Luke Gosling

Luke John Anthony Gosling, OAM (born 17 September 1971) is an Australian politician and a retired Australian Army officer. Gosling has been the Australian Labor Party member for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory since the 2016 federal election.

Luke Gosling
OAM, MP
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Solomon
Assumed office
2 July 2016
Preceded byNatasha Griggs
Personal details
Born (1971-09-17) 17 September 1971
Melbourne, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
SpouseKate Sieper
Children2
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales (BA)
OccupationPolitician
AwardsMedal of the Order of Australia
Medal of Merit (Timor-Leste)
Websitewww.lukegosling.com.au

Background

Gosling is the eldest of eight children.[1] He has a Bachelor of Arts in history and politics from the University of New South Wales.[2]

Gosling served in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for 13 years in the Parachute Infantry, Commandos and Defence Cooperation Programs. He served in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Timor-Leste.[1]

Gosling worked abroad in countries such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Albania and Timor-Leste after leaving the ADF. He co-founded Life, Love and Health, a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation, an Australian charity for Timor-Leste. For his work with the NGO, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2006 regarding relief work in the 2006 humanitarian crisis.[3][1] He received the Medal of Merit from the President of Timor-Leste in 2009.[2][4]

Gosling established the Remote Area Health Corps in 2008. He has worked at Saint Vincent de Paul as a volunteer after serving as the Darwin CEO of the organisation.[4]

Political career

2013 election

Gosling ran for the Darwin-based seat of Solomon as a Labor candidate at the 2013 federal election, but was narrowly defeated by one-term Country Liberal incumbent Natasha Griggs. Gosling received a 48.6 percent two-party vote after gaining a 0.4-point two-party swing.[5]

2016 election

Gosling ran for Solomon again at the 2016 federal election. A MediaReach seat-level opinion poll of 513 voters in Solomon conducted one week before the Saturday 2 July 2016 election found Gosling heavily leading Griggs 61–39 on the two-party vote from a large 12.4-point swing.[6]

Gosling defeated Griggs on 56 percent two-party vote after gaining a 7.4-point two-party swing.[7][8] He is the second opposition member to hold Solomon. The federal election came at a bad time for the CLP government in the Territory, whose poll numbers had suffered after numerous cabinet reshuffles and leadership spills. Gosling's victory foreshadowed his party's landslide victory at the 2016 Territory election, at which Labor won the third-largest majority government in the history of the Territory–including all but one seat within Solomon's borders.

Gosling made national headlines during the election campaign by using photographs from his past army service in his campaign materials. The Australian Defence Force issued a directive to retract any advertising showing him in military uniform.[9] Gosling defended use of the photographs, stating the claimed restrictions on their use did not apply as he was "no longer a member of Defence".[10]

2022 election

Gosling was re-elected for a third term after defeating CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane at the 2022 federal election.[11]

Personal life

Gosling is married and has two children.[1]

References
  1. "LUKE GOSLING". Labor. Australian Labor Party. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  2. "Luke Gosling". Linkedin. Linkedin. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  3. "GOSLING, Luke John". It's an Honour – Australia Celebrating Australians. Australian Government. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  4. "Mr Luke Gosling, OAM MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  5. "NT DIVISION – SOLOMON". Australian Electoral Commission. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  6. An independent poll shows Solomon MP Natasha Griggs will struggle to retain her seat at the federal election: NT News (News Ltd) 27 June 2016
  7. Solomon, NT – Tally Room: Australian Electoral Commission Archived 12 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Northern Territory residents turn out to vote in federal election". Northern Territory News. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  9. Sorensen, Hayley (8 June 2016). "Labor Solomon candidate Luke Gosling told to take down campaign advertising showing him in military uniform". NT News. NT News. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  10. "Election 2016: Labor's Luke Gosling caught up in row over use of army history in campaign material". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  11. Thompson, Jesse (25 May 2022). "The NT's Country Liberal Party reviewing federal election performance after bruising result in Solomon". ABC News. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
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