Michael Berkman

Michael Craig Berkman (born 13 March 1981) is an Australian politician and the member for Maiwar in Brisbane's inner-west. Berkman has been the member for Maiwar since the 2017 Queensland state elections, when he became the first Greens member to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.[2][3] He is the first member for Maiwar, after the electorate was created from the merger of the former Indooroopilly and Mt Coot-tha electorates.[4]

Michael Berkman
MP
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Maiwar
Assumed office
25 November 2017 (2017-11-25)
Preceded byNew seat
Personal details
Born (1981-03-13) 13 March 1981
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political partyQueensland Greens
Children3
Residence(s)Bardon, Queensland, Australia
EducationToowoomba State High School[1]
Alma materGriffith University (BSc, LLB)
OccupationPolitician, lawyer
Signature
Websitemichaelberkman.com.au

Early life

Berkman was born in Brisbane, Queensland. His father worked in the media and his mother had trained as a secondary school teacher. He grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland after the family moved there when Michael was 3 years old. Berkman attended Wilsonton State School and Toowoomba State High School.

Berkman first attended the University of Queensland to commence a Bachelor of Science before moving to Griffith University, attending the Nathan campus, where he graduated in 2009 with a double degree, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Laws.

Early career

Berkman began his legal career as a clerk with Freehills in Brisbane, and spent some time working there following his graduation. He left legal practice to work in the Queensland Government's office of climate change until this group was made redundant following the election of the Newman Government in 2012.

Berkman then accepted a position with the Environmental Defenders Office in Brisbane. In this role, he was involved in litigation with a particular specialisation in ground water in cases against Adani's Carmichael Coal Mine, the Alpha Coal Mine, and the New Acland Coal Mine Stage 3 Expansion.[5][6][7]

Berkman has also been involved in the not-for-profit sector, having previously worked with Millen Farms.[8]

Political career

Berkman's political career began in the 2015 Queensland state election where he ran for the Greens in Ferny Grove, achieving a primary vote of 12.11%.[9]

In 2016, Berkman ran in the local government elections for Moreton Bay Region in District 10,[10] and then against Peter Dutton for the Dickson at the 2016 federal election.[11]

Berkman was the first Greens member to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in the seat of Maiwar in Brisbane's inner-west. He achieved a 27.78% primary vote to defeat incumbent Scott Emerson in the 2017 Queensland state election.[3][12] This followed the removal of the Indooroopilly electorate at the 2017 state election to make way for the new seat of Maiwar which had a notional LNP margin of 3%. Prior to its abolition, the Indooroopilly electorate was briefly held by a Greens MP, Ronan Lee, after he defected from the Labor in 2008 in the middle of a parliamentary term.

Political positions

Political donations

In 2018, Berkman introduced a private member's bill to ban all political donations from businesses to state and local government politicians, candidates and parties, excluding charities and employee or employer organisations. Berkman said the community overwhelmingly supported reform to get big money out of politics. "People feel like Labor and the LNP are just not listening to them, and it's not hard to see why," Berkman said. "This is just more evidence that Labor and the LNP are completely wedded to their corporate donors." The Crime and Corruption Commission did not support the bill; however, Commissioner Alan MacSporran said it was his personal view that in an ideal world all donations would be banned.[13]

Climate rally

In November 2018, Berkman said schools in Maiwar, Berkman's electorate, should allow students to attend climate change events during school hours. According to Berkman, all school principals agreed. The flagship rally took place on 30 November.[14] Over 400 students attended, demanding climate action from the Australian Government and Queensland Government.[15]

Human rights and penal system

In 2018, Berkman called for investigations into Facebook comments from prison officers which advocated for extrajudicial violence against detainees.[16] In 2021, he proposed a bill that would raise the age of the age of criminal responsibility, which was defeated by four votes in 2022.[17]

Berkman has opposed youth crime bills that would override the Human Rights Act and make breach of bail by juvenile offenders a criminal offence.[18] In March 2023, during the debate on the youth crime bill, he tabled claims of human rights abuses that had allegedly occurred at the Brisbane Watch House.[19]

Personal life

Berkman is married with three children and lives in Bardon.[20]

References
  1. Syvret, Paul (17 February 2018). "First Greens MP has big list of priorities for his first term in parliament". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  2. Green, Antony. "Maiwar". Queensland Election 2017. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  3. "Greens claim first ever seat win at a Queensland election citing nationwide swing". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  4. "Maiwar". ABC News. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  5. "Green group responsible for Adani legal challenges granted $600,000 by State Government". Townsville Bulletin. Townsville Bulletin. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  6. "Greens' Mt Coot-tha candidate goes from courtroom to political arena". The Guardian. 12 November 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  7. "New Acland Coal Pty Ltd v Ashman & Ors and Chief Executive, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (No. 4)". Supreme Court Library Queensland. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  8. "ASIC Registry - MILLEN FARM LTD ACN 168 684 151". Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  9. "2015 State General Election – Ferny Grove District Summary". Electoral Commission Queensland. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  10. "2016 Moreton Bay Regional Council - Results for Division 10". Electoral Commission Queensland. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  11. "Dickson, QLD - AEC Tally Room". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  12. "2017 Election - Maiwar, District Summary". Electoral Commission Queensland. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  13. Caldwell, Felicity (19 November 2018). "Move to ban political donations from companies should not succeed: committee". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  14. Brown, Alison (22 November 2018). "Greens MP wants kids to skip school for climate rally". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  15. Lynch, Lydia (30 November 2018). "Hundreds ditch school for Brisbane rally to demand climate action". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  16. "QLD Prison Officers Allegedly Called For Violence Against 'Maggot' Inmates In Many Fkd FB Posts". PEDESTRIAN.TV. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  17. Teerds, John (17 August 2022). "Parliament votes down Bill to raise age of criminal responsibility". Proctor. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. Gillespie, Eden (16 March 2023). "Queensland passes controversial youth crime laws after heated human rights debate". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  19. Touma, Rafqa; May, Natasha; May (earlier), Natasha (15 March 2023). "ABC staff to walk off job next week – as it happened". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  20. "Michael Berkman". Greens.org.au. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
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