1. Russell Broadbent is one of the longest-serving current members of parliament, having been in parliament for over 25 years, from 1990 to 1993, from 1996 to 1998, and since 2004.
25 Facts About Russell Broadbent
1. 2.
Russell Broadbent intends to stand for re-election in the 2025 election.
3.
Russell Broadbent was a company director and self-employed retailer before entering politics.
4.
Russell Broadbent served on the Pakenham Shire Council from 1981 to 1987, including as shire president from 1984 to 1985.
5.
Russell Broadbent served as a commissioner of the Dandenong Valley Authority from 1984 to 1987 and as chairman of the Western Port Development Council from 1985 to 1990.
6.
Russell Broadbent was an unsuccessful candidate for the Division of Streeton in the 1984 and 1987 federal elections.
7.
Russell Broadbent first entered parliament as member for the marginal Division of Corinella at the 1990 federal election, but lost to Labor's Alan Griffin at the 1993 election.
8.
Russell Broadbent contested and was elected for McMillan again at the 2004 election, after a redistribution erased the Labor majority and made it notionally Liberal.
9.
Russell Broadbent was re-elected at the 2007 federal election, at the same time as the Coalition lost government, and has held the seat ever since.
10.
Russell Broadbent supported changing the name of his electorate to commemorate John Monash rather than Angus McMillan.
11.
Russell Broadbent served on the speaker's panel from 2013 to 2019.
12.
Russell Broadbent has served on a wide range of parliamentary committees, including as chair of the standing committees on privileges and members' interests and treaties, and of the select committee into intergenerational welfare dependence.
13.
In May 2017, Russell Broadbent announced he would be resigning from the speaker's panel and his committee chairmanship to protest against the Turnbull government's inaction on aged care.
15.
On 12 November 2023, Russell Broadbent lost Liberal preselection for the 2025 Australian federal election to Mary Aldred, who is the daughter of his late parliamentary colleague Ken Aldred.
16.
Russell Broadbent was factionally unaligned during his time in the Liberal Party.
17.
Russell Broadbent has expressed interest in improving funding for Landcare Australia.
18.
In December 2017, Russell Broadbent was one of only four members of the House of Representatives to vote against the Marriage Amendment Bill 2017, which legalised same-sex marriage in Australia.
19.
Russell Broadbent took a personal decision not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with any of the available vaccines, in 2021, and stated that he neither encouraged nor discouraged constituents to get vaccinated.
20.
Russell Broadbent caught COVID in January 2022 and self-administered ivermectin, the use of which to treat COVID was widely promoted by anti-vaccination groups at the time.
21.
In February 2022, Russell Broadbent made headlines after promoting ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 in Parliament, claiming that he and his wife had taken it after testing positive to the virus.
22.
Russell Broadbent was one of a handful of Australian MPs known to have refused COVID-19 vaccination and is against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
23.
In 2022 Russell Broadbent opposed plans by Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to continue with a series of tax cuts on high-income earners due to kick in in 2024 in contrast to his party's stance, arguing that cutting taxes on wealthy individuals in the poor economic situation following the COVID-19 pandemic was not appropriate.
24.
In 2023, Russell Broadbent voiced support for plans to remove tax breaks on superannuation balances over $3 million, which would add roughly $54 billion in tax revenue to government pockets.
25.
Russell Broadbent stated that if the funds can be used wisely to help the Australian people he would support the policy despite Albanese stating that he would not tax superannuation before the next election.