Neale Ronald Burgess (born 17 August 1956) is an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

from 2006 to 2022, representing the electorate of

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

Political career

Burgess first ran as the Liberal Party candidate for Hastings in the 2002 Victorian state election but lost the seat in the Labor ‘Brackslide’ to Labor’s Rosy Buchanan. Burgess ran again for the Liberals at the 2006 state election, and succeeded in winning back the traditionally conservative district for the Liberal Party. He later held the seat at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 state elections. Burgess voted against the ''Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008'', and later voted for banning anti-abortion protesters from protesting outside abortion clinics. In May 2018, he revealed he had changed his mind on the issue and now opposed buffer zones. In June 2022, Burgess received a parliamentary suspension following several allegations of inappropriate behaviour beginning in November 2021. Burgess strongly denies the allegations. In November 2021, Burgess announced he would not recontest

at the 2022 state election, and was succeeded by Labor's

Paul Mercurio Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, choreographer, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in the 1992 film ''Strictly Ballroom'' and his role as a judge on TV series ''Danci ...

Personal life

Burgess was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and grew up in

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. The town, north of the city of Melbourne, lies on the northern bank of the Murray ...

. He is the father of three children. In 1994, Burgess completed a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) at the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

, and was later admitted to the Bar. He worked for a number of years as a criminal law barrister. He operated a technology consulting business before entering politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Neale 1956 births Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Living people Queensland University of Technology alumni 21st-century Australian politicians New South Wales politicians