Julian Graham John Simmonds (born 29 August 1985) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

for one term from the 2019 federal election, representing the

Division of Ryan The Division of Ryan is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The current MP is Elizabeth Watson-Brown of the Australian Greens. History The division was created in 1949 and is named after T. J. Ryan, Premier of Queensland from 19 ...

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 ...

, until his defeat at the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

. He is a member of the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major conservative political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. In most other states ...

and sat with 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 ...

in federal parliament. He previously served on the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

from 2010 to 2019.

Early life

Simmonds was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He holds the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Master of Journalism A Master of Journalism (abbreviated M.J., M.S.J., M.M.J.C., M.A. in Journalism, or M.S. in Journalism) is a master's degree awarded to students who have studied journalism at a graduate level. Like other master's degree programs, master of journ ...

from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

Politics

Local government

Simmonds was elected to

at a by-election in 2010, representing Walter Taylor Ward for the LNP. He was re-elected at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and 2016 local elections. Simmonds served as chair of the committees for public and active transport (2011–2012), finance, economic development and administration (2012–2016), and city planning (2016–2018). In his final speech to council in March 2019 he recalled there were "not many jobs that would give a 26-year-old the chance to help manage a $3 billion dollar budget". He resigned as a councillor in April 2019 to contest the upcoming federal election and was succeeded by James Mackay.

Federal politics

In May 2018, Simmonds defeated the sitting member Jane Prentice for LNP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

in the

. He won the vote by 256 votes to 103, in what ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' described as "a bitter preselection battle". He retained Ryan for the LNP at the 2019 election with a small negative swing. Simmonds was the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement. Simmonds lost his seat in the

during the 2022 federal election to the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

candidate

Elizabeth Watson-Brown Elizabeth Watson-Brown (born 12 October 1956) is an Australian politician and architect. She is a member of the Australian Greens and has served in the House of Representatives since the 2022 federal election, representing the Queensland seat o ...

with a 10% negative swing against him. On 26 May 2022, Simmonds conceded losing the electorate of Ryan. Simmonds is a member of the centre-right faction. In May 2024, Simmonds started political advertising under the "Australians for Prosperity" brand. Simmonds has used "Australians for Prosperity" to run billboard campaigns against Green and Teal candidates who defeated sitting Liberal candidates at the 2022 federal election, including in his former seat of Ryan, leading the Teals to call for truth in election advertising laws.

Business

Simmonds' wife Madeline Simmonds works as a communications manager for Bowen River Utilities, the proponent of the proposed Urannah Dam in Queensland. Companies linked to the dam have donated more than A$150,000 to the LNP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Julian 1985 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ryan Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians Queensland local councillors University of Queensland alumni Politicians from Brisbane Australian MPs 2019–2022