Senator
Paul Scarr
Senator for Queensland
Assumed office
1 July 2019
Preceded byIan Macdonald
Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate
Assumed office
26 July 2022
LeaderPeter Dutton
Preceded byRaff Ciccone (as Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate)
James McGrath (as Liberal Party Deputy Whip in the Senate)
Personal details
Born (1969-08-20) 20 August 1969 (age 54)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLiberal / LNP
SpouseLouise Scarr[citation needed]
Alma materUniversity of Queensland
ProfessionLawyer

Paul Martin Scarr[1][2][3] (born 20 August 1969) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was elected as a Senator for Queensland at the 2019 federal election.[4] He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.[5]

Early life

Scarr was born in Sydney on 20 August 1969,[6] the son of Diane Berry and David Scarr.[7] He moved to Queensland with his family at the age of seven,[8] attending Ipswich Grammar School.[7] He went on to complete the degrees of Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) and Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Queensland.[6]

Career

Scarr served his articles of clerkship at Allens in Brisbane, before joining the firm as a solicitor in 1994.[6] He was a senior associate with the firm's Papua New Guinea division from 1999 to 2001.[7] After returning to Australia he joined King & Wood Mallesons in 2005. In 2007, Scarr was appointed general counsel and company secretary of PanAust Limited,[6] an Australian company with mining operations in Laos.[9]

Politics

Scarr joined the Liberal Party in 1987 and held office in the Young Liberals. He was chairman of the party's Hawken Drive (St Lucia) branch from 1997 to 1999. Following the creation of the Liberal National Party of Queensland he served on the electorate councils for the state seats of Indooroopilly and Miller and the federal seat of Moreton.[6]

In July 2018, Scarr won LNP preselection as the lead candidate on the party's Senate ticket in Queensland. The results of the ballot saw incumbent senators Ian Macdonald and Barry O'Sullivan lose their previous positions on the ticket.[10]

At the 2019 federal election, Scarr was elected to a six-year term beginning on 1 July 2019. He has served on various Senate committees, including as chair of the economics references and the legal and constitutional affairs references committees. In July 2022, following the Coalition's defeat at the 2022 federal election, Scarr was appointed as a deputy opposition whip.[6]

Positions

Scarr is a member of the Centrist faction of the Liberal Party,[11] after previously being aligned with the Centre-Right faction of the Liberal Party.[12]

References

  1. ^ Lynch, Lydia (19 May 2019). "How the Senate is shaping up for Queensland". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  2. ^ Remeikis, Amy (6 July 2018). "LNP dumps Ian Macdonald and Barry O'Sullivan from Senate ticket". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Qualification checklist" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Senate Results". ABC News. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Paul Scarr". Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Senator Paul Scarr". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Maiden speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. ^ "About". Senator Paul Scarr. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  9. ^ Coughlan, Matt (10 September 2019). "LNP senator fights back against activists". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  10. ^ Killoran, Matthew (6 July 2018). "Ian Macdonald loses LNP top spot to newcomer Paul Scarr". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  11. ^ Massola, James. "How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  12. ^ Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
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