Peter Pyke

Peter Pyke
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Mount Ommaney
In office 19 September 1992 – 15 July 1995
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Bob Harper
Personal details
Born	Peter Malcolm Pyke 15 November 1950 London, England
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Katter's Australian Party
Other political affiliations	Australian Labor Party
Occupation	Police officer, Electrician

Peter Malcolm Pyke (born 15 November 1950) is an Australian politician. Pyke was born in London on 15 November 1950 and served with the Queensland Police Service for 16 years before entering parliament, heading the first dedicated police unit to focus on violence against women and serving as an instructor at the Queensland Police Academy. He came to public attention as a campaigner against corruption in the service, making a 100 page submission to the Fitzgerald Royal Commission of Inquiry and commenting regularly to the media on the inquiry's proceedings.

Pyke was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the Labor member for the newly created seat of Mount Ommaney at the 1992 state election.^[1] Mount Ommaney was predominantly based on the former safe Liberal seat of Sherwood which had been held for 11 years by former barrister and Liberal Party leader Angus Innes. Pyke lost his seat at the 1995 state election, at which he was defeated by Bob Harper of the Liberal Party.

In 1993, members of the Queensland Police Service launched an unsuccessful prosecution against Pyke, accusing him of assaulting and depriving the liberty of Brentus Noel Whittaker. The expense of contesting the proceedings forced Pyke to sell his home.^[2] Pyke claimed the episode left him in fear for his family's safety after he was threatened by a stranger at a bottle shop on 28 June 1996, shortly after he discussed lodging a complaint with the Crime and Justice Commission over the fabrication of charges against him by police officers.^[2]

Pyke attempted a political comeback by standing as an independent at the 2009 state election for the district of Toowoomba South. In June 2010 he announced the formation with former journalist and Liberal Party adviser Graham Higgins of a new political party, the Republican Democrats.^[3] In May 2011, Pyke announced his intention to join forces with and run for the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the district of Toowoomba North for Queensland Party which was formed by former Liberal parliamentarian Aidan McLindon in 2010.^[4]

In 2012 Peter Pyke ran for the seat of Toowoomba North for Katter's Australian Party and didn't succeed. Pyke was the third most popular candidate following Kerry Shine and Trevor Watts.

Pyke is a qualified electrician and currently operates his own business as a data and communications contractor.

References

1. Pyke, Mr Peter Malcolm — Government of Queensland. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
2. "Chris Griffith Multi Media Journalist Published 10 Nov 1996 in The Sunday Mail". Sunday Mail.
3. Former Labor MP Peter Pyke forms new political party
4. "Pyke to take on Shine in Toowoomba North Published 3 May 2011 in The Chronicle". The Chronicle.