Stephen James Bates (born 23 November 1992) is an Australian politician who is a member of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and ...

, and was elected as the member for the

Division of Brisbane The Division of Brisbane is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. History The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named after ...

in the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth cons ...

, defeating sitting

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member and former National Retail Association

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

Trevor Evans.

Early life and education

Bates was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, ...

; his family moved to Australia during the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of ...

, settling in the central Queensland town of

Yeppoon Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the ...

. Bates studied at 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 = ...

, originally for a Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management. While studying, he went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

to pursue a work opportunity. Bates has stated that his experience in the United States is what convinced him to enter politics, specifically his encountering of a coworker crying over whether to buy

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

or pay her rent. When Bates moved back to Australia he changed his degree to a Bachelor of Social Science with a major in social and public policy, and graduated under that degree. Prior to being elected, Bates was a

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and th ...

employee and a member of the

Retail and Fast Food Workers Union The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (known as RAFFWU) is an Australian trade union for workers in the retail and fast food industries. History The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union was established in December 2016 as a response to increased ...

Political career

Bates was the nominee of the

for the

in the

, defeating incumbent MP Trevor Evans. Bates' campaign was noted for its use of geo-located

Grindr Grindr () is a location-based social networking and online dating application targeted towards members of the gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009 a ...

advertisements with risqué slogans, such as promoting that "the best parliaments are

hung Hung may refer to: People * Hung (surname), various Chinese surnames * Hùng king, a king of Vietnam People with the given name Hung include: * Hung Huynh, Vietnamese-American chef, winner of the third season of the television show ''Top Chef'' ...

". In an interview with radio station

B105 FM B105 (call sign 4BBB) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on a frequency of 105.3 MHz, and is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Hit Network. The station has undergone numerous branding chang ...

, Bates credited the ads as a vital component of his election victory.

Personal life

Bates is openly gay.

References

1992 births Living people Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Brisbane LGBT legislators in Australia Gay politicians People from Brisbane Politicians from London Australian trade unionists 21st-century Australian politicians {{AustralianGreens-politician-stub