Billy Gordon

William John Gordon (1972 or 1973 – 25 November 2022) was an Indigenous Australian politician. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2017, representing the electorate of Cook.

For the American actor, model and neuroscientist, see Billi Gordon.

Billy Gordon
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Cook
In office
31 January 2015 – 25 November 2017
Preceded byDavid Kempton
Succeeded byCynthia Lui
Personal details
Born1972 or 1973
Innisfail, Queensland, Australia
Died (aged 49)
Political partyLabor (2015)
Independent (2015–2017)

Career

Hailing from Innisfail, Queensland, Gordon first entered politics as the Labor candidate in the federal seat of Leichhardt for the 2013 election, losing to Liberal National incumbent Warren Entsch. However, he increased his profile enough that he was able to successfully stand in the state seat of Cook, essentially the far northern portion of the federal seat. Gordon was elected as a Labor candidate at the 2015 election before becoming an independent two months later.[1] He retired at the 2017 election.

Gordon was one of the first Indigenous Queensland state MPs in a generation.[2]

Controversy

In 2015, Gordon was sacked by the Labor Party following disclosures of a criminal record dating back to 1980. In 2015, tip offs to the media led to Gordon publicly disclosing a criminal history dating back to the 1980s that he had not disclosed to his colleagues[3] including driving offences, break and entering offences, breach of bail and probation, and an apprehended violence order taken out by his mother.

Gordon's former de facto partner accused him of domestic violence[4] and routinely not filing tax returns to avoid child support payments to his five children.[5]

In response Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk expelled Gordon from the Labor caucus, and asked the state party's organisational wing to have Gordon expelled from the party altogether. Although Palaszczuk was well aware that the loss of Cook could potentially have put her premiership in jeopardy, she said that given the circumstances, she had no other choice.[6]

In September 2015, Queensland Police dropped the domestic violence charges against Gordon, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute.[7] On the same day, police charged a woman with extortion for allegedly attempting to blackmail Gordon by claiming he had sent her an explicit image by SMS.[8]

Gordon was charged with drink driving and unlicensed driving on 1 June 2016 while pulled over at a random traffic stop on the Kennedy Highway at Kuranda, on the Atherton Tableland west of Cairns. He was taken to the Kuranda police station and allegedly returned a blood-alcohol content reading of 0.094.[9]

On 1 July 2016, Gordon pleaded guilty to both charges in the Brisbane Magistrates Court. He was fined $750 and disqualified from driving for four months.[10]

Retirement

Gordon retired from politics at the 2017 election, having confirmed that he would not recontest his seat on 31 October 2017 following the calling of the election.[11]

Gordon died on 25 November 2022, aged 49.[12]

References
  1. Green, Antony. "Cook". Queensland Election 2015. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.
  2. "MP Billy Gordon is the man who could crash the Queensland government". News.com.au. 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
  3. "Billy Gordon: Queensland Labor thrown into turmoil after Cook MP admits to undisclosed criminal history". ABC News. 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
  4. "Queensland MP Billy Gordon sacked from Labor party after allegations of domestic violence". 9News. ninemsn Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  5. Steven Wardill (27 March 2015). "Former partner of new Labor MP Billy Gordon claims he has dodged child support payments". courier mail. News Corp. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  6. "Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk expels Cook MP Billy Gordon over criminal record". ABC News. 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
  7. "Queensland MP Billy Gordon will face no charges over domestic violence allegations". The Guardian. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  8. "Billy Gordon: Woman charged with extorting Queensland MP". ABC News. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  9. "Billy Gordon charged with drink driving". Brisbane Times. 2 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  10. "Billy Gordon fined, disqualified for drink-driving". ABC News. 1 July 2016. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  11. Akers, Trenton (31 October 2017). "Billy Gordon quits politics". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  12. Former State MP Billy Gordon dead
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