Ross Xavier Vasta (born 8 October 1966) is an 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 ...

from 2010 to 2025, representing the

Division of Bonner The Division of Bonner is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in Queensland, located in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, including the suburbs of Chandler, Queensland, Chandler, Carindale, Quee ...

for 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 ...

. He previously held the same seat from 2004 to 2007.

Early life

Vasta is the son of Angelo Vasta, a former judge of the

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...

who was removed from office by Queensland Parliament for corruption after his friendship with the disgraced Queensland Police Commissioner Terence Lewis became known. His parents were both born in

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish language, Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town o ...

, while his grandparents were all born in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. His mother registered him as an Italian citizen by descent when he was a child, but he renounced it prior to his first run for parliament in 2001. Vasta was educated at Villanova College in the Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo, and attended

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

, where he graduated with a commerce degree. He ran and operated three family-owned Italian cuisine restaurants named Elio's and worked as a company director before entering politics. He is the brother of Salvatore Vasta, a controversial judge of the Federal Circuit Court, with significant controversy surrounding several of his cases.

Politics

At the 2001 federal election, Vasta was the

candidate for the

Division of Griffith The Division of Griffith is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives. The division covers the inner southern Suburb#Australia and New Zealand, suburbs of Brisbane, Qu ...

. He was defeated by the sitting member,

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

, who later became

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

. In the 2004 federal election, Vasta stood for the Liberals in the

, and defeated former

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

minister

Con Sciacca Concetto Antonio Sciacca (13 June 1947 – 21 June 2017) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party and member of the Australian House of Representatives from July 1987 to March 1996 and again from October 1998 to October 2004 ...

. However, in the 2007 election he was defeated by

candidate

Kerry Rea Kerry Marie Rea (born 16 April 1963) is an Australian politician. She was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010, representing the Division of Bonner in Queensland. Early life Rea was bor ...

on a swing of 4.75 points, the lowest swing against a Liberal incumbent in Queensland. Following his election defeat, Vasta won Liberal Party preselection for 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 ...

ward of Wynnum-Manly in Brisbane's east. He was defeated by the Labor incumbent, polling 36% of the primary vote. Vasta decided to stand in Bonner once again at the 2010 federal election, and reclaimed his old seat by a 53% to 47% margin. He achieved a seven-point swing towards him, one of the highest of any Liberal candidate in Queensland. Vasta was nominated to the speaker's panel in 2013 and has served as chair of the standing committees on privileges and parliamentary procedure. In 2015 he was a candidate to succeed

Bronwyn Bishop Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop (née Setright; born 19 October 1942) is an Australian former politician who served as the 29th speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015, during the Abbott ministry, Abbott government. Her se ...

as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Vasta is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party, after previously being aligned with the centre-right faction during the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the Australian Government, federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison governmen ...

years.

Electoral history

Notes

External links

Liberal Party Profile

Personal Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasta, Ross 1966 births Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bonner Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian people of Sicilian descent People educated at Villanova College (Australia) Australian politicians of Italian descent Griffith University alumni Politicians from Melbourne People who lost Italian citizenship Australian MPs 2004–2007 Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025