John Brogden
Encyclopedia
John Gilbert Brogden is an Australian businessman and former politician, who was Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales
from 2002 to 2005. He was a Liberal Party
member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
from May 1996 until his resignation in August 2005, representing the electorate of Pittwater
.
Brogden's resignation as leader followed a public outcry over alleged sexual harassment and a remark calling the Malaysian-born wife of Bob Carr
(the then Premier of NSW
), a "mail-order bride
". Soon after his resignation he is reported to have engaged in self-harm, which is widely reported to have been a suicide attempt. Shortly afterwards, he resigned from parliament.
.
He is married to Lucy Brogden, daughter of Frank Hooke, a former Liberal Party state treasurer, and they have three children, Flinders, Hugh and Trinity.
, then-Premier John Fahey
and Legislative Council member Ted Pickering
. In 1992, he became President of the state branch of the Young Liberals
, and a member of the party's state executive. In 1994, he served a year as Treasurer of the federal movement. During this period, he also worked as a public relations consultant for several years.
Brogden was elected to the Legislative Assembly in May 1996, but it was not until 1999 that he was promoted to the shadow ministry, when he became the Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Urban Affairs, Planning and Sydney Water. In the leadup to the 2003 election, then-Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski
was struggling in the polls against Premier Bob Carr. On 25 March 2002, Brogden announced a challenge. Three days later on 28 March 2002, he succeeded in a 15–14 vote, becoming the youngest ever leader of a state or federal Liberal Party. On becoming Opposition Leader, he resigned from his previous portfolios, but took on the new shadow ministries of Ethnic Affairs and Treasury.
John Brogden was not only unable to defeat Carr's Labor
government at the 2003 election
, but led the Liberal Party opposition to a landslide loss. Despite this, he remained Opposition Leader. He later improved his standing in the polls and at some stages in 2005 the Coalition was in front of Labor , with many people believing that he would win the next state election, especially when Bob Carr resigned from politics and Morris Iemma
was elected as the new Premier.
After becoming party leader, he confronted the government over a number of issues, often focussing on health and police corruption. He aggressively pursued the Carr government over its involvement in the Orange Grove affair
, in which a shopping centre was shut down, allegedly for zoning reasons, amidst claims of political pressure from The Westfield Group
, which ran a neighbouring shopping centre. In October 2004, Westfield launched defamation action against Brogden as a result of comments he made about the affair.
, the Malaysian-born wife of the then NSW Premier Bob Carr, as a "mail-order bride
". Fully, Brogden said Bob Carr could "ship his mail-order bride back to where she came from, for all I care". Brogden later publicly apologised for this remark. He was also accused of unwelcome sexual advances to two unnamed female journalists at the same function (ABC
's Lateline reported that he "propositioned" one journalist, and pinched another's buttocks
). Brogden alleged that Young Liberal Alex Hawke
was responsible for leaking information to the media.
As a consequence of the controversy, John Brogden resigned as Leader of the NSW Opposition on 29 August 2005, but announced his intention to remain as the Member for Pittwater.
The next day, 30 August 2005, police attended Brogden's electorate office at around 10.30 pm, after concerns were raised by members of his family. They found him apparently unconscious in a back room, having slit his wrists, apparently in a drug and alcohol induced stupor.
When the Sydney Morning Herald called Barry O'Farrell
at about 11 pm to question him about possible leadership contention, he told them, "Excuse me if I say I don't care about the leadership at the moment, but I am following an ambulance with John Brogden inside. He has attempted self-harm. It sort of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?".
Brogden was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital
that night, and discharged the following day into respite care
in a North Shore psychiatric facility. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Brogden's actions were a suicide attempt. On 1 September, Brogden and his wife issued a short statement thanking people who had sent messages of support, and inviting people wishing to help further to donate to beyondblue
, an anti-depression organisation.
Brogden resigned from politics on 28 September and a by-election was held for the seat of Pittwater, which was won by an independent candidate, Alex McTaggart
.
. Between 2006 and 2009, Brogdan also served as chairman of Abacus - Australian Mutuals, an industry body for credit union
s and building societies
in Australia. In July 2009, he was appointed as CEO of the Financial Services Council (formerly called the Investment & Financial Services Association), the representative body for Australia's superannuation, funds management and life insurance
industry.
In 2007, Brogden became the first patron of telephone counselling service Lifeline
NSW.
