Jamie Briggs
Jamie Briggs | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Cities and the Built Environment | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 29 December 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull |
| Preceded by | Sharon Bird (as Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Road Safety) |
| Succeeded by | Paul Fletcher |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Mayo | |
| In office 6 September 2008 – 2 July 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander Downer |
| Succeeded by | Rebekha Sharkie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 June 1977 Kyneton, Victoria |
| Party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Spouse | Estée[1] |
| Children | Three[1] |
| Occupation | Politician, political advisor |
Jamie Edward Briggs (born 9 June 1977) is an Australian politician, who represented the House of Representatives seat of Mayo for the Liberal Party of Australia from the 2008 Mayo by-election to the 2 July 2016 federal election. Briggs was promoted from a shadow parliamentary secretary role to the outer ministry upon the 2013 election of the Abbott government. He remained in the outer ministry, though with a change in portfolio in the Turnbull government; however, he quit the ministry and moved to the backbench in late 2015 following inappropriate conduct during an official overseas trip. Briggs lost his seat in the 2016 federal election to Nick Xenophon Team candidate Rebekha Sharkie.[2] Since 2024 Briggs has worked as a political advisor.
Background
Briggs grew up in the River Murray town of Mildura, where his father was a local bank teller and his mother volunteered in the canteen at the Sacred Heart Catholic primary school.[3] He attended St Joseph's College where he excelled in cricket before moving to Adelaide to pursue his dreams of playing for Australia. Briggs became a member of the Liberal Party in 1999 and was on the Liberal Party State Council from 2000 to 2002. He was an employment relations adviser for Business SA from 2000 to 2002. In 2002, he started working for the then South Australian Treasurer, Rob Lucas, before moving to Canberra in 2003 to work for Kevin Andrews in the Howard government. From 2004 to 2007 he was a senior advisor for WorkChoices to the prime minister, John Howard.[4][5]
Political career
Briggs was pre-selected as the Liberal Party of Australia candidate for the 2008 Mayo by-election to replace former Liberal leader and minister Alexander Downer. In the absence of a Labor candidate, Briggs won the seat with a reduced 53.03 percent two-candidate vote against the Greens, in comparison to the 2007 election with a 57.1 percent two-party vote against Labor. The Liberal two-party vote was increased to 57.4 percent at the 2010 election and to 62.5 percent at the 2013 election.
After the 2010 election Briggs was given the position of chair of the Coalition's Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee as part of the opposition led by Tony Abbott.[6] In September 2012, Briggs was appointed to the Opposition frontbench as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Supporting Families.[7] As part of his role as the Chairman of the Coalition's Scrutiny of Government Committee, Briggs wrote The Little Book of Big Labor Waste with the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, and the Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey. It was published on 13 May 2013.[8] Briggs has also pursued the Gillard government over a Freedom of Information decision to refuse access to Greens policy costings.[9]
Ministry promotion and resignation
After the 2013 election of the Abbott government, Briggs, an Abbott loyalist, was appointed promoted from a shadow parliamentary secretary position to the outer ministry as Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development.[10]
Briggs was on crutches with an injured leg after a failed crash tackle on Abbott at a boisterous late-night party in Abbott's office on the night he was deposed as Prime Minister in September 2015. For the next two months, Briggs insisted that he had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament while jogging the following morning, and had not been not involved in shattering an expensive Italian marble table in Abbott's office. It was expected that the damage to the table would be repaired at the taxpayer's expense, but Abbott later said he would pay for it.[10][11]
On 20 September 2015, in the incoming Turnbull government, Briggs' portfolio in the outer ministry was changed to Minister for Cities and the Built Environment. Turnbull had initially dumped Briggs from the ministry, but when Bruce Billson declined to remain, Briggs was reinstated.[12][13]
In April 2016, Briggs supported calls from two state Liberal parliamentarians for seal culling in South Australia, after witnessing a "massacre" of dozens of fairy penguins on Kangaroo Island.[14]
2016 election
Briggs was beaten at the 2016 federal election by his former staffer Rebekha Sharkie, who successfully contested Mayo for the Nick Xenophon Team.[15] He lost over 16 percent of his primary vote from 2013, and finished just three percent ahead of Sharkie on the first count. Ultimately, Sharkie defeated Briggs after the distribution of preferences.
In September 2024 Briggs was hired as a political advisor to opposition leader Peter Dutton.[16] He served in this role during the 2025 Australian federal election.[17]
Personal life
Briggs is married to former Liberal staffer Estée Fiebiger and has three children. He lives in Aldgate, South Australia.[1][3]
References
- ^ a b c Starick, Paul (30 December 2015). "Ousted federal minister Jamie Briggs' wife Estee posts Facebook picture standing by him and family". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ "Mayo - Australia Votes | Federal Election 2016 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
- ^ a b "About Jamie: Biography". JamieBriggs.com.au. Jamie Briggs. Archived from the original on 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ "The Hon Jamie Briggs MP". Senators and Members. Parliament of Australia.
- ^ "Mayo pick revives WorkChoices". ABC News. Australia. 21 July 2008.
- ^ "A strong and stable team for Australia's future" (Press release). Liberal Party of Australia. 14 September 2010. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010.
- ^ Abbott, Tony (19 September 2012). "Appointments to the Coalition team" (Press release). Liberal Party of Australia. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ "Tony Abbott launches The Little Book of Big Labor Waste on Federal Budget eve". news.com.au. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ Franklin, Matthew (26 July 2012). "Labor buries Greens costings as Joel Fitzgibbon opposes Treasury secrecy". The Australian. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ a b Starick, Paul (29 December 2015). "South Australian Liberal Jamie Briggs quits as Cities and Built Environment Minister in Malcolm Turnbull Government". The Advertiser. Adelaide.
- ^ Keany, Francis (29 December 2015). "Mal Brough, Jamie Briggs stand down from front bench roles; reshuffle on the cards for PM Malcolm Turnbull". ABC News. Australia.
- ^ Meers, Daniel; Benson, Simon (30 December 2015). "Jamie Briggs and Mal Brough: Frontbench upheaval as Liberal ministers resign". news.com.au.
- ^ Knott, Matthew (30 December 2015). "Jamie Briggs, an ambitious MP who overstepped the mark". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ Williams, Tim (3 April 2016). "Federal MP Jamie Briggs joins call for seal cull after witnessing 'massacre' of fairy penguins". The Advertiser. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Brash, aggressive Jamie Briggs won't be missed". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 29 December 2015.
- ^ "Controversial Lib heavyweight makes political comeback". The Advertiser. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ^ Maiden, Samantha (5 May 2025). "'Sh*tshow': How the Voice blew up Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party's polling". news.com.au. Retrieved 6 June 2025.