Teresa Gambaro, the LNP member for Brisbane and the first woman of Italian origin to sit in the House of Representatives, has announced that she will retire at the election due this year.
Gambaro has held Brisbane since 2010, when she defeated the former Labor member, Arch Bevis. The ALP had held Brisbane for 30 years at that point.
Before representing Brisbane, Gambaro was the Liberal member for Petrie, winning the seat in 1996 and holding it until she was one of the casualties of the Howard government’s defeat in 2007.
Gambaro became a Parliamentary Secretary in 2004 and was Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the final nine months of the Howard government in 2007.
She was Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement from 2010 until the coalition’s victory in 2013. The former prime minister, Tony Abbott, did not include her in his ministry after the election.
Gambaro was a key supporter of Malcolm Turnbull in last year’s Liberal leadership contest that ousted Abbott.
The ALP will be pleased that Gambaro is vacating Brisbane. She won the seat with 51.13% of the two-party-preferred vote in 2010, increasing her majority by 3.15% to 54.28% in 2013.
Gambaro’s announcement brings to six the number of Queensland MPs who have announced their departure from the House of Representatives: 3 Liberal, 2 Nationals and 1 ALP. She is the tenth coalition member to signal retirement.
Statement from Teresa Gambaro.
