Shayne Kenneth Neumann (born 26 August 1961) is an Australian politician. He was elected to the Federal seat of Blair in November 2007, and re-elected in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. In March 2013, Shayne was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General and Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing. After the 2013 Federal election, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs and for Ageing. In 2016, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. After the 2019 Federal election, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel.

Early life

Neumann was born in Ipswich, Queensland. Neither of his parents completed high school; his father was a meatworker and his mother was a shop assistant. In his maiden speech, he stated: "In my childhood, I was exposed to the twin evils of addiction to alcohol and gambling. I lived through the poverty caused thereby and the pain of the divorce which followed." Neumann attended Ipswich East State Primary School and

Bundamba State Secondary College Bundamba State Secondary College (formerly Bundamba State High School) is a public secondary school in the Ipswich suburb of Bundamba, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1970 and named after its situated suburb of Bundamba. It is k ...

. His first job was as a cleaner at a meatworks in Dinmore. He completed a Bachelors of Arts majoring in government and economics, and a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = ...

. Shayne was a partner in the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

-based law firm of Neumann and Turnour Lawyers, which he established at the age of 26 in partnership with Matthew Turnour (brother of former Federal MP

Jim Turnour James Pearce Turnour (born 7 April 1966) is a former Australian politician. He represented the Queensland seat of Leichhardt in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010, as a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was a public serv ...

). He specialised in

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marri ...

Political career

Neumann has cited the rise of

Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australia, Australian politician who is the founder and leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has re ...

in his home town of Ipswich as his motivation for becoming more involved in politics. Neumann was the Labor candidate for Blair at the 2004 federal election, and was heavily defeated by sitting Liberal member

Cameron Thompson Cameron Thompson may refer to: * Cameron Thompson (footballer) (born 2000), English professional footballer * Cameron Thompson (politician) Cameron Paul Thompson (born 1 October 1960) served as a member of the Australian House of Representativ ...

who received 61.21 percent of the

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...

. Blair was considered a Liberal

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

at the time. Neumann sought a rematch in 2007. This time, he was aided by two factors. Firstly, a redistribution of the electoral boundaries, finalised in 2006, pushed Blair further into

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

while cutting out the conservative-leaning rural towns of Esk and

Kingaroy Kingaroy is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways, north-west of the state capital Brisbane and south west of Gympie. As ...

, roughly halving Thompson's majority and putting Blair just outside the range of seats that Labor would have needed to win government. Secondly, there was a big Labor resurgence across the country at the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

under the leadership of

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

. This resurgence was at its greatest in Rudd's home state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. Neumann won the seat on a swing of 10.17 points. Neumann was re-elected in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

with only a modest swing against him. He was re-elected in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, actually picking up a small swing in his favour as Labor lost government. In 2016, Neumann technically made Blair a safe Labor seat by taking 58.88 percent of the two-party vote. Neumann supported Rudd in the Australian Labor Party leadership spill on 26 June 2013. He stated that "it was a really tough decision because I thought it was in the best interests of our state and of the people in my electorate." In Labor's October 2013 leadership spill, Neumann supported

Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition ...

Political positions

Neumann is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

. He has been described as part of the

Labor Right The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

, and as such he was opposed to

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

until late 2015. Neumann had publicly stated his opposition to same sex marriage in August 2011, August 2013, and June 2015. In December 2015, Neumann confirmed his newfound support of same sex marriage. In August 2016, Neumann said he was against the proposed plebiscite on same sex marriage. Neumann has been against pushes to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. He said the laws protect

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogn ...

, but also protect against racial hatred.

References

External links

Shayne Neumann MP

Parliamentary biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Shayne Kenneth 1961 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Blair Members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Christians People from Ipswich, Queensland 20th-century Australian lawyers University of Queensland alumni