Brett Raguse

Brett Raguse
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Forde
In office
24 November 2007 – 21 August 2010
Preceded byKay Elson
Succeeded byBert van Manen
Personal details
Born (1960-03-24) 24 March 1960
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political partyIndependent (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations
Labor (until 2016)
Alma materGriffith University
OccupationTeacher, political advisor

Brett Blair Raguse (born 24 March 1960) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010, representing the Division of Forde for the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Early life

Raguse was born in Brisbane, Queensland.[1] His unwed 17-year-old mother Denise gave him up for adoption at birth. Prior to entering politics he worked as a compositor, schoolteacher and director of a TAFE college.[2]

Politics

Raguse gained Labor pre-selection to contest the normally safe Liberal seat of Forde at the 2007 federal election. A position previously held by retiring Liberal Kay Elson. He won an unexpected 14% swing on election day, easily defeating new Liberal candidate Wendy Creighton in what was generally viewed as one of the main upset results of the election.[3][4] He lost his seat in the 2010 federal election to the LNP candidate Bert van Manen.

In March 2015, Raguse confirmed he would be a candidate for mayor of Logan City in the Queensland local government elections set for 19 March 2016.[5] He placed 2nd behind incumbent Luke Smith.[6]

In 2016, Raguse resigned his Labor party membership to run for Mayor as an Independent.[7]

In 2020, Raguse again ran for mayor and placed 2nd to new Mayor Darren Power.[8]

In 2024, Raguse ran a 3rd time for Logan city Mayor. [9]

References

  1. ^ "Mr Brett Raguse MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. ^ Houghton, Des (28 March 2008). "New MPs make true confessions". Courier-Mail. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. ^ Chambers, Geoff. "ALP Forde lesson". Gold Coast Bulletin, 26 November 2007.
  4. ^ Flack, Mark. "Raguse rides Labor wave to parliament". Albert and Logan News, 9 November 2007.
  5. ^ Joshua Paterson (25 March 2015). "Brett Raguse wants Logan City mayoralty". Jimboomba Times.
  6. ^ "2016 Logan mayoral results". Electoral commission of Queensland.
  7. ^ "In 2016, when I first decided to run for Mayor, I cut all ties with Labor and have truly been an Independent from that time". Brett Raguse. 3 February 2024.
  8. ^ "2020 Logan mayoral results". Electoral commission of Queensland.
  9. ^ Royce Wilson (25 January 2024). "BRETT RAGUSE ANNOUNCES 2024 LOGAN MAYORAL CANDIDACY". Logan West News.