Russell Broadbent
Quick Facts
Biography
Russell Evan Broadbent (born 25 December 1950), Australian federal politician, was elected to the House of Representatives as Member for McMillan, a federal electorate in the state of Victoria, for the politically conservative Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election. He previously represented Corinella 1990–93 and McMillan 1996–98. He was a company director and self-employed retailer before entering politics.
Broadbent was initially elected for the marginal Melbourne seat of Corinella in 1990, losing to Labor's Alan Griffin in 1993. In 1996, he challenged Barry Cunningham in what was then the suburban-rural seat of McMillan, and won it on a large swing. He was defeated by Labor's Christian Zahra in 1998. In 2004, however, he contested McMillan again after a redistribution erased the Labor majority and made it notionally Liberal. He was re-elected for the first time on 24 November 2007, at the same time as the Liberal Party's Coalition with the National Party of Australia lost government. Russell Broadbent was a candiate for streeton in 1984 and 1987 federal elections and lost.
Broadbent came to national prominence after siding with Liberal dissident, Petro Georgiou, the then-Member for Kooyong, and advocating better treatment of detainees. He has upheld his position of not charging long-term detainees for their detention.
Broadbent has said that global warming is "an issue for Australia and an issue for the world." He is also an advocate for bike paths as a benefit to community health, transport and the environment. Broadbent has expressed interest in improving funding for Landcare Australia.