David Gibson (Australian politician)

David Francis Gibson (born 13 October 1967) is a former Australian politician who served as the 18th member for Gympie in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2006 to 2015.[1][2] In January 2015 Mr Gibson retired from State politics.[3]

David Gibson
Chair, State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee
In office 15 November 2012 – 31 January 2015
Preceded by	Ted Malone
Minister for Police and Community Safety of Queensland
In office 3 April 2012 – 16 April 2012
Premier	Campbell Newman
Preceded by	Neil Roberts (Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services)
Succeeded by	Jack Dempsey
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Gympie
In office 9 September 2006 – 31 January 2015
Preceded by	Elisa Roberts
Succeeded by	Tony Perrett
Personal details
Born	David Francis Gibson 13 October 1967 Fremantle, Western Australia
Political party	Liberal National (2008–2015)
Other political affiliations	National (2006–2008)
Awards	Australian Defence Medal
Military service
Branch/service	Australian Army
Rank	Captain

Early life

Born in Fremantle, Western Australia, as the eldest of two children to deaf parents. As a child of deaf adults he took on the role of interpreting for his parents to help them communicate in a hearing world.

Early career

Mr Gibson began his military career in 1985 as an Army Reserve Private in the West Australian University Regiment whilst still at high school. In 1986 he entered the Royal Military College Duntroon and graduated serving as an Army officer for 8½ years before embarking on a career in media marketing and management.[4] In 2001 he started working for the APN Newspaper The NewsMail as its Newspaper Sales and Marketing Manager. In June 2004 he was promoted as to the position of general manager of the APN publication The Gympie Times in Gympie, Queensland.[5]

Parliamentary career

David was elected to the Queensland Parliament at the September 2006 state election, winning the safe Independent seat of Gympie for the National Party from a field of seven candidates. In the 52nd Parliament he served on the Public Accounts Committee. Promoted to shadow cabinet 16 months after entering Parliament he took on the responsibilities as Shadow Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change & Innovation, and Shadow Minister for Clean Energy Strategy. Re-elected in the March 2009 state election, the electorate of Gympie was the safest seat in the Parliament. He held the senior portfolio as the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Planning until September 2010.

He was the first member of any Parliament in Australia to give a maiden speech in sign language and many give him credit for lobbying to bring the National Week of Deaf People activities into the Parliament, including the provisions of interpreters for question time and a debate between members of the deaf community and members of parliament on disability issues in 2009.[6] David was also the first MP to engage a Deaf student as an intern.[7]

Prior to the 2012 state election, he was the Shadow Minister for Local Government and the Shadow Minister for Sport.

Following the LNP's winning government in the 2012 state election David was promoted to minister for Police and Community Safety.[8]

On 18 July 2012, the Newman government unveiled a ‘blueprint’ to reinvigorate the Mary Valley, after the previous Labor Government's failed Traveston Crossing Dam project and appointed Mr Gibson to chair the Mary Valley Economic Development Advisory Group.[9]

On 15 November 2012, Mr Gibson was appointed to chair the State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee.[10]

Public Life

Mr Gibson was often described as a vocal progressive moderate within the Liberal National Party,[11] particularly during the civil union debate in Qld.[12] In 2010, Hansard records his support for "having the age of consent for heterosexual and homosexual sex made the same age" and that "There is no reason we should discriminate between male and female and between gay and straight."[13]

He claimed he was targeted by his colleagues for these and other progressive views,[14] which led to a nervous breakdown, resulting in him not not contesting the 2015 State election.[15]

He also faced a number of controversies during his time as a Member of Parliament, including historical allegations of theft from his time in the Australian Army in the 1990s,[16] and of alleged unlicensed driving and of a speeding fine from before he was Police Minister.[17]

After Parliament

Mr Gibson has been active on a number of not for profit boards and has been an international public speaker, having presented at the World Federation of Deaf conference in Budapest in 2017.[18] He has also had various articles published, including "Disability, Inclusion and Democracy - an Uncomfortable Fit"[19] in the journal of the Australasian Study of Parliament Group.

He has served as the chairman of Deaf Services[20] a not for profit company working with the community to enhance services and programs that benefit Deaf and hard of hearing across Australia, and as Chairman of Jacaranda Housing, a non-profit, community housing provider in Brisbane.[21]

He is also a former director of Deafness Forum,[22] a national peak body representing the interests and viewpoints of the Deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind communities, and former chair of the Queensland Chapter of the Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG) a non-partisan body to encourage and stimulate research, writing and teaching about parliamentary institutions in Australia in order to generate a better understanding of their functions.[23]

In 2015 he took on a 2-year role as the Executive Director of the Gympie Music Muster, an iconic Australian music festival held in the Amamoor Creek State Forest near Gympie, Queensland.[24] In 2017 he became the CEO of Access Plus WA Deaf (the former WA Deaf Society Inc)[25] and finished in that role in April 2020.

See also

• Politics of Australia

References

1. https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=2582052386
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20200427035613/https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/explore/parliamentaryrecord/sections/Part%202.17.pdf
3. http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/mps-farewell-david-gibson/2468477/
4. "David Gibson LinkedIn".
5. Green, Antony (7 September 2006). "Gympie Profile". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
6. "Deaf community invited to parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 October 2007.
7. http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2008/08/27/apn-australian-first-twice-for/
8. "Premier announces new Ministry". Department of Premier and Cabinet. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
9. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2012/7/18/new-vision-for-mary-valleys-future
10. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2012/11/15/david-gibson-appointed-to-new-role
11. "Civil Union Debate: Qld Hansard" (PDF).
12. "Gay issue fires up parliament". Gympie Times. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
13. "SURROGACY BILL; QLD HANSARD" (PDF).
14. "Gympie MP claims police officer 'delivered death threats'". Queensland Times. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
15. "Nervous breakdown claims MP". www.couriermail.com.au. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
16. "Call for Gympie MP David Gibson to resign over $7,000 theft". ABC News. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
17. Hurst, Daniel (16 April 2012). "Police minister resigns after less than a fortnight in job". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
18. "WFD Program 2017 Budapest" (PDF).
19. "AUSTRALASIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW (APR) Autumn/Winter 2015" (PDF). ASPG. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
20. "DEAF SERVICES QUEENSLAND EXPERIENCES STELLAR GROWTH AS NEW CHAIRMAN NAMED". Deaf Services Queensland. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
21. "Jacaranda Housing 2018 Annual Report" (PDF).
22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
23. https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/aspg/executive.htm
24. "New Music Muster CEO and recording studio". Gympie Times. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
25. "WA Deaf Society New CEO". Facebook. Retrieved 17 June 2020.

External links