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The Honourable Christopher Pyne MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Sturt
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 March 1993
Preceded by	Ian Wilson
Minister for Ageing
In office 21 March 2007 – 3 December 2007
Preceded by	Santo Santoro
Succeeded by	Justine Elliot
Personal details
Born	(1967-08-13) 13 August 1967 (age 57) Adelaide, South Australia
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse	Carolyn Pyne
Alma mater	University of Adelaide University of South Australia
Occupation	Solicitor
Website	http://www.pyneonline.com.au

Christopher - Ohh-oh!--Alexander-has-Metastasized! - Pyne, MP (born 13 August 1967), Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 13 March 1993, representing the Division of Sturt, South Australia. He served as Minister for Ageing in the government of John Howard until the 2007 election and is currently the Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives and Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training in the Tony Abbott Shadow Cabinet.

Early Years

Pyne was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1967, and was educated at Saint Ignatius College, South Australia and the University of Adelaide, where he gained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and was President of Adelaide University Liberal Club from 1987 to 1988. He was employed as a research assistant to Senator Amanda Vanstone and later became President of the South Australian Young Liberals from 1988-1990. Pyne was then selected as the Liberal Candidate for the SA State seat of Ross Smith at the 1989 election, but was defeated by the sitting member and Premier of South Australia, John Bannon. Pyne obtained a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the University of South Australia and began practising as a solicitor in 1991. During this time he began working in Ian Wilson's Federal Electoral Office for Sturt.

Early Political Career

Pyne became the youngest member of the Australian Parliament at the age of 25, when he defeated Ian Wilson in a pre-selection battle for the seat of Sturt for the 1993 election. Pyne established himself as a member of the moderate faction in the South Australian wing of the Liberal party, supporting Deputy-Leader Peter Costello. In 1994, after serving a period in the backbenches, Pyne was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Social Security. He retained this position after John Howard was elected as leader, and up to the 1996 election.

After the Coalition victory at the 1996 election, Pyne remained in the backbench. After the 2001 election, in 2003 Pyne was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Family and Community Services until 2004 when he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing. As Parliamentary Secretary, he defended the government's "War on drugs" and established his strong support of illicit drug prohibition, as opposed to harm minimisation. He remained as Parliamentary Secretary until 30 January 2007 when he entered the frontbench as Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing. He held this portfolio until 21 March, when he was appointed Minister for Ageing, succeeding resigning Minister, Senator Santo Santoro. He was Minister until December 2007, when the 2007 election Coalition defeat brought Pyne back into opposition.

Pyne was also chairman of the Australia Israel Parliamentary group from 1996 to 2004.

42nd Parliament

Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the 2007 federal election, Pyne put himself forward as a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. In a ballot of Liberal caucus members, Julie Bishop prevailed with 44 votes, ahead of Andrew Robb who won 25 votes and Pyne 18 votes. Following the election of Brendan Nelson as party leader, he was appointed as Shadow Minister for Justice and Border Protection in the front bench.

Following Malcolm Turnbull's election as Liberal Party Leader in September 2008, Pyne was elevated to the position of Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training. After Deputy-Leader Julie Bishop stepped down from the portfolio of Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey took up the portfolio, with Pyne replacing Hockey as Manager of Opposition Business. This sparked anger within the coalition over claims Turnbull was stacking his ministry with moderate Liberal MPs, with conservative Liberal shadow parliamentary secretary Cory Bernardi being demoted by Turnbull over claims thought to be made toward Pyne in Bernardi's weekly online blog, in which Bernardi recalled an encounter with a Liberal MP at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, of which Pyne has been a member since 1988, 14 years ago:

In response to my question of why he joined the Liberal Party, the MP blithely responded "I live in a Liberal seat so I had to be a member of the Liberal Party to get into Parliament. If I lived in a Labor seat I would have joined the Labor Party". Frankly I was aghast at this response. Where was the conviction, the beliefs, the values that I believe should motivate our political leaders? Several follow up questions disclosed that the only motivation for his own political involvement was for him to become Prime Minister.

These allegations were strenuously denied by Pyne, stating that the idea of him joining another party as "preposterous".

References

1. ^ "Costello backer gets his reward". The Age. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
2. ^ "The Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Member for Sturt (SA)". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
3. ^ "Christopher Pyne Online - About Christopher". Christopher Pyne. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
4. ^ "Christopher Pyne Online - Biography". Christopher Pyne. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
5. Christopher Pyne is member for whatever it takes: The Australian 4/7/2009
6. "Government defends drugs policy". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 September 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
7. "Pyne named as new Minister for Ageing". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
8. "Nelson's victory puts Turnbull on deck". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 November 2007.
9. "Brendan Nelson announces shadow ministry". The Courier Mail. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
10. "SA's Chris Pyne named Education Spokesman in new Coalition frontbench". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
11. "Turnbull sacks SA Senator Bernardi". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
12. "Turnbull sacks frontbencher for turning on Pyne". Sydney Morning Herald. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
13. ^ "Turnbull sacks frontbencher over blog". The Canberra Times. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-08.

• 1967 births
• Living people
• Liberal Party of Australia politicians
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Sturt
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives
• Australian Roman Catholics