John Raymond Nettleton Ruddick is an Australian politician. He has been a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

since 20 April 2023, and is the first member of the party to be elected to the NSW Parliament. Before entering Parliament, Ruddick was a member of the

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 ...

Career

Liberal Party

Ruddick was a member of the

for over twenty-five years. He worked as a member of staff to former Federal Member for

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

Ross Cameron Ross Alexander Cameron (born 14 May 1965) is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1996 until 2004, representing the division of Parramatta. Between ...

and served as a member of the NSW Liberal Party state executive. In 2011, Ruddick first contested the presidency of the NSW Liberal Party on a platform of

democratisation Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. Whether and to what ...

. He unsuccessfully contested the presidency again the following year, increasing his vote to 40%. In 2013, he appeared on '' 7.30'', calling for further restrictions on lobbyists holding positions in the Liberal Party. For this, he faced suspension from the party for between two and five years. He was subsequently suspended for the full five years. In 2017, while a member of the Liberal Party, Ruddick threatened to join the

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 ...

-led

Australian Conservatives Australian Conservatives was a conservative political party in Australia formed in 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but resigned citing disagreements with the Liberal/National Coa ...

if the 'Warringah Motion' for plebiscites to determine preselections was not carried. In 2020, Ruddick started JR Mortgages, a

mortgage broker A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...

house in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He is listed as the company's director.

Libertarian

Ruddick left the Liberal Party to join the Liberal Democrats (renamed in 2024 to the Libertarian Party) in 2021, following public dissatisfaction with the Liberals' response to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, lockdowns and what he alleged to be a lack of democratisation in the party. He initially announced he would contest the electorate of

Warringah Warringah ( ) is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: * Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 * E ...

at the 2022 federal election, but instead unsuccessfully contested the

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

. Ruddick was the lead candidate on the LDP's Legislative Council ticket at the

2023 New South Wales state election The 2023 New South Wales state election was held on 25 March 2023 to elect the 58th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the New South ...

. In late 2022, the Liberal Democrats NSW state executive voted to disendorse Ruddick as its lead MLC candidate for the NSW state election following allegations of bullying and harassment of campaign staff, allegations which Ruddick denied. After a petition calling for a special general meeting over the matter was signed by over 25% of the party's 320 members, Ruddick was re-endorsed. The party received 3.53% of the

primary vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...

in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

ballot, a swing of +1.3%, a quota of 0.7755. As the lead candidate, Ruddick was declared elected on 20 April 2023. He is the first member of the party to be elected to the NSW Parliament. His term will expire on 7 March 2031.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddick, John Living people Liberal Democratic Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 21st-century Australian politicians Year of birth missing (living people)