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Biography
Phillip Bruce Thompson OAM MP (born 7 May 1988) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 Australian federal election, representing the Division of Herbert. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament. Prior to politics, he was awarded the 2018 Queensland Young Australian of the Year.
Before politics
Thompson was born in Australia. Thompson is married to Jenna, his mother is Carolyn and he has two siblings, Stephanie and Timothy. He grew up on the Sunshine Coast. Thompson at the age of 17 joined the Royal Australian Regiment as an infantry soldier.
He joined the army in 2006 as an infantry soldier with the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.He was deployed to East Timor in 2007 for six months. In 2009, Thompson was badly injured by an improvised explosive device during operations in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. The explosion resulted in Thompson losing hearing in his right ear and being diagnosed with Posttraumatic stress disorder and Traumatic brain injury.
Thompson represented Australia at the inaugural Invictus Games in London, United Kingdom 2014. The Invictus Games is a paralympic styled event for wounded, injured and ill who are still serving or formerly serving defence force members from around the globe. In 2016, Thompson coached the Australian Invictus Games team in Orlando, Florida. He coached powerlifting and wheelchair rugby. He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to the welfare of veterans.
Political career
Thompson was elected at the 2019 Australian federal election for the seat of Herbert. Thompson is the youngest Member of the 46th Parliament also known as the Baby of the House.
During his campaign, he apologised to the Muslim community for negative comments about Muslims made on Facebook in 2012.
Thompson sits on the following Parliamentary committees:
- Joint Standing: Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 23/07/2019
- Joint Standing: Northern Australia from 23/07/2019
- House of Representatives Standing: Agriculture and Water Resources from 04/07/2019
- House of Representatives Standing: Indigenous Affairs from 04/07/2019
- House of Representatives Select: Regional Australia from 17/09/2019
