Pat Farmer - Political Career

Political Career

Following his ultra-marathon, Farmer was approached by Howard in 2000 and encouraged Farmer to seek endorsement for the seat Macarthur. Farmer was elected the Member for Macarthur as a member of the Liberal Party at the 2001 Federal election. He was returned in 2004 with an increased margin.

During his time in Parliament, Farmer served on a range of House of Representatives committees including: Education and Training from 26 September 2002 to 31 August 2004; Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 4 November 2003 to 31 August 2004. On 26 October 2004 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training (with special responsibility for Western Sydney).

Farmer suffered a 10.43 percent swing against him at the 2007 federal election, in which the Howard Government lost to Kevin Rudd's Australian Labor Party. Farmer retained his seat with a margin of 0.7 percent. After the election he was appointed the Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport.

In January 2008 he moved to Mosman against the advice of then Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson, but stated that it would not affect his ability to represent his electorate in the city's western suburbs. On 22 September he was dropped from the shadow ministry by the newly-elected opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull. In August 2009 Farmer was reported to be considering standing for the New South Wales Parliament after a redistribution made it difficult for him to retain his seat in the Federal Parliament.

In a Liberal Party preselection ballot for Macarthur, held on 30 October 2009, Farmer was defeated by Russell Matheson and retired from politics at the 2010 federal election.