Andrew McIntosh (Australian politician)

The Honourable Andrew McIntosh
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Kew
In office 18 September 1999 – 29 November 2014
Preceded by	Jan Wade
Succeeded by	Tim Smith
Personal details
Born	5 April 1955 Melbourne
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Children	one son
Alma mater	Australian National University (BEc), University of Tasmania (LLB)
Profession	Barrister
Website	andrewmcintoshmp.com

Andrew John McIntosh (born 5 April 1955) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the seat of Kew.

Early life

McIntosh was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and raised in North Balwyn, attending Bellevue Primary School. He later attended Melbourne Grammar School 1965–73. He received a Bachelor of Economics in 1978 from The Australian National University, a Bachelor of Laws in 1981 from the University of Tasmania, and a Certificate of Mediation in 1998 from Bond University. He began practising as a lawyer in 1982, and was called to the bar in 1985.^[1] He was an Associate of the former Chief Justice of Victoria. He is married with one son.^[1]

Political career

McIntosh had joined the Liberal Party of Australia in 1982, and had been active in local branches. In 1999 he was preselected as the Liberal candidate for Kew, a safe seat being vacated by sitting member Jan Wade. He was duly elected, and was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary from Infrastructure in 2001. In 2002 he became Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Shadow Attorney-General.

In 2006, McIntosh was moved to the portfolios of Police and Emergency Services, Corrections, and Manager of Opposition Business.^[1] In March 2009,he attracted attention for criticising the government for not releasing a weather briefing it had received predicting an "absolute extreme fire weather spike day" four days before the Black Saturday bushfires.^[2]

According to a Sunday Herald Sun investigation, McIntosh achieved little voter recognition as a frontbencher. Six months out from the 2010 state election, not one of 50 voters surveyed could identify him as the Shadow Minister for Corrections.^[3]

McIntosh claimed that assaults in Victoria have doubled since 1999 and has been instrumental in Coalition policy advocating abolishing suspended sentences, a policy which was later mirrored by the Labor government.^[4] He also helped to develop Coalition policy advocating 1600 extra police, which was later also adopted by the government.^[5] He has advocated greater freedom of information and transparency under the Brumby government. He alleged that a dirt unit exists inside the Department of Premier and Cabinet, after in 2006 a notebook, pushed under his office door and belonging to an advisor to the Premier, referred to an "index search" on Ted Baillieu's wife and three children.^[6]

With the election of Ted Baillieu's government in 2010, McIntosh was made Minister for Corrections, Minister for Crime Prevention and Minister responsible for the establishment of an anti-corruption commission in the Baillieu Ministry. In the Napthine Ministry in 2013, McIntosh also took the portfolio of Gaming Regulation, and the anti-corruption commission title became "Minister responsible for IBAC". On 16 April 2013, McInstosh resigned all of his ministerial positions with immediate effect, after admitting that he had leaked confidential information from the parliamentary privileges committee to a journalist.^[7]

References

1. Parliament of Victoria. "Hon Andrew McIntosh". Members Information. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
2. Austin, Paul (11 March 2009). "Sparks fly over bushfire warnings". The Age (Melbourne).
3. Rolfe, Peter (2010-06-13). "Our mystery MPs". Sunday Herald Sun. p. 15. Retrieved 2010-06-13. "More than 50 voters from the must-win seat [Mitcham] were shown pictures of the 10 Liberal-National MPs most likely to be handed a position on Mr Baillieu's front bench. The results were staggering. An overwhelming majority had no idea who the MPs were. Voter recognition was weakest with Opposition consumer affairs spokesman Michael O'Brien, crime prevention spokesman Andrew McIntosh and education spokesman Martin Dixon, with not a single person able to identify them."
4. Sexton, Reid (14 May 2010). "Brumby in backflip on suspended sentences". The Age (Melbourne).
5. "Will more police make Victoria a safer place?". The Age (Melbourne). 2 May 2010.
6. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1665136.htm
7. McIntosh resigns over journalist 'indiscretion', ABC News, 16 April 2013.