Craig Laundy
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Craig Arthur Samuel Laundy (born 16 February 1971) is a former Australian
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 ...
politician who served as Member of Parliament for
Reid Reid is a surname of Scotland, Scottish origin. It means "red". People with the surname * Alec Cunningham-Reid (1895–1977), British politician * Alan Reid (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Reid (disambiguation), multiple people * Alexan ...
from
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 ...
until his retirement in 2019. He served as Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation in the Second Turnbull Ministry, before resigning in August 2018 following the ousting of
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...
as Prime Minister. On 15 March 2019, Laundy announced he would retire from politics at the 2019 federal election.


Early years and background

Laundy is the son of
pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
baron Arthur Laundy and his ex-wife Margaret. The family owns more than 50 pubs across
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 ...
. Craig was born in Sydney and educated at St Patrick's College, , St Joseph's College, , and the
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics. Prior to his election to parliament at the 2013 federal election, Laundy worked in the family hotel business.


Political career

Laundy served as the Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs between February and July 2016 following a rearrangement in the First Turnbull Ministry and served as the Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science between July 2016 and December 2017 in the Second Turnbull Ministry. Following a subsequent rearrangement of the ministry in December 2017, he was appointed as the Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation. He resigned from the position in August 2018 following the election of
Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
in a Liberal Party
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 ...
.


Fringe benefits tax

As a candidate during the 2013 federal election campaign, Laundy argued that the removal of the fringe benefits tax concession on motor vehicles would be ''"another kick in the pants to Australia's automotive industry."''


Australian Broadcasting Corporation

In January 2014, public broadcaster, 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 ...
received criticism from senior members of the Coalition government, including the Defence Minister,
David Johnston David Johnston or Dave Johnston may refer to: Politics *David Johnston (governor general) David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served as the 28th governor general of Canada from 2010 to ...
, and the Prime Minister
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 ...
, who said that he feels that sometimes the ABC acts in a way that "instinctively takes everyone's side but Australia's." Laundy defended the ABC, responding that he does not defend their content, but their right to "say what they want." He said that "the beauty of living in a democracy is that if you don't like what you're hearing, what you're watching, or what you're looking at on the internet, choose another channel." He also said that it is not the role of the ABC to be patriotic.


Racial discrimination

In March 2014, the
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
George Brandis George Henry Brandis (born 22 June 1957) is an Australian former politician. He was a Australian Senate, Senator for Queensland from 2000 to 2018, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, and was a Cabinet (Australia), cabin ...
proposed draft legislative amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act, 1975, seeking to remove sections that made it unlawful ''"to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people"'' on the basis of their ''"race, colour or national or ethnic origin."'' Laundy, a Liberal backbencher at the time, spoke out against the changes, saying that it was ''"important that we support a legislative system that reflects the diverse and multicultural country that modern Australia has become today."'' The changes were dropped after widespread public outrage, and opposition from some Liberal backbenchers, including Laundy, Phillip Ruddock, and
Ken Wyatt Kenneth George Wyatt (born 4 August 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party of ...
, an
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
Member of Parliament. On 3 October 2014, Laundy joined with
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 ...
MPs
Tony Burke Anthony Stephen Burke (born 4 November 1969) is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for the Arts. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as member of ...
,
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
, and
Michelle Rowland Michelle Anne Rowland (born 16 November 1971) is an Australian politician. She is serving as the Attorney-General of Australia in the second Albanese ministry since 13 May 2025. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represe ...
in supporting the #NotinMyName campaign, which condemns racism, hatred, and bigotry.


Palestine

Laundy is co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine Group. On 5 June 2014, the Abbott Government announced the term ''"occupied"'' would no longer be used to describe East Jerusalem. Laundy publicly opposed the shift in language, saying that the area was occupied by armed Israeli forces.


Same-sex marriage

Laundy does not support same-sex marriage, but had previously supported a conscience vote on the issue. In September 2014, he declared that he no longer supported a free vote. After his constituency voted in favour of same-sex marriage in the
Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey by the Australian Government designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the Australia Post, postal service between 12 Septe ...
, Laundy voted for the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017, which legalised same-sex marriage in Australia. In 2015, pro same-sex marriage activists sent unmarked letters filled with glitter to the offices of several Federal Coalition MPs. Laundy's office was briefly locked down until police determined the packages were harmless, and the activist group
GetUp! GetUp! is an independent progressive Australian political activist group. It was launched in August 2005 to encourage Internet activism in Australia, though it has increasingly engaged in offline community organising. GetUp! is an independen ...
issued an official apology for the stunt. Laundy labelled it a grossly irresponsible act, noting that to "send any undeclared substance through the mail to the office of a Member of Parliament will inevitably cause alarm".


Refugee intake

In 2015 Laundy was shown photographs of a dead Syrian toddler fleeing the Syrian civil war by his daughter at the dinner table, which brought him and the rest of his family to tears. Moved by the images and the unfolding crisis, Laundy called the Ministers for
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
,
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 ...
, and Immigration and Border Protection,
Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...
, canvassing an increase in the humanitarian refugee intake by Australia, especially in relation to refugees from Syria. Speaking to the media afterwards about the decision to seek asylum in the face of intense suffering and persecution, Laundy drew parallels between refugees and all of humanity, saying: ''"There but for the grace of God go any of us. Put yourself in the position of those people and tell me you wouldn’t do the same."'' Laundy was subsequently appointed as the Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs.


See also

* Members of the Australian House of Representatives: 2013-2016; 2016-2019 * Electoral results for the Division of Reid
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 ...
;
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...


References

  {{DEFAULTSORT:Laundy, Craig 1971 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Politicians from Sydney University of New South Wales alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Reid Members of the Australian House of Representatives Turnbull government Government ministers of Australia Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019