15 Facts About Matt Birney

Matthew John Birney was born on 10 June 1969 and is an Australian former politician.

Matt Birney was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006.

Matt Birney's father, Jack Birney, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Sydney electorate of Phillip from 1975 until his defeat in 1983.

The younger Matt Birney was educated at North Kalgoorlie Primary and Eastern Goldfields Senior High School.

Matt Birney was a small business proprietor and a board member of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry, before being elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Kalgoorlie in February 2001, defeating Labor incumbent Megan Anwyl.

Matt Birney defeated Anwyl after the preferences of the One Nation candidate, Guy Hopkins, flowed overwhelmingly to him.

Matt Birney was the first Liberal to win Kalgoorlie, and only the third non-Labor member in the seat's 100-year history.

Matt Birney was the only Liberal challenger to unseat a Labor incumbent at the 2001 state election, which saw Labor elected to government with a large majority.

Matt Birney was Shadow Minister for Youth and the Goldfields-Esperance region from 2001 to 2002, Shadow Minister for Police, Goldfields-Esperance and Communication Services from 2002 to 2004 and Shadow Minister for Police, Commerce, Communications and Goldfields-Esperance from 2004 to 2005.

Matt Birney had retained Kalgoorlie with a healthy swing of eight percent, making Kalgoorlie a safe Liberal seat.

Matt Birney became the first WA Liberal leader who did not lead the party to an election since the party's first leader, Ross McDonald.

On 3 January 2008, Matt Birney announced that he would be quitting politics for the corporate world, and duly retired at the 2008 state election.

On 24 August 2014, The Sunday Times reported that Matt Birney was considering a return to state politics, quoting him as saying that he had "unfinished business".

Matt Birney said he would not challenge a sitting member for pre-selection.

Matt Birney is the author and director of Bulls N' Bears, a joint venture between Business News and Birney Corporate Communications which provides news about ASX-listed companies.