46 Facts About Peter Slipper

Peter Slipper is the current bishop in Australia for the Catholic Apostolic Church of Australia a mission of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church and an honorary consul for Brazil in Australia.

Peter Slipper worked as a lawyer and farmer before entering politics.

Peter Slipper was first elected to parliament at the age of 34, standing as a member of the National Party.

Peter Slipper was narrowly defeated after one term, but reclaimed the seat at the 1993 election as a member of the Liberal Party.

Peter Slipper was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in September 2010, with the backing of the Labor Party.

Peter Slipper resigned from the Liberal National Party to become an independent speaker in the Westminster tradition upon taking office, pre-empting moves to expel him.

Peter Slipper was the first independent to serve as speaker since Frederick Holder.

Peter Slipper was convicted of defrauding the government in July 2014, but successfully appealed the charges and had his conviction overturned in February 2015.

Peter Slipper had previously assisted the Church of Torres Strait in native title and other legal and administrative matters.

Peter Slipper was born on 14 February 1950 in Ipswich, Queensland.

Peter Slipper subsequently studied law and arts at the University of Queensland, graduating Bachelor of Laws in 1977 and later as Bachelor of Arts.

Peter Slipper subsequently worked as a solicitor and had business and farming interests.

Peter Slipper first won Fisher as a National Party candidate in 1984.

Peter Slipper was narrowly defeated in 1987 by Labor's Michael Lavarch.

Peter Slipper sought to retake his old seat, this time as a Liberal, and won.

Peter Slipper was government whip from 1997 to 1998, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration from 1998 to 2004 and parliamentary secretary to the prime minister from 2002 to 2003.

In 2010 Peter Slipper drew significant local and national media attention over the alleged overuse of his parliamentary travel entitlements.

Peter Slipper has said that he has been cleared of these allegations.

On 28 September 2010, Peter Slipper accepted Labor's nomination to serve as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and was elected to that position by 78 votes to 71, defeating the Coalition nominee, Bruce Scott of the National Party.

In September 2011, Peter Slipper raised concerns of alleged branch stacking by Brough, and there was growing pressure over how the LNP would determine preselection of candidates for the seat of Fisher, with Peter Slipper threatening to resign from the party if not re-endorsed.

Peter Slipper was nominated unopposed and installed as Speaker on 24 November 2011.

Peter Slipper resigned from the Liberal National Party on taking the Speaker's seat and continued in parliament as an independent representative.

Peter Slipper moved to reinstate once weekly the longer and more formal Speaker's procession into the House involving the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Mace, which had not been seen in three decades.

Peter Slipper soon established a no-nonsense reputation; during his first Question Time, he expelled four of his former Coalition colleagues without warning.

On 20 April 2012, Peter Slipper was accused of misusing Cabcharge vouchers.

The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and other senior Opposition figures such as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Eric Abetz, called for Peter Slipper to resign until Ashby's claims were investigated.

However, in April 2012, Peter Slipper briefly stepped aside from the speakership, resumed the position shortly afterwards, but announced to the House in May that he would not take the chair in the House for the time being, while investigations into the alleged travel-related misconduct were conducted.

On 27 April 2012, Peter Slipper released copies of Cabcharge documents for at least two of the dates in question along with a written statement saying they were clearly in his handwriting, therefore disproving the allegation he handed over blanks.

The Government agreed, but various questions about the documents, including whether the payments were inflated and even whether Peter Slipper signed them all, were raised in the media.

On 8 May 2012, Peter Slipper resumed the chair as Speaker and read out a statement denying the allegations against him.

Peter Slipper was due to answer these allegations in the ACT Magistrates Court on 15 February 2013.

On 28 July 2014, Peter Slipper was found guilty of dishonestly using taxpayer funds to visit Canberra wineries for his own enjoyment.

Peter Slipper appealed the sentence, and the case was heard in December 2014.

Peter Slipper announced his resignation in Parliament on 9 October 2012.

Peter Slipper later entered Parliament and, when announcing his resignation, said:.

Peter Slipper then moved to the crossbench as an independent member of the House.

Peter Slipper claimed that he had withdrawn his application for membership after finding out that the party had announced without his knowledge that he was joining.

Peter Slipper stood as an independent candidate in the Division of Fisher at the 2013 federal election, but his replacement as LNP candidate, Mal Brough, won the seat resoundingly.

In 2008, Peter Slipper was ordained as a priest of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, a member church of the Traditional Anglican Communion and considered part of the international Continuing Anglican movement.

Peter Slipper was ordained by Archbishop John Hepworth and served as chancellor.

The ordination was controversial to some as Peter Slipper has no formal theological training and he was ordained without the knowledge of the wider TAC clergy.

Peter Slipper was the chancellor of the TAC, having succeeded Michael Atkinson, but resigned from this position in August 2012.

Peter Slipper was made chancellor and later vicar-general of the Church of Torres Strait, a then member church of the Traditional Anglican Communion which had signed an agreement to enter into the Roman Catholic Church as part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, though that agreement never came to fruition.

In 2016, Peter Slipper travelled to Brazil to be ordained as a deacon and priest and was instrumental in the CTS applying to join the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church in a unanimous vote of its synod in that year.

Peter Slipper's father Max Hooper was a Queensland state government minister.

In 2006, Peter Slipper married Inge Hall at a high-profile ceremony attended by many of his parliamentary colleagues.