Neale Burgess

Neale Ronald Burgess (born 17 August 1956) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2022, representing the electorate of Hastings.

Neale Burgess
MP
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
for Hastings
In office
25 November 2006 – 26 November 2022
Preceded byRosy Buchanan
Succeeded byPaul Mercurio
Personal details
Born (1956-08-17) 17 August 1956
Melbourne
Political partyLiberal Party
ProfessionBarrister, technology consultant
Websitenealeburgess.com.au/

Political career

Burgess first ran as the Liberal Party candidate for Hastings in the 2002 Victorian state election but lost the seat in the Labor ‘Brackslide’ to Labor’s Rosy Buchanan. Burgess ran again for the Liberals at the 2006 state election, and succeeded in winning back the traditionally conservative district for the Liberal Party. He later held the seat at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 state elections.

Burgess voted against the Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008,[1] and later voted for banning anti-abortion protesters from protesting outside abortion clinics.[2] In May 2018, he revealed he had changed his mind on the issue and now opposed buffer zones.[3]

In June 2022, Burgess received a parliamentary suspension following several allegations of inappropriate behaviour beginning in November 2021. Burgess strongly denies the allegations.[4]

In November 2021, Burgess announced he would not recontest Hastings at the 2022 state election,[5] and was succeeded by Labor's Paul Mercurio.

Personal life

Burgess was born in Melbourne and grew up in Tocumwal. He is the father of three children.[6][7] In 1994, Burgess completed a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) at the Queensland University of Technology,[8] and was later admitted to the Bar.[9] He worked for a number of years as a criminal law barrister.[10] He operated a technology consulting business before entering politics.[11]

References
  1. "Life Vote". Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. Collier, Mary. "How your Vic MLAs voted on". Righttolife.com.au. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. "PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD)" (PDF). Parliament.vic.gov.au. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  4. Sakkal, Annika Smethurst, Paul (15 July 2022). "State Liberal MP banned from entering parliament over allegations of inappropriate behaviour". The Age. Retrieved 4 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Hui, Jin (12 November 2021). "Burgess gives up seat". Cranbourne Star News. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  6. "Neale Burgess (Hastings)". Members Information. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  7. "About Neale". Nealeburgess.com.au. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  8. "Neale Burgess (Hastings)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  9. "Neale Burgess (Hastings)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  10. "Neale Burgess (Hastings)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  11. "Neale Burgess (Hastings)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2022.


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