Phil Gray (politician)

Philip Roy Gray (20 April 1947 – 19 April 2017) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2006 to 2009.

Phil Gray
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Gaven
In office 9 September 2006 – 20 March 2009
Preceded by	Alex Douglas
Succeeded by	Alex Douglas
Personal details
Born	Philip Roy Gray 20 April 1947 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Died	19 April 2017 (aged 69) Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Labor
Alma mater	University of Queensland, University of New England
Occupation	School teacher, Guidance Officer, Education officer

Early life

Born in Brisbane, Gray attended state schools before becoming a teacher, studying at the University of Queensland and the University of New England

Politics

A member of the Australian Labor Party, he was elected as the member for Gaven in the 2006 state election, defeating National Party member Alex Douglas, who had won the seat against Gray in a by-election earlier that year.[1]

In late 2008, Gray earned himself some bad publicity when he was accused of two instances of "bullying", both of them against elderly women. In the first instance he threatened to sue an outspoken constituent who, at a public meeting in November 2008, said she would not be voting for Gray. This was followed in December by a legal threat against a Labor member, from whom he demanded $10,000 and an apology, for criticising him in an internal party report. His behaviour was denounced by Premier Anna Bligh and Gray publicly apologised for his actions.[2]

The 2009 state election pitted Gray against Alex Douglas for the third consecutive time. On this occasion, Douglas, running under the banner of the newly formed Liberal National Party, narrowly emerged as the victor.[3] Following his defeat, Gray angrily slammed what he perceived as negative and "biased" coverage of him by the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Later life

Gray died on 19 April 2017 in Tasmania following a long illness.[4]

References

1. "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
2. Johnson, Chris (18 December 2008). "The drunk, the abusive and the crass: more MPs behaving badly". Crikey. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
3. "Labor's Gray concedes defeat in Gaven". ABC. 26 March 2009.
4. Potts, Andrew (21 April 2017). "Former MP Phil Gray dead at 69". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 21 April 2017.