Russell Glenn Matheson (born 16 December 1958) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician who served as a Member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

for the seat of

Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

representing the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

from August 2010 to July 2016. The seat was previously held by Liberal

Pat Farmer Patrick Francis Daniel Farmer (born 14 March 1962) is an Australian ultra-marathon athlete, motivational speaker, and former politician. He served as a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Macarthur in so ...

, who lost Liberal pre-selection and retired from politics. Matheson lost the seat in the 2016 federal election to Labor candidate

Mike Freelander Michael Randolph Freelander (born 23 April 1953) is an Australian politician and paediatrician. Freelander has been a paediatrician since 1978, and a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Freelander has represented the Division of Macarthu ...

with an 11.7% swing.

Early years and background

Prior to entering politics, Matheson was a Sergeant in the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

, with 23 years experience, and former local Australian football champion. He served 17 years on Council of the City of Campbelltown, including five years as Mayor 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 ...

Politics

Matheson defeated Farmer for Liberal preselection in Macarthur. The seat had been made notionally

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 ...

with a 0.5-point

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Natio ...

margin in the electoral redistribution prior to the 2010 election, however Matheson won with a notional 3.5-point swing to finish on a 3-point margin. After the 2010 election, it was revealed that Matheson failed to resign from his position on the Campbelltown Council before the election, putting himself at risk of High Court action, which would not allow him to take office as the member for Macarthur. Previously, independent

Phil Cleary Philip Ronald Cleary (born 8 December 1952) is an Australian political and sport commentator. He is a former Australian rules footballer who played 205 games at the Coburg Football Club, before serving as the member for Division of Wills, Wills ...

and Liberal

Jackie Kelly Jacqueline Marie Kelly (born 18 February 1964) is an Australian former politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until November 2007, representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wa ...

have been faced with a by-election after failing to resign from public service positions before winning their respective seats.

References

External links

Liberal People: Russell Matheson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Russell 1958 births Australian police officers Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macarthur Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016