Andrew Laming - Political Career

Political Career

At the 2001 federal election, Laming challenged Con Sciacca in the federal seat of Bowman. The 1.87% swing to the Liberals left Sciacca as Labor's most marginal member in Parliament. In 2002, Laming was employed as then Health Minister Kay Patterson's medical and public health advisor, then worked as an ophthalmologist, and a public sector consultant to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

After the 2004 federal redistribution in Queensland, Sciacca nominated for the newly created seat of Bonner, which contained historically safe Labor areas formerly in Bowman, and Laming secured the now notionally Liberal seat of Bowman, centred on Redland City, with the highest swing to the Liberals of any seat in Queensland (6.06%).

In his first parliamentary term, Laming was appointed to represent the government on the UNESCO National Commission and in 2005, he participated in the International Election Observer Mission as an observer of the election of Bougainville's first autonomous government.

Laming was a contributor to the 2006 RU486 "abortion pill" debate, during which he revealed that while training as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in a London hospital, he was required to perform late-term abortions. Laming introduced an amendment to the controversial RU486 bill which would give Parliament a right of veto over RU486, but failed to win support and ultimately he supported the bill.

In 2007, Laming and fellow Queensland Liberal MHRs, Gary Hardgrave and Ross Vasta, were investigated and subsequently cleared of breaches relating to parliamentary entitlements. This included A$67,000 for printing campaign material and Laming's five-day employment of a staff member who worked in the office of Gary Hardgrave. There was speculation in the media and the Queensland Parliament that funds had been diverted to the Liberals' 2006 state election campaign. On 2 March 2007, the Australian Federal Police conducted a search on the three MHRs' electoral offices as well as those of a printing company and a graphic artist. Laming described the incident as a "routine visit".

On 13 August Ross Vasta was cleared and Gary Hardgrave was cleared on 11 September. Vasta had admitted making an "administrative error" during the investigation, and repaid nearly $24,000. On 28 September 2007, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions announced that there were not "reasonable prospects of conviction for a criminal offence against Dr Laming", effectively clearing him.

At the 2007 federal election, it initially appeared on election night as if Laming had lost Bowman to Labor rival Jason Young on a large swing. However, counting of pre-poll votes which progressed over the next couple of weeks placed Laming marginally ahead, and the Australian Electoral Commission eventually declared him the winner on a 50.04% margin — just 64 votes ahead — having suffered a two party swing of 8.86%, compared with the Queensland state average of 7.53%.

At the 2010 federal election, Laming was re-elected to the seat of Bowman with a swing of over 10%. He was subsequently promoted to the position of Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services and Indigenous Health and onto the front bench.