Jamie Briggs facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jamie Briggs
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| Minister for Cities and the Built Environment | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 29 December 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull |
| Preceded by | Sharon Bird (as Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Road Safety) |
| Succeeded by | Paul Fletcher |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Mayo |
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| In office 6 September 2008 – 2 July 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Alexander Downer |
| Succeeded by | Rebekha Sharkie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 June 1977 Kyneton, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Spouse | Estée |
| Children | Three |
| Occupation | Politician |
Jamie Edward Briggs (born 9 June 1977) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the area of Mayo. He represented the Liberal Party of Australia from 2008 until 2016.
Briggs became a minister in the government after the 2013 election. He continued in a ministerial role when Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister. However, he later resigned from his position in late 2015. This happened after an incident during an official trip overseas. In the 2016 federal election, Briggs lost his seat to Rebekha Sharkie.
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Early Life and Career
Jamie Briggs grew up in Mildura, a town near the River Murray. His father worked at a local bank. His mother volunteered at a primary school canteen. Briggs went to St Joseph's College, where he was very good at cricket. He later moved to Adelaide to try and play cricket for Australia.
In 1999, Briggs joined the Liberal Party. He was part of the Liberal Party State Council from 2000 to 2002. During this time, he also worked as an adviser for employment relations at Business SA. In 2002, he began working for Rob Lucas, who was the Treasurer of South Australia.
Briggs moved to Canberra in 2003. There, he worked for Kevin Andrews in the Howard Government. From 2004 to 2007, he was a senior advisor for WorkChoices. This was a set of laws about workplaces, and he advised the Prime Minister, John Howard, on them.
Political Journey
Briggs was chosen by the Liberal Party of Australia to run for the 2008 Mayo by-election. This election was held to find a replacement for Alexander Downer, a former Liberal leader. The Australian Labor Party did not have a candidate in this election. Briggs won the seat with 53.03 percent of the vote against the Australian Greens. This was a smaller win compared to the 2007 election.
At the 2010 election, the Liberal vote in Mayo increased to 57.4 percent. It grew even more to 62.5 percent at the 2013 election.
After the 2010 election, Briggs became the chairman of a committee. This committee, called the Coalition's Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee, looked into how the government spent money. He was part of the opposition led by Tony Abbott. In September 2012, Briggs was given a role on the Opposition frontbench. He became the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Supporting Families.
As chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Committee, Briggs helped write a book. The book was called The Little Book of Big Labor Waste. He wrote it with Tony Abbott, who was the Leader of the Opposition, and Joe Hockey, the Shadow Treasurer. The book was published on 13 May 2013.
Becoming a Minister and Resigning
After the 2013 election, the Abbott government came into power. Jamie Briggs, who was a strong supporter of Tony Abbott, was promoted. He moved from a shadow parliamentary secretary role to a minister. He became the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development.
In September 2015, Tony Abbott was replaced as Prime Minister. Malcolm Turnbull then became the new Prime Minister. In the new Turnbull government, Briggs's role as a minister changed. On 20 September 2015, he became the Minister for Cities and the Built Environment.
In November 2015, during an official trip to Hong Kong, an incident occurred. Following this, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull asked Briggs to think about his position. On 29 December 2015, Briggs resigned from his ministerial role. He moved to the backbench, which means he was still a Member of Parliament but no longer a minister. Briggs stated that his behavior had not met the "particularly high standards required of ministers."
Briggs announced that he planned to run again for the Liberal seat of Mayo in the 2016 Australian federal election. He also hoped to return to a ministerial role one day. In April 2016, Briggs supported calls for seal culling in South Australia. He did this after seeing many fairy penguins killed on Kangaroo Island.
The 2016 Election
In the 2016 Australian federal election, Jamie Briggs was defeated. His former staffer, Rebekha Sharkie, won the seat of Mayo. She ran for the Nick Xenophon Team. Briggs lost a significant portion of his primary vote compared to 2013. Sharkie ultimately defeated Briggs after the counting of preferences.
Personal Life
Jamie Briggs is married to Estée Fiebiger. She used to work for the Liberal Party. They have three children together. The family lives in Aldgate, South Australia.
