Jason Costigan

Jason Noel Costigan (born 13 June 1971) is an Australian politician who was a Member of Parliament in the Queensland Legislative Assembly and leader for the North Queensland First party. Formerly Costigan was an independent politician and rugby league commentator. He was a member of the Liberal National Party (LNP) until being expelled from the party in February 2019. He had been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Whitsunday until 2020, first being elected in 2012 after defeating Jan Jarratt at that year's state election.[3]

Jason Costigan

MP
Leader of North Queensland First
Assumed office
18 November 2019[1]
PresidentRichard Filewood
Preceded byPosition established
Shadow Assistant Minister for North Queensland
In office
10 May 2016 – 14 December 2017
LeaderTim Nicholls
Deb Frecklington
Preceded byAndrew Cripps
Succeeded byDale Last
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Whitsunday
In office
24 March 2012 – 6 October 2020
Preceded byJan Jarratt
Succeeded byAmanda Camm
Personal details
Born (1971-06-13) 13 June 1971
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Political partyNorth Queensland First (2019–)
Other political
affiliations
EducationSt Mary’s Catholic Primary School
Mackay State High School[2]
OccupationRugby league commentator

Broadcasting career

Costigan's broadcasting career began in northern Queensland in the late 1980s and began calling rugby league in 1987 for regional television in Queensland.[4] He later joined New Zealand's SKY Network Television as their main NRL commentator and served in the role until the end of the 2010 season.[5][6]

Costigan has also worked as a media manager for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Bradford Bulls and was an advisor to the Central Queensland NRL bid. He left his role as project co-ordinator for the NRL bid team to spend more time with his family.[7]

Political career

Costigan worked as an adviser to the Sports Minister in the Howard Government and a media adviser to Senator Ian MacDonald.[8]

He is currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Whitsunday, having defeated Jan Jarratt at the 2012 state election.

Costigan was suspended from the LNP in January 2019 after a complaint alleged that he harassed a woman.[9] He denied the charges, but was formally expelled from the party by the executive on 1 February 2019.[10] In April 2020, the woman withdrew her complaint and offered an "unreserved apology" to Costigan.[11]

In September 2019, Costigan founded the North Queensland First party which aims for Northern Queensland statehood.[12]

He contested his Whitsunday seat in the 2020 Queensland state election as the sitting candidate but lost to Amanda Camm. He received 9..37% of the first preference votes.[13]

References
  1. "Member Details – Jason Costigan". Parliament.qld.gov. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  2. "Jason Costigan Maiden/Inaugural Speech" (PDF). 30 May 2012. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  3. "Whitsunday - Queensland Votes 2012". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  4. Calling all the home shots Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine New Zealand Herald, 19 September 2008
  5. Sky TV gives Jason Costigan the flick pass Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine stuff.co.nz, 12 December 2010
  6. Jason Costigan hits out after Sky axing Archived 3 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine stuff.co.nz, 30 January 2011
  7. Family first for Costigan Central Telegraph, 22 January 2010
  8. "Mr Jason Costigan". Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  9. Caldwell, Felicity (30 January 2019). "Maverick LNP backbencher Jason Costigan suspended from the party". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  10. "LNP expels north Queensland MP Jason Costigan". ABC News. 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  11. "Woman's complaint against expelled LNP Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan withdrawn, apology issued". ABC News. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  12. Barry, Derek (2 September 2019). "Jason Costigan sets up North Queensland First party". The North West Star. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. Queensland (23 November 2020). "Electoral Commission of Queensland". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by
Jan Jarratt		 Member for Whitsunday
2012–2020		 Succeeded by
Amanda Camm


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