Aidan McLindon

Aidan McLindon
Leader of the Queensland Party
In office 20 June 2010 – 24 March 2012
Preceded by	Party created
Succeeded by	Party dissolved; merged with Katter's Australian Party (succeeded by Robbie Katter)
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Beaudesert
In office 21 March 2009 – 24 March 2012
Preceded by	Kev Lingard
Succeeded by	Jon Krause
Personal details
Born	(1980-02-26) 26 February 1980 Darwin, Australia
Political party	Family First (2013-present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal National (2009-2010) Independent (2010) Queensland (2010-2012) Australian (2012-2013)

Aidan Patrick McLindon (born 26 February 1980) is an Australian politician. He was first elected for the seat of Beaudesert to the Queensland State Parliament for the Liberal National Party at the 2009 state election. He resigned from that party to become an independent in May 2010, and in June 2010 he established The Queensland Party, which he merged with Katter's Australian Party in August 2011. He lost his seat to the LNP at the 2012 election.^[1][2] He joined Family First in June 2013^[3] and was the lead Senate candidate for Family First in Queensland.^[4]

Early life

McLindon was born in Darwin in the Northern Territory, and was a bar attendant and musician before entering politics. He attended school at Springwood State High School where he was elected a prefect.

McLindon gained some publicity in the media for his musical interests, especially his involvement in the alternative rock band killTV. This attracted some notoriety as a result of their security breach at a televised Big Brother event in 2005, in protest against the reality program's funding from government.

His military service included roles as an infantry soldier and driver 1997–2002 in the Australian Army.^[5]

McLindon cites an early interest in politics at the age of 15 from work experience at Queensland Parliament House in 1995. He later went on to complete a degree in Government and Politics, majoring in Public Policy, at Griffith University.^[6] McLindon acknowledged a number of academics and political scientists from the university in his inaugural speech to Queensland Parliament.^[7]

Political career

In 1998 McLindon was preselected by the Liberal Party of Australia to run for a state seat as Australia's youngest politically endorsed candidate at the age of 17 years and completed a personal door to door campaign to 17,500 homes.^[8]

McLindon previously served as a Logan City councillor 2004–2009, including as Chair of the Environment and Sustainability portfolio. In 2009 he was preselected to succeed Kev Lingard as the Liberal National Party candidate for Beaudesert.^[9]

The Beaudesert campaign of 2009 saw several high profile identities and McLindon successfully defended the seat for the LNP against former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson who contested the seat as an independent.

In early 2010, McLindon attracted significant media attention by challenging Deputy Leader of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP), Lawrence Springborg, for his position in the party at a parliamentary meeting of the LNP.^[10]

In May 2010, McLindon and Burnett MP Rob Messenger, who had seconded McLindon's nomination as deputy leader, resigned from the LNP to sit as Independents, claiming that the party had become victim to "flawed political process".^[11]

In June 2010, McLindon announced the formation of a new party, The Queensland Party, based on "moderate" ideals and the right to dissent from party policy. McLindon stated that the party would run in all Queensland seats at the next state election, with the exception of the five seats held by Independent MPs.^[12]

McLindon has advocated the removal of poker machines from towns and cities around Queensland to be moved into a new "AusVegas" in the Cairns region.^[13] He has also been a vocal advocate for the restoration of the Upper House in Queensland.^[14]

In August 2011, McLindon announced the merger of The Queensland Party with Bob Katter's Australian Party. Some members of The Queensland Party opposed the merger but an Electoral Commission of Queensland investigation found that they did not have the required numbers to maintain the separate registration of the party and it was removed from the register of political parties in December 2011.^[15] Most Queensland Party candidates were endorsed by Katter's Australian Party.^[16] As part of the deal, McLindon became the merged party's Queensland state leader.

In June 2013, he joined Family First ^[17] and was the lead Senate candidate for Family First in Queensland in the 2013 federal election.^[18]

See also

Conservatism portal

References