Michael Andrew Johnson (born 31 January 1970) is a Hong Kong-born Australian former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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 the seat of Ryan in

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 ...

from 2001 to 2010, representing 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 ...

from November 2001 to May 2010 and then as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

from May 2010 until he was defeated by Liberal National member

Jane Prentice Jane Prentice (''née'' Righetti; born 22 June 1953) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2019, representing the Division of Ryan in Queensland. She previously served on the Brisb ...

at the 2010 federal election.

Early years and education

He was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and was educated at St. Peters Lutheran College and later at 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 ...

, the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he obtained an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

, and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, where he obtained an MIS. He was the Australian Chevening Scholar in 1994, the Charles Hawker Memorial Scholar in 1996 and was a 2004 graduate of

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

’s Executive Leaders’ Program at Harvard. Johnson was a barrister and a university tutor and lecturer before entering politics. He was named in 2007 as a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

(YGL) by the

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

-based

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

(WEF). He was Chairman of the Australia-China Business Forum, and was a Member of the Asia Society's International Advisory Board and sits on the Australian Advisory Board.

Political career

In February 2001, Johnson first sought to gain Liberal endorsement for Ryan, following the retirement of long-serving member, John Moore. Factional rivalries between Johnson and other candidates for

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 ...

led to rampant branch stacking. Johnson had been expected to win preselection, having arranged many of the new members in local branches. He was accused by opponents in the party of signing up ethnic Chinese with only limited connections to the Liberal Party, many from outside the Ryan electorate, and in at least one case, outside Australia. Unfortunately for Johnson, it was revealed he had failed to properly renounce his British

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

and was ruled ineligible to contest preselection per Section 44 of the

Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

. Former state Liberal President Bob Tucker won preselection for the by-election, losing that contest to Labor's Leonie Short. However, by the time of the federal election in October, Johnson had sorted out his citizenship and won Liberal preselection. He then easily took the seat back from Short on an eight-point swing. There have also been public allegations regarding internal party funds, what he describes as his "unorthodox" fundraising of asking businesses for fees for introductions he facilitates in his capacity as an MP, and the alleged improper use of a publicly funded vehicle. Johnson also held the position of Opposition Whip in the federal Liberal Party from February 2008 to February 2010. He resigned from the post when allegations that he had misused his taxpayer-funded vehicle were investigated.

Expulsion from the LNP

In 2010, controversy emerged regarding business dealings involving Johnson and the Australia-China Business Forum, of which he was the Chair. On 20 May 2010, he was expelled from the Liberal National Party, the Queensland branch of the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

and

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

parties. Johnson vowed to contest Ryan as an

at the 2010 federal election. In June 2010,

, a

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 ...

lor, was chosen by the LNP to stand for Ryan. On 2 June 2010, Johnson read out a letter to Parliament which he sent to the Australian Federal Police alleging he was subject to "illegal pressure" to resign from Federal Parliament by the Liberal National Party President Bruce McIver, during a meeting on 25 February in Canberra. During the meeting, Johnson claimed that McIver produced a large black folder which he alleged contained material and documents that was evidence of alleged criminal behaviour by Johnson. McIver denies the claims that he asked him to resign from Parliament, though openly admits he asked Johnson to quit the LNP.

Independent election attempts

He stood unsuccessfully as an independent candidate in: * the 2010 federal election, where he campaigned to retain his seat of Ryan after being expelled from the LNP earlier that year. He secured less than 9% of the primary vote and the seat was retaken by the LNP, with the new member being

. * the

2020 Queensland state election The 2020 Queensland state election was held on 31 October to elect all 93 members to the 57th Parliament of Queensland, 57th Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Queensland Labor, Labor Party was returned to government for a third-term, led ...

, where he stood for the seat of Maiwar. He scored less than 1% of first preference votes, and the seat was retained by Greens MP

Michael Berkman Michael Craig Berkman (born 13 March 1981) is an Australian politician and the member for Maiwar in Brisbane's inner-west. Berkman has been the member for Maiwar since the 2017 Queensland state election, when he became the first Greens membe ...

Post-politics and personal life

Johnson lives in Brisbane's western suburbs with his wife Huyen and their son Ryan, who was born in June 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Michael Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ryan 1970 births Living people Hong Kong emigrants to Australia Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Birmingham Australian politicians of Asian descent People educated at St Peters Lutheran College Australian MPs 2001–2004 Australian MPs 2004–2007 Australian MPs 2007–2010