Ray Stevens (politician)

Ray Stevens MP
Manager of Opposition Business in Queensland
In office 31 January 2015 – 9 May 2016
Leader	Lawrence Springborg
Preceded by	Curtis Pitt
Succeeded by	Jeff Seeney
Leader of the House of Queensland
In office 30 March 2012 – 31 January 2015
Premier	Campbell Newman
Preceded by	Judy Spence
Succeeded by	Stirling Hinchliffe
Shadow Ministry posts Shadow Minister for Racing In office 29 November 2010 – 11 April 2011 Leader John-Paul Langbroek Succeeded by Tim Nicholls Shadow Minister for Tourism In office 6 April 2009 – 11 April 2011 Leader John-Paul Langbroek Preceded by Rob Messenger Succeeded by Jann Stuckey Shadow Minister for Public Works and Housing In office 21 September 2006 – 5 April 2009 Leader Jeff Seeney Lawrence Springborg Preceded by Terry Rogers Succeeded by Jann Stuckey (Public Works) Rosemary Menkens (Housing)
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Mermaid Beach
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 March 2009
Preceded by	Seat created
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Robina
In office 9 September 2006 – 21 March 2009
Preceded by	Bob Quinn
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Mayor of the Gold Coast
In office 11 March 1995 – March 1997
Preceded by	Gary Baildon
Succeeded by	Gary Baildon
Mayor of Albert
In office 26 March 1994 – 11 March 1995
Preceded by	Gary Baildon
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Personal details
Born	(1953-02-01) 1 February 1953 Townsville, Australia
Political party	Liberal National Party (since 2008)
Other political affiliations	Liberal Party (until 2008)
Children	2
Alma mater	James Cook University and Macquarie University
Occupation	Accountant, small business owner

Raymond Alexander Stevens (born 1 February 1953) is an Australian politician, currently serving as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing Mermaid Beach for the Liberal National Party. He previously served as Manager of Opposition Business in the Legislative Assembly.

Early life

Born in Townsville, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Economics from James Cook University and Macquarie University, and was admitted to the Australian Association of Accountants in 1974, being employed by Price Waterhouse in Sydney. He returned to the family station, "Doncaster" in Richmond, before moving to the Gold Coast in 1979, running local businesses in the area.

Political career

Local government

Stevens was a councillor on Albert Shire Council from 1988 to 1995, including a brief term as mayor beginning in 1994. After the amalgamation of Albert and Gold Coast City, he was elected mayor of the latter in 1995, serving until his defeat in 1997.

State parliament

Stevens was elected to state parliament in 2006 as the member for Robina, succeeding former state Liberal leader Bob Quinn. At this time he was also appointed as the Shadow Minister for Public Works and Housing from 2006 to 2009, with a brief stint from 2007 to 2008 as the Shadow Minister for Information and Communication Technology.

In 2008, Stevens joined the new Liberal National Party with the rest of his party. The redistribution ahead of the 2009 state election renamed his seat to Mermaid Beach; he was re-elected. And from 2009 to 2010 he was the Shadow Minister for Tourism and Fair trading, before he continued in that role as the Shadow Minister for Tourism and Racing from 2010 to 2011. From early 2011 until the election in 2012 Stevens was the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Racing.

With the Liberal National Party winning the 2012 Election, Stevens became the Leader of the House of Queensland and in October 2012 the Assistant Minister to the Premier on e-government.

On 11 September 2012, Stevens sparked racism claims after using the term "Jihad Jackie" in Parliament to describe opposition spokeswoman Jackie Trad (herself of Catholic-Lebanese heritage). While Stevens withdrew the remark in Parliament upon urging by house speaker, he staunchly maintained using the word Jihad to describe someone of Arabic heritage, on 11 September, was nothing he needed to apologise for. He subsequently said Trad needed to "harden up" and had a "glass jaw".

At a pre-polling booth on 21 January 2015, Stevens was filmed having a bizarre reaction to a journalist asking him questions about a $100 million sky rail project from Mudgeeraba to Springbrook. Stevens had previously stated he had approval from the Integrity Commissioner, but when the journalist asked Stevens for the Commissioner's advice to be released, Stevens refused to answer. When the journalist did not back down and asked how much he could make from the development, Mr Stevens then began to wave his hands and arms up and down in the journalist's face. "That Mermaid Ray really lost the plot, but without saying a word," Donovan said. "He started doing a dance and gyrating around — this is a Minister of the Crown, we're talking about, let me remind you."

External links

• Official Biography