Andrew Laming

Andrew Laming MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bowman
In office 9 October 2004 – present
Preceded by	Con Sciacca
Personal details
Born	(1966-09-30) 30 September 1966 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Liberal National Party of Queensland
Alma mater	University of Queensland, University of Sydney, Harvard University, Charles Darwin University
Profession	Ophthalmic Surgeon, politician
Website	www.andrewlaming.com.au

Andrew Charles Laming (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, for the Liberal National Party of Queensland, having first won the seat at the 2004 federal election for the Liberal Party of Australia. He was an ophthalmic surgeon, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and a management consultant before entering politics. Laming is the son of former Queensland state Liberal MP Bruce Laming who held the seat of Mooloolah from 1992 until 2001 and served as Deputy speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Early career

Andrew Laming studied medicine at the University of Queensland and is a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists. He also holds a Diploma in obstetrics and gynaecology from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, as well as a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, a Master of Public Policy from Charles Darwin University and a Master of Philosophy in Public Health from the University of Sydney. He has worked in public health, economics, ophthalmology, international systems and finance.

After graduating from the University of Queensland in 1990, Laming worked as a rural GP in Gundagai, New South Wales, and the rural Queensland towns of Goondiwindi, Mungindi, Dirranbandi and St George. In 1991, he researched anterior cruciate ligament injuries at the Perisher ski fields. In 1992, he worked as a gym manager and rigger in South Africa as well as three months in Afghanistan clearing land mines with the British charity Halo Trust and doing basic war surgery with the International Council of the Red Cross in Kabul. He continued obstetric training in 1993 with a diploma of obstetrics in Bromley and Farnborough Hospital in the UK.

Laming worked in the Northern Territory community of Lajamanu in 1995, combining ophthalmic surgery training and public health. As part of a Master of Philosophy in Public Health, he was the principal researcher in evaluating single dose azithromycin for mass treatment of trachoma. This treatment became standard practice partly as a result of Laming's research. He conducted eye disease surveys across the top end as an ophthalmic registrar and co-founded "RedANT" – Australia's first mobile eye disease database, earning a Master of Public Policy from Charles Darwin University in 2000.

In 1999, Laming established FIDO – Friends In Deed Organisation – while completing ophthalmology training and Sydney Eye Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital. FIDO was Australia's first internet-based volunteering service which partners skilled volunteers with not-for-profit organisations. Fido is now operated by The Centre for Volunteering in New South Wales and in 2006 it became known as Fido Skilled Volunteer Search.

In 2000, while studying for a Master of Public Administration at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Laming was the founding editor of the now annual Kennedy School Review. He co-authored Let's Go Turkey in 2001 before joining the World Bank Group's Health Nutrition and Population section in Washington DC. He then worked with the East Timor Transitional Authority as Health Planning Specialist as the country's health system was rebuilt.

Political career

At the 2001 federal election, Laming challenged Con Sciacca in the federal seat of Bowman. The 1.87% swing to the Liberals left Sciacca as Labor's most marginal member in Parliament. In 2002, Laming was employed as then Health Minister Kay Patterson's medical and public health advisor, then worked as an ophthalmologist, and a public sector consultant to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

After the 2004 federal redistribution in Queensland, Sciacca nominated for the newly created seat of Bonner, which contained historically safe Labor areas formerly in Bowman, and Laming secured the now notionally Liberal seat of Bowman, centred on Redland City, with the highest swing to the Liberals of any seat in Queensland (6.06%).

In his first parliamentary term, Laming was appointed to represent the government on the UNESCO National Commission and in 2005, he participated in the International Election Observer Mission as an observer of the election of Bougainville's first autonomous government.

Laming was a contributor to the 2006 RU486 "abortion pill" debate, during which he revealed that while training as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in a London hospital, he was required to perform late-term abortions. Laming introduced an amendment to the controversial RU486 bill which would give Parliament a right of veto over RU486, but failed to win support and ultimately he supported the bill.

In 2007, Laming and fellow Queensland Liberal MHRs, Gary Hardgrave and Ross Vasta, were investigated and subsequently cleared of breaches relating to parliamentary entitlements. This included A$67,000 for printing campaign material and Laming's five-day employment of a staff member who worked in the office of Gary Hardgrave. There was speculation in the media and the Queensland Parliament that funds had been diverted to the Liberals' 2006 state election campaign. On 2 March 2007, the Australian Federal Police conducted a search on the three MHRs' electoral offices as well as those of a printing company and a graphic artist. Laming described the incident as a "routine visit".

On 13 August Ross Vasta was cleared and Gary Hardgrave was cleared on 11 September. Vasta had admitted making an "administrative error" during the investigation, and repaid nearly $24,000. On 28 September 2007, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions announced that there were not "reasonable prospects of conviction for a criminal offence against Dr Laming", effectively clearing him.

At the 2007 federal election, it initially appeared on election night as if Laming had lost Bowman to Labor rival Jason Young on a large swing. However, counting of pre-poll votes which progressed over the next couple of weeks placed Laming marginally ahead, and the Australian Electoral Commission eventually declared him the winner on a 50.04% margin — just 64 votes ahead — having suffered a two party swing of 8.86%, compared with the Queensland state average of 7.53%.

At the 2010 federal election, Laming was re-elected to the seat of Bowman with a swing of over 10%. He was subsequently promoted to the position of Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health and onto the front bench.

Publications

• Laming, A.C., Currie B., Mathews J.D., "Azithromycin and trachoma; the first three months", The Northern Territory Communicable Diseases Bulletin, NT Department of Health and Community Services, 1995.
• Laming, A.C., et al. "Trachoma six months after the first azithromycin program in Australia", The Northern Territory Communicable Diseases Bulletin, NT Department of Health and Community Services, 1995; 2:1–3
• Laming, A.C., "Azithromycin Trachoma Evaluation Group", Central Australian Rural Practitioners Association, 1995, Number 20.
• Laming, A.C., "Afghanistan tragedy: war, public health and human suffering", Australian Family Physician, 1995, 24: 2191–5.
• Laming, A.C., Martin F.J., "Right problem, wrong solution; Medical provider number restriction", ANZ Journal of Ophthalmology, 1997, 25: 5–6.
• Laming, A.C., Leach A.J., et al., "A prospective study of Azithromycin treatment", Clinical Infectious Diseases, 24: 356–62, 1997.
• Laming, A.C., Hallsworth PG, "Chlamydial detection in trachoma". Medical Journal of Australia, 13 February 1999.
• Laming, A.C. (founding editor), Livesey F., Lyman L., Kennedy School Review, Harvard University, 2000, Library of Congress No. 00-1909974.
• Laming, A.C., et al. "A targeted single-dose azithromycin strategy for trachoma", Medical Journal of Australia, April 2000.
• Laming, A.C., (co-author) Let's Go Turkey, St Martin's Press, 2001.

External links

• Andrew Laming website – Electoral website.
• ABC – Quotes from maiden speech to Parliament.
• Andrew Laming, Liberal Party of Australia, Queensland division.
• Andrew Laming CDU alumni biography, Charles Darwin University.

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Con Sciacca	Member for Bowman 2004–present	Incumbent