John Cobb (Australian politician)

Infobox Politician
honorific-prefix = The Honourable
name =John Cobb
honorific-suffix = MP

|200px
caption =
birth_date =Birth date and age|1950|2|11|df=y
birth_place =Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
residence =
death_date =
death_place =
office = Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Water Security
salary =
term_start = 10 November 2001
term_end = Current
party = National Party of Australia
religion =
constituency = Calare
majority =
spouse = Gai Cobb
children =
website = [http://www.johncobb.com.au johncobb.com.au]
footnotes =

John Kenneth Cobb (born 11 February 1950), Australian politician, has been a National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2001 representing the Division of Parkes, New South Wales and the Division of Calare since 2007. He was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, and was a farmer and grazier before entering politics. He was President of the New South Wales Farmers Association 1998-2001.

Life before entering parliament

Cobb was born in Bathurst, son of Lee and Mary Cobb, [Mr John Cobb MP. "Parliamentary Debates, [http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/dailys/dr140202.pdf 14 February 2002] , p. 213.] and was raised on the family property near Mount Hope, New South Wales. [The Honourable John Cobb MP: Your Member for Parkes, [http://www.johncobb.com.au/bwWebsite/followon.asp?PageID=1313 Biography] , accessed January 2008]

From the 1980s until his candidacy for Federal Parliament, Cobb was active in, and spent three years as President of, the New South Wales Farmers Association, a lobby group representing farmers and rural and regional communities. [New South Wales Farmers Federation, [http://www.nswfarmers.org.au/about_us Who We Are and What We Do] , retrieved January 2008.] He also continued to farm the family property. In 2000, an accident on the farm (Cobb was not present at the time) claimed the life of an employee, Kenneth Johnson. Charges were laid against Cobb as Johnson's employer, resulting in a conviction and fine being imposed, not long after Cobb was elected to Parliament.

Ministry and shadow ministry

Cobb was elected to the House of Representatives from the Division of Parkes, a safe National Party seat, at the 2001 federal election.

In July 2005 Cobb was appointed to the ministry as Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, but soon after was reshuffled to the Community Services portfolio. His time in the portfolio was rocky. In March 2006 he was criticised for being one of six 'prominent Coalition MPs' who did not disclose their shares in AWB Limited. [Cath Hart, 'Six MPs explain interests in AWB', "The Australian", 13 March 2006.]

In October 2006 Cobb sparked controversy after reportedly stating at a meeting of disability service advocates that he would "get rid of" a child who had a disability. Mr Cobb denied the accusations. [Matthew Franklin and Patricia Karvelas, 'Cobb would 'get rid of' disabled child', "The Australian", 20 Oct 2006.] [Misha Schubert, 'Cobb denies disability comment', "The Age", 21 Oct 2006.] [Matthew Franklin, 'Minister's disabled slur affirmed', "The Australian", 24 Oct 2006.] Prime Minister John Howard backed his minister at the time, however Cobb lost the portfolio in a reshuffle three months later. He then became Assistant Minister for Water Resources. ['The PM's election year line-up', "Canberra Times", 24 Jan 2007]

John Cobb moved to the neighbouring seat of Calare at the 2007 election after the popular independent member Peter Andren retired to join the contest for a NSW Senate seat. The Liberal-National Party Coalition lost the election, however Cobb retained the seat of Calare. He was chosen by new Opposition leader Brendan Nelson to be a member of his shadow ministry, as the spokesperson on Regional Development and Water Security. [Parliament of Australia, [http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/shadmin.pdf Shadow Ministry, 6 December 2007] , retrieved January 2008]

Personal

John Cobb has a wife Gai, and seven daughters. [John Cobb, "House of Representatives Debates", 14 February 2002, p. 213.] [Misha Schubert, 'Cobb denies disability comment', "The Age", 21 Oct 2006.]

References

External links

*Parliament of Australia, [http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/member.asp?id=AN1 Hon. John Cobb MP] , official Parliament website biography, retrieved January 2008
*OpenAustralia|John_Cobb

Persondata
NAME=Cobb, John Kenneth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=11 February 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=