Luke Ronald Howarth (born 6 June 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the

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

since the 2013 federal election, representing the

Division of Petrie The Division of Petrie is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. History The division was created in 1949 and named after Andrew Petrie (1798–1872), a noted civil engineer, pioneer, and explorer, and the first free settler in Bris ...

. He is a member of the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major 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. At a federal level and in most other ...

and sits 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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

in federal parliament.

Early life and education

Howarth was born in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in 1972, to Ron and Denise Howarth, and grew up in

Bracken Ridge Bracken Ridge is a northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bracken Ridge had a population of 16,936 people. Geography The suburb is located about north of the Brisbane central business district. The souther ...

. Howarth has one sister. He married his wife Louise in 1999, and they have three sons.

Career

After leaving school, Howarth's first job was working at Barry Bull's Toombul Music. He worked at Sony Australia as a sales rep from 1993 to 2001. In 2002, Howarth joined his family's pest control business, alongside his mother, father and wife.

Political career

Howarth joined the Liberal Party when he was 19 years old. In 2004, he ran in the Queensland state election in the electoral district of Sandgate against the incumbent Labor MP Gordon Nuttall, however was unsuccessful despite a 10% swing to him. At the 2013 federal election, Howarth won the seat of Petrie with a 3.04% swing to him, defeating the sitting ALP member,

Yvette D'Ath Yvette Maree D'Ath (born 26 July 1970) is an Australian politician. She is a Labor member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing the seat of Redcliffe. D'Ath is currently the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services and Leader ...

, who had held the seat since the 2007 federal election. He was reelected at the 2016 federal election, with an increased 1.6% margin. In line with other Liberal National Party candidates in Queensland, there was a significant swing in the 2019 election, increasing the margin to 8.4%. In May 2022, Howarth won despite a 3.96% swing against him margin and became the first opposition MP to hold the seat in 35 years. In August 2018, Howarth played a key role in the

leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to 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 (l ...

which removed Prime Minister

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 leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull gra ...

from his position. In July 2019, Howarth spoke to

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

in his newly appointed role as the Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services. Howarth announced he wanted to "put a positive spin on omelessness. He claimed that homelessness had reduced in the area of rough sleeping over the past 15 years from 8,926 people in 2001 to 8,200 people in 2016 despite a 20% increase in the population. However, this claim has mixed verdicts, as the figures disguise a sharp rebound in the number of rough sleepers over the most recent five-year period, where the 2011 census put the number of rough sleepers at 6,810 (a rate of 3.2 people per 10,000 of population) and risen by 20% to 8,200 (a rate of 3.5 per 10,000) by 2016. Howarth served as the Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services from December 2020 until May 2022. Following the Liberal government's defeat in the 2022 election, Howarth was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and the Shadow Minister for Defence Personnel. Howarth is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howarth, Luke 1972 births Living people Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Petrie 21st-century Australian politicians