Craig Kelly

Craig Kelly (born 29 September 1963) is an Australian politician who represented the Division of Hughes as a Liberal Party and later United Australia Party MP from 2010 until his defeat at the 2022 federal election.

Kelly was born in Sydney on 29 September 1963.

He is one of four children born to Lawrence and Raima Kelly.

He was educated at public schools.

He stated that this was a "completely baseless allegation", and had previously stated in his maiden speech to parliament that he stopped working for the company in 2009 in order to run for parliament.

However, Crikey subsequently reported that Kelly had signed himself as a director of the company on a number of documents related to a court case in New Zealand.

Kelly initially entered politics as a member of the Liberal Party, and was elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2010 federal election, as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Hughes.

He resigned from the Liberal Party in February 2021 to sit on the crossbench as an independent politician, before announcing that he was joining the United Australia Party in August of that year, and was appointed as the party's leader.

Kelly has been widely criticised for spreading misinformation on social media.

He has given a platform to numerous conspiracy theories, and has propagated climate change denial and falsehoods regarding COVID-19.

At age 46, Kelly was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Member for Hughes in 2010, which was considered a marginal seat.

He served on the Standing Appropriations and Administration Australian House of Representatives committee from 2010 to 2013.

He was registered as a director of three related companies – Homewares Depot, Valentino Franchising and Valentino Home Fashion – until March 2011.

Kelly established the now-defunct Southern Sydney Retailers Association, which he used as a platform to lobby the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

The then Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, alleged Kelly failed to disclose his directorship of three entities which he had not officially relinquished until March 2011, eight months after the 2010 election.

Kelly denied the allegations and the Parliamentary Privileges Committee did not pursue the matter further.

After finishing high school Kelly worked for his parents as a furniture salesman and "export manager" at their furniture business DV Kelly Pty Ltd. The firm imported Asian furniture and onsold it to retailers like Harvey Norman, but financial troubles resulted in the Australian Taxation Office issuing wind-up orders in 2012, leaving creditors and employees owed over $4 million.

The administrator's report suggested that Kelly May have been a de facto director of the company and thus be liable to be pursued for trading while insolvent.

In 2012, Kelly was referred to the parliamentary privileges committee over a range of allegations, including a failure to declare on his register of interests his directorship of several companies linked to his family's bankrupt company, which owed millions to creditors and staff.

Kelly and the President of the NSW Commandos Association, Barry Grant, fought Labor government cuts in the 2012 budget to entitlements for defence personnel to travel home during holiday times.

Kelly and Grant put together a petition in favour of reinstating the entitlements that was circulated Australia-wide, attracting well over 10,000 signatures.

With Kelly's help a disallowance motion was moved in the House of Representatives that forced the Labor government to reinstate the entitlements.

This affected upwards of 22,000 service men and women.

In 2013, Kelly was nominated by then Opposition leader Tony Abbott as the representative of the Coalition on the bipartisan committee overseeing the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Kelly was the only sitting member of the House of Representatives with firsthand knowledge of raising a child with severe disabilities and said that he would use this experience in the position.

Kelly also served on the Joint Standing Committee on Migration from 2013 to 2016.

In April 2014, Kelly spoke at an event commemorating the establishment in 1941 of the Independent State of Croatia, which was associated with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

A Croatian-language newspaper described Kelly's speech as conveying congratulations from Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Kelly subsequently described the speech he gave as condemning fascism and communism, and apologised for appearing to endorse the flag of the Independent State of Croatia.

Kelly served on the Joint Standing Committee on Law Enforcement from 2015, and he became the committee's chair in that same year.

Speaking in relation to his position as chairman of the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, Kelly proposed that signs at Mildura should warn drivers of an increased risk of car theft in the town.

In the Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill, September 2015, Kelly supported Tony Abbott as prime minister.

Kelly opposed the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal in 2015 and 2016, citing concerns about diesel air pollution.

The project will enable "import-export freight travelling through Sydney to and from Port Botany to be transported on rail instead of the road network".

In the lead-up to the 2016 election, the moderate faction of the Liberal party planned to challenge Kelly in his seat.

Radio commentator Alan Jones threw his support behind Kelly, and Prime Minister Turnbull wrote a letter of endorsement, stating that Kelly was one of the government's "most consistent performers" and that Kelly had a "fine reputation".

The Intermodal Terminal began construction in 2017.

By January 2020, Kelly's Facebook page had higher levels of engagement than either the Prime Minister or the Opposition Leader, leading The Sydney Morning Herald to call Kelly "one of Australia's most influential politicians on Facebook".

Kelly is also a frequent guest on Sky News Australia.

On 27 February 2024, Kelly left the UAP to join Pauline Hanson's One Nation as the party's federal campaign director.