Alex Somlyay

Alexander Michael Somlyay (born 18 January 1946), Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1990 to August 2013, representing the Division of Fairfax, Queensland.

The Honourable

Alex Somlyay
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Fairfax
In office
24 March 1990 – 5 August 2013
Preceded byEvan Adermann
Succeeded byClive Palmer
Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government
In office
1997–1998
Prime MinisterJohn Howard
Preceded byWarwick Smith
Succeeded byIan Macdonald
Personal details
Born (1946-01-18) 18 January 1946
Budapest, Hungary
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)Jenny
Children3
Alma materAustralian National University

Born in Budapest, he came to Australia as a child. He was educated at the Australian National University. Before entering politics he was a public servant, consultant economist and company director.[1]

Somlyay was a member of the informal conservative faction the Lyons Forum when it was active in the 1990s.[2] On 25 September 2010, Somlyay announced his current term in parliament would be his last.[3]

Expenses investigation

An investigation by a Fairfax Media reporter published in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 2014 alleged that Somlyay had used his parliamentary office to pay his wife almost seventy thousand dollars for the year 2012-13 "for non-existent work in his electorate office."[4] The report also alleged that Somlyay had obscured his wife's identity in his list of employed staff.[4] Somlyay defended the payments from his taxpayer-funded budget to his wife, claiming that he had done nothing wrong.[5] On February of the same year, the Herald again reported that the Australian Federal Police had found nothing that "would constitute a criminal offence" related to the employment of his wife and closed the investigation.[6]

References
  1. "Biography for Somlyay, the Hon. Alexander Michael". ParlInfo Web. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  2. "The Lyons Forum". Electronic Frontiers Australia. 1997. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  3. "Lib speaks for himself,defies gag by Abbott". The Canberra Times. 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010.
  4. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/allegations-mps-wife-drew-taxpayerfunded-salary-despite-doing-no-work-20140113-30qwu.html
  5. "Former MP Alex Somlyay defends employing wife to work from home as researcher". 15 January 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  6. Swan, Jonathan (21 February 2014). "Police end probe into MP Alex Somlyay's hiring of wife". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
Political offices
Preceded by
Warwick Smith		 Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government
1997–1998		 Succeeded by
Ian Macdonald
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Evan Adermann		 Member for Fairfax
1990–2013		 Succeeded by
Clive Palmer
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