Scott Emerson
| Scott Emerson MP |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the Queensland Parliament for Indooroopilly | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2009 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 January 1964 Ipswich, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal National Party |
Scott Anthony Emerson (born 15 January 1964) is an Australian politician and former journalist. He has been a Liberal National Party member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2009, representing the electoral district of Indooroopilly in Brisbane's inner-west.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Emerson was born in Ipswich Queensland, where his father, an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, was working at the nearby Amberley Air Force base. Emerson attended schools across Australia and overseas as his family moved with the RAAF. He graduated from high school in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. Emerson attended the University of Queensland where he enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts degree, completing studies in law, economics and journalism. He finished his degree in 1985 with majors in law and journalism, and completed an economics degree in 1987. While at university he was a regular contributor to the student newspaper Semper Floreat. He was editor of the newspaper in 1986. He also served as chairman of the Journalism Students Association in 1985.
Emerson began his media career in 1988 as a cadet journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) at its Toowong studios in Brisbane. In 1991 he moved to Sydney to work as a reporter on ABC Radio’s current affairs programs, AM, PM and The World Today. He returned to Brisbane in 1992 as the senior Queensland reporter for ABC Radio Current Affairs. In 1994 he joined the national newspaper The Australian as its Queensland political reporter. In 1998 he was appointed the paper’s Queensland Bureau Chief[2] and in 2000 was National Chief of Staff for The Australian during the Sydney Olympics. In 2001 he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study political campaigning, including undertaking research at Harvard University and in Washington D.C. In 2004 he left The Australian to become a director and equity partner in Crook Publicity, a Brisbane-based public and media relations firm. In 2009 he resigned from Crook Publicity to contest the seat of Indooroopilly at the Queensland state election for the Liberal National Party of Queensland.
Emerson was co-founder of the St Lucia Community Association and served as team manager at Wests Junior Rugby from 2005 to 2007. He is a regular participant in the St Lucia Bush Care Group. Emerson was also a volunteer at RSPCA Australia including as a dog trainer.
Emerson is married to Robyn and the couple have a daughter and son. They met while studying at the University of Queensland and married in Brisbane in 1991.
[edit] Political career
Emerson was elected to the Queensland Parliament at the 21 March 2009 state election, representing the seat of Indooroopilly for the Liberal National Party with a two-party preferred vote of 56 per cent. At the election he defeated Labor’s candidate Sarah Warner and the sitting member Ronan Lee from the Queensland Greens who defected from Australian Labor Party in 2008.[2]
At the election Emerson achieved a swing of 8.4 per cent on the two-party preferred vote, more than double the average swing to the LNP, and won by more than 2500 votes.
In his maiden speech he identified community and the environment as key issues.
After his election, he was appointed to the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee.
In May 2010, Emerson was appointed as the inaugural Chairperson of the Waste Watch Committee, a campaign aimed at identifying and ending Labor Government waste in Queensland. He held this position until November 2010.
In November 2010 Emerson was elevated to the Shadow Ministry becoming Queensland's first Shadow Minister for Science, Research and Information & Communication Technology.
In April 2011 Emerson was appointed to the senior position of Shadow Minister for Transport, Multicultural Affairs and Arts.
