Cameron Thompson

Cameron Paul Thompson (born 1 October 1960) was an Australian politician in Queensland. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Blair from 1998 until 2007.

Early life

Thompson was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, and was a radio journalist, as well as press secretary and chief of staff to several state and territory politicians in Queensland and the Northern Territory before entering politics.

Election to parliament

Thompson was preselected for the new division of Blair for the 1998 election. Considerable press at the time focussed on the contest, as the redistribution creating the seat had split One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's seat of Oxley between a safe Labor section which remained in Oxley and a rural section significantly more disposed towards Hanson, who decided to contest Blair.

After election day, the contest was noted for being one of only ten occasions where a candidate who did not finish first or second went on to win under Australia's instant-runoff voting system. [cite book|title=Limiting democracy : the erosion of electoral rights in Australia|last=Hughes|first=Colin A.|coauthors=Costar, Brian|location=Sydney|publisher=UNSW Press|year=2006|isbn=0-868-40948-0] Thompson pulled ahead of Labor's Virginia Clarke with National preferences, and won the resulting two party preferred vote against Hanson with Labor preferences.

The Goodna Bypass

Thompson led a proposal to construct a bypass east of the city of Ipswich, known as the Goodna Bypass and connecting Dinmore to the Logan Motorway, in preference to a six-lane upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway.cite news|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/11/25/1195925651981.html|title=No Goodna Bypass as ALP sweeps through state|last=Moore|first=Tony|work=Brisbane Times|date=25 November 2007|accessdate=2008-05-26]

In pursuit of the bypass, he encountered opposition from leaders within his own party including Queensland's state Liberal leader Dr Bruce Flegg and Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman. [cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21328012-3102,00.html|title=$2.3b fix for Ipswich Motorway|work=The Courier-Mail|date=5 March 2007|accessdate=2008-05-26] [cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21514155-5003416,00.html|title=Bypass to controversy|last=Philip|first=Martin|work=The Courier-Mail|date=7 April 2007|accessdate=2008-05-26] After a set of feasibility studies and options reports, the federal government announced funding for the AUD$2.3 billion Goodna Bypass. [cite news|url=http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/mv/releases/2007/march/031mv_2007.htm|title=Media Release - $2.3 billion Goodna Bypass to solve Ipswich traffic needs|date=5 March 2007|author=The Hon Mark Vaile, Minister for Transport and Regional Services|accessdate=2008-05-26] By July, the cost had increased to $2.8 billion. [cite news|url=http://www.propertyoz.com.au/qld/Newsletter/2007/200707/independentreportshows.htm|title=Independent report shows Canberra must spend more on road planning|author=Property Council of Australia (Queensland Division)|date=20 July 2007|accessdate=2008-05-26]

As the 2007 election approached, Thompson campaigned almost solely on the Goodna Bypass, which Labor had said they would not build if they won government. However, a redistribution which included some historically Labor areas around Ipswich, together with a strong swing in Queensland towards the Labor Party resulted in Thompson's defeat by Labor candidate Shayne Neumann, with a two party preferred swing was 10.17%—significantly over the Queensland average swing of 7.53%.

Post-parliamentary life

Cameron became a senior adviser to state National leader Lawrence Springborg although he left shortly afterwards to contest the state Liberal presidency against Mal Brough and sitting Liberal Party president Gary Spence on a platform of merging the Liberal and National parties- a move which is supported by Mr Springborg.

References