division of Aston is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Federal Electoral Division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, located in the eastern suburbs of Melbo ...

(Liberal retain) and the

2002 Victorian state election The 2002 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 30 November 2002, was for the 55th Parliament of Victoria. It was held to elect the 88 members of Victorian Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council. The La ...

. In late 2002 Loughnane was appointed Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia and served as Campaign Director for the Coalition parties at the federal elections held in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

(

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

returned with increased majority),

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

(

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

win),

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

(Labor minority) and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

(Coalition win). He retired as Federal Director of the Liberal Party in February 2016. Loughnane has extensive international political experience with major centre-right parties around the world. He attended the first Convention of the Conservative Party of Canada and has had a close working relationship with senior Canadian political figures for many years. In 2016, he was asked to conduct a review of the 2015 national election campaign for the Conservative Party of Canada. Loughnane is Deputy Chairman of the

International Democrat Union The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 fu ...

since April 2019, was previously Assistant Chairman, and in 2015 was appointed to the

International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...

International Advisory Board.

Business

Loughnane is a business and political strategic advisor who works closely with major corporations, business leaders and associations and political leaders in Australia and overseas. His particular focus is the intersection of policy and politics at a time of political and community ferment.

Personal life

Loughnane is married to

Peta Credlin Peta-Louise Mary Credlin (born March 1971) is an Australian media personality and former political advisor who served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister (Australia), Chief of Staff to Tony Abbott during his term as prime minister of Aust ...

, the former Chief of Staff 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 ...

, former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

. He became an Officer in the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

on Australia Day 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loughnane, Brian 1957 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia People from Geelong La Trobe University alumni Officers of the Order of Australia Australian monarchists