Jason Falinski

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Jason Falinski
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Mackellar
In office
2 July 2016 – 21 May 2022
Preceded byBronwyn Bishop
Succeeded bySophie Scamps
Councillor of Warringah Council
for A Ward
In office
13 September 2008 – 8 September 2012
Preceded byRuth Sutton
Succeeded byVanessa Moskal
Personal details
Born (1970-08-24) 24 August 1970 (age 53)
Manly, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLiberal Party
Residence(s)Collaroy, New South Wales, Australia
EducationSaint Ignatius' College, Riverview
Alma materUniversity of Sydney (BAgEc)
University of New South Wales (MBA)
OccupationPolitician
WebsitePersonal website

Jason George Falinski (born 24 August 1970) is a former Australian Liberal Party politician. He was first elected as the Member for Mackellar in the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 Australian election. He was re-elected again at the 2019 Australian election. He lost the 2022 Australian federal election to independent Sophie Scamps, becoming the first Liberal Party member to lose the division of Mackellar. Until he lost office, Falinski was Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, and the Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue.[1]

Early life

Falinski was born on 24 August 1970 in Manly, New South Wales.[1] He is the oldest of four children born to Jill (née Brittain-White) and Stanley Falinski. His father was born in Soviet Kyrgyzstan to Jewish parents originally from Poland and Russia, who had been subject to Soviet population transfers during World War II. His father's family immigrated to Australia from Poland in 1958 to escape post-war antisemitism.[2] On his mother's side, he has English and Irish heritage.[3]

Falinski attended Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, then graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics. He later completed an MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney.[4][5] He and his brother Tim worked for computer retailer Osborne,[6] of which his father was a co-founder and managing director until its collapse in 1995. After entering politics, Falinski attributed the company's failure to the ALP's economic policies and the early 1990s recession, stating that "the bank took our family home" as a result of the collapse. Contemporary reporting instead attributed the company's failure to "a range of non-recessionary causes",[7] with the administrator stating that "the problems of the company have been largely self-inflicted by the management".[6]

In 2005 he set up his own company, CareWell Health, which was a health care furniture and equipment designer, manufacturer and provider.[8]

Politics

Falinski was a president of the New South Wales branch of the Young Liberals in 1994–1995.[9] Later he would serve as the Vice-President, in 1996–1996, and President, in 1997–1998, of the Australian Young Liberals.[10]

Falinski has been involved in parliamentary politics for more than twenty years, including as an adviser to former Liberal leaders John Hewson and Barry O'Farrell,[11] and was a spokesperson for the Australian Republican Movement.[12] Falinski formerly sat on Warringah Council (elected September 2008).[13]

In April 2016, Falinski won a preselection battle over the incumbent member, former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop, to represent the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2016 Australian election in the safe Liberal seat of Mackellar.[14][15]

Falinski is a member of the Moderate/Modern Liberal faction of the Liberal Party.[16]

Falinski lost the seat of Mackellar to Independent Sophie Scamps in the 2022 Australian federal election, suffering a 16.3% swing. Falinski is the first Liberal to lose the seat in its history. [17]

Controversies

In 2019 Australian media reported that Falinski had inappropriately used a taxpayer-funded government inquiry into franking credits policy to raise funds and campaign for the Liberal Party. This incident involved Falinski enticing super fund trustees to donate to the Liberal Party in return for a meeting with the Liberal committee chair, Tim Wilson, which was held at the same venue as the inquiry.[18]

Also in 2019, Falinski was accused of misusing research by cherry picking statistics to justify the government imposing a drug testing policy on welfare recipients.[19]

At the 2022 election Falinski supported the controversial Warringah candidate, Katherine Deves, who had described transgender children as 'surgically mutilated and sterilised'.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "Mr Jason Falinski MP". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  2. ^ Morton, Nadine (15 April 2022). "Ukraine War: Memories still vivid for Stanley Falinski after he fled Poland". Northern Beaches Review. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  3. ^ "ParlInfo – GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH : Address-in-Reply". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Mr Jason Falinski MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  5. ^ "About Jason Falinski MP". www.jasonfalinski.com.au. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b Head, Beverley (14 July 1995). "The big crash". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Jason Falinski adjusts family history". Australian Financial Review. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  8. ^ Green, Antony. "Mackellar - Federal Election 2022". Retrieved 12 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Past Presidents of the NSW YL Movement". Young Liberals New South Wales Division. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  10. ^ "History – Young Liberal Movement of Australia". Young Liberal Movement of Australia. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  11. ^ Gartrell, Adam (16 April 2016). "Bronwyn Bishop's career over after her party dumps her". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Charles, Camilla marry after 35 year affair". China Daily. 9 April 2005. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Elected Council". Warringah Council. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ Maiden, Samantha (16 April 2016). "Bronwyn Bishop's battle for preselection for seat of Mackellar". Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  15. ^ Dole, Nick (16 April 2016). "Bronwyn Bishop dumped as Liberal candidate for seat of Mackellar". ABC News. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  16. ^ Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Mackellar - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  18. ^ Bagshaw, Eryk (8 February 2019). "Taxpayer funded inquiry used to raise money for Liberals". The Sydney Morning Herald. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  19. ^ Henriques-Gomes, Luke (9 November 2019). "Liberal MP misused research to support Newstart drug-test trial, academic alleges". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  20. ^ Hevesi, Bryant (23 April 2022). "Jason Falinski defends Liberal Warringah candidate Katherine Deves after media prevented from attending forum". SkyNews.com.au. Nationwide News Pty Ltd. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Mackellar
2016–2022 		Succeeded by
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