Paul Martin Scarr (born 20 August 1969) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was elected as a

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

for

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 ...

at the 2019 federal election. 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 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. For example, while the political systems ...

in federal parliament.

Early life

Scarr was born 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 ...

on 20 August 1969, the son of Diane Berry and David Scarr. He moved to

with his family at the age of seven, attending

Ipswich Grammar School Ipswich Grammar School is a historic, independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Ipswich, a local government region of Brisbane on the Bremer River in South East Queensland, Australia. The school is situate ...

. He went on to complete the degrees of

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

( Hons.) and

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

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 ...

Career

Scarr served his

articles of clerkship Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two ye ...

at Allens in Brisbane, before joining the firm as a solicitor in 1994. He was a senior associate with the firm's

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

division from 1999 to 2001. After returning to Australia he joined

King & Wood Mallesons King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia–Pacific, Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and over 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U ...

in 2005. In 2007, Scarr was appointed

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

and

company secretary A Company secretary is a senior position in the corporate governance of organizations, playing a crucial role in ensuring adherence to statutory and regulatory requirements. This position is integral to the efficient functioning of corporations, ...

of PanAust Limited, an Australian company with mining operations in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Politics

Scarr joined the Liberal Party in 1987 and held office in the Young Liberals. He was chairman of the party's Hawken Drive (

St Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

) branch from 1997 to 1999. Following the creation of the

he served on the electorate councils for the state seats of

Indooroopilly Indooroopilly ( , colloquially Indro ) is a riverside suburb south-west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 13,622 people. Geography Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by ...

and

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

and the federal seat of Moreton. In July 2018, Scarr won LNP preselection as the lead candidate on the party's Senate ticket in Queensland. The results of the ballot saw incumbent senators

Ian Macdonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...

and

Barry O'Sullivan Barry James O'Sullivan (born 24 March 1957) is an Australian politician who was a senator for Queensland from 11 February 2014 until 30 June 2019. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sat with the Nationals in ...

lose their previous positions on the ticket. At the 2019 federal election, Scarr was elected to a six-year term beginning on 1 July 2019. He has served on various Senate committees, including as chair of the economics references and the legal and constitutional affairs references committees. In July 2022, following the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

's defeat at the 2022 federal election, Scarr was appointed as a deputy opposition whip. Scarr is also currently serving on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.

Positions

Scarr is a member of the Centrist faction of the Liberal Party, after previously being aligned with the Centre-Right faction of the Liberal Party.

References

1969 births Living people People educated at Ipswich Grammar School University of Queensland alumni Australian lawyers Company secretaries Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians {{Australia-bio-stub