He also holds honorary positions as Patron of Sailability Pittwater, Bilgola Surf Lifesaving Club and Avalon Beach Surf Lifesaving Club and is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology in Sydney.
In April 2011, Brogden became National Patron for Lifeline.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
from 2002 to 2005. He was a Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
from May 1996 until his resignation in August 2005, representing the electorate of Pittwater
Electoral district of Pittwater
Pittwater is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. Located in Sydney's north-east, it is 175.32 km² in size, and comprises the local government area of Pittwater Council and parts of Warringah Council...
.
Brogden's resignation as leader followed a public outcry over alleged sexual harassment and a remark calling the Malaysian-born wife of Bob Carr
Bob Carr
Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...
(the then Premier of NSW
Premiers of New South Wales
The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...
), a "mail-order bride
Mail-order bride
Mail-order bride is a label applied to a woman who publishes her intent to marry someone from another country. This term is considered offensive by some people. The mail-order bride industry is the economic trade of contracted domestic partnerships, often between citizens of different countries or...
". Soon after his resignation he is reported to have engaged in self-harm, which is widely reported to have been a suicide attempt. Shortly afterwards, he resigned from parliament.
Early life and family
Brogden was born and raised in Sydney. He was educated at St Patrick's College, StrathfieldSt Patrick's College, Strathfield
St Patrick's College is an independent, Roman Catholic, day school for boys, located in Strathfield in the inner west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
.
He is married to Lucy Brogden, daughter of Frank Hooke, a former Liberal Party state treasurer, and they have three children, Flinders, Hugh and Trinity.
Career
Brogden joined the Liberal Party in his final year of high school at St Patrick's College Strathfield and, after graduating, worked as an adviser to then-Attorney-General John HannafordJohn Hannaford
John Planta Hannaford is a former Australian politician. Born in Goulburn, the son of William Henry Planta and Amy Frances Hannaford, he became a lawyer, having studied at the Australian National University in Canberra. He commenced legal articles in 1971...
, then-Premier John Fahey
John Fahey (politician)
John Joseph Fahey, AC is a former Premier of New South Wales and Federal Minister for Finance in Australia. John Fahey is currently the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1984 to 1996 and the federal House of Representatives...
and Legislative Council member Ted Pickering
Ted Pickering
Edward Phillip "Ted" Pickering is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1976 to 1995....
. In 1992, he became President of the state branch of the Young Liberals
Young Liberals
Young Liberals can mean the following:*Young Liberals , the youth wing of the Liberal Party of Australia* Young Liberals , a liberal party in Austria...
, and a member of the party's state executive. In 1994, he served a year as Treasurer of the federal movement. During this period, he also worked as a public relations consultant for several years.
Brogden was elected to the Legislative Assembly in May 1996, but it was not until 1999 that he was promoted to the shadow ministry, when he became the Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Urban Affairs, Planning and Sydney Water. In the leadup to the 2003 election, then-Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski
Kerry Chikarovski
Kerry Anne Chikarovski was leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. She served as Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002....
was struggling in the polls against Premier Bob Carr. On 25 March 2002, Brogden announced a challenge. Three days later on 28 March 2002, he succeeded in a 15–14 vote, becoming the youngest ever leader of a state or federal Liberal Party. On becoming Opposition Leader, he resigned from his previous portfolios, but took on the new shadow ministries of Ethnic Affairs and Treasury.
John Brogden was not only unable to defeat Carr's Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government at the 2003 election
New South Wales state election, 2003
Elections to the 53rd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 22 March 2003. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...
, but led the Liberal Party opposition to a landslide loss. Despite this, he remained Opposition Leader. He later improved his standing in the polls and at some stages in 2005 the Coalition was in front of Labor , with many people believing that he would win the next state election, especially when Bob Carr resigned from politics and Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...
was elected as the new Premier.
After becoming party leader, he confronted the government over a number of issues, often focussing on health and police corruption. He aggressively pursued the Carr government over its involvement in the Orange Grove affair
Orange Grove affair
The Orange Grove affair was a political scandal in Australia concerning the dealings of the New South Wales state Australian Labor Party government with multinational corporation The Westfield Group. It resulted from a court decision to force the closure of the Orange Grove shopping centre after a...
, in which a shopping centre was shut down, allegedly for zoning reasons, amidst claims of political pressure from The Westfield Group
The Westfield Group
The Westfield Group is an Australian shopping centre group undertaking ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing and marketing activities...
, which ran a neighbouring shopping centre. In October 2004, Westfield launched defamation action against Brogden as a result of comments he made about the affair.
Controversy, resignation and aftermath
John Brogden came under fire for offensive behaviour at a function in Sydney on 29 July 2005. He allegedly described Helena CarrHelena Carr
Helena Carr is an Australian businesswoman and the wife of former Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr. As of 2004, she had extensive holdings in Australian printing corporations, making her a millionaire.-Early life:...
, the Malaysian-born wife of the then NSW Premier Bob Carr, as a "mail-order bride
Mail-order bride
Mail-order bride is a label applied to a woman who publishes her intent to marry someone from another country. This term is considered offensive by some people. The mail-order bride industry is the economic trade of contracted domestic partnerships, often between citizens of different countries or...
". Fully, Brogden said Bob Carr could "ship his mail-order bride back to where she came from, for all I care". Brogden later publicly apologised for this remark. He was also accused of unwelcome sexual advances to two unnamed female journalists at the same function (ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's Lateline reported that he "propositioned" one journalist, and pinched another's buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
). Brogden alleged that Young Liberal Alex Hawke
Alex Hawke
Alexander George "Alex" Hawke MP , an Australian politician, is a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing Mitchell, in north-western metropolitan Sydney, for the Liberal Party of Australia since 2007...
was responsible for leaking information to the media.
As a consequence of the controversy, John Brogden resigned as Leader of the NSW Opposition on 29 August 2005, but announced his intention to remain as the Member for Pittwater.
The next day, 30 August 2005, police attended Brogden's electorate office at around 10.30 pm, after concerns were raised by members of his family. They found him apparently unconscious in a back room, having slit his wrists, apparently in a drug and alcohol induced stupor.
When the Sydney Morning Herald called Barry O'Farrell
Barry O'Farrell
Barry Robert O'Farrell MP, is an Australian politician and is the 43rd Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Western Sydney, Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Ku-ring-gai for the Liberal Party since 1999.Born in...
at about 11 pm to question him about possible leadership contention, he told them, "Excuse me if I say I don't care about the leadership at the moment, but I am following an ambulance with John Brogden inside. He has attempted self-harm. It sort of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?".
Brogden was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital
Royal North Shore Hospital
The Royal North Shore Hospital is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and has approximately 740 beds. It is the referral hospital for Northern Sydney and the Central...
that night, and discharged the following day into respite care
Respite care
Respite care is the provision of short-term, temporary relief to those who are caring for family members who might otherwise require permanent placement in a facility outside the home....
in a North Shore psychiatric facility. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Brogden's actions were a suicide attempt. On 1 September, Brogden and his wife issued a short statement thanking people who had sent messages of support, and inviting people wishing to help further to donate to beyondblue
Beyondblue
beyondblue is an Australian non-profit organisation which aims to increase awareness and improve the treatment of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and related mental disorders...
, an anti-depression organisation.
Brogden resigned from politics on 28 September and a by-election was held for the seat of Pittwater, which was won by an independent candidate, Alex McTaggart
Alex McTaggart
Alex McTaggart MP, a former Australian politician, was an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Pittwater between 2005 and 2007...
.
Post-political career
Brogden was appointed as CEO of Manchester Unity, an Australian health fund, in July 2006 and served in that role until December 2008 when the company was taken over by HCF Health InsuranceHCF Health Insurance
HCF was formed in 1932 to provide health insurance cover to Australians. Since then, it has grown to become one of the country’s largest combined registered private health fund and life insurance organisations...
. Between 2006 and 2009, Brogdan also served as chairman of Abacus - Australian Mutuals, an industry body for credit union
Credit union
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...
s and building societies
Building society
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...
in Australia. In July 2009, he was appointed as CEO of the Financial Services Council (formerly called the Investment & Financial Services Association), the representative body for Australia's superannuation, funds management and life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
industry.
In 2007, Brogden became the first patron of telephone counselling service Lifeline
Lifeline (Counselling service)
Lifeline is a free, 24 hour telephone counselling service in Australia. Volunteer counsellors provide suicide prevention, crisis support and mental health services via telephone. This service can be accessed by calling 13 11 14 within Australia....
NSW.
He also holds honorary positions as Patron of Sailability Pittwater, Bilgola Surf Lifesaving Club and Avalon Beach Surf Lifesaving Club and is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology in Sydney.
In April 2011, Brogden became National Patron for Lifeline.