Warren Truss

Early life

Truss was born in the region of Kingaroy, Queensland. He attended a small state school and was a bean farmer before he entered politics. He was chair of the Sugar Coast Burnett Regional Tourism Board and a councillor of the Shire of Kingaroy 1976–90. He was Chairman of Kingaroy Shire Council from 1983 to 1990.

Politics

Truss's first attempt at a parliamentary seat was in the Queensland state parliament as the Nationals candidate at the 1988 Barambah by-election, triggered by the retirement of former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. However, Truss lost in an upset to the Citizens Electoral Council candidate Trevor Perrett, who later joined the National Party.

Parliament

Truss was elected to the safe National seat of Wide Bay at the 1990 election. He was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1994–96.

With the Liberal/National Coalition defeating the Australian Labor Party at the 1996 election, Truss was appointed Deputy Leader of the House 1997–98, Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs 1997–98, and Minister for Community Services 1998–99. He was promoted to the John Howard cabinet and served as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 1999–2005.

Nationals leadership

In June 2005 John Anderson announced his intention to resign as National Party Leader. Deputy Leader Mark Vaile was elected the new Leader, and Truss was elected Deputy Leader. In the reshuffled ministry following Anderson's resignation Truss became Minister for Transport and Regional Services.

In 2006, following the AWB oil for food scandal, Truss and Vaile swapped portfolios, with Truss becoming Minister for Trade and Vaile taking the Transport and Regional Services portfolio until the defeat of the Liberal/National Coalition government at the 2007 election.

After the election, Mark Vaile resigned as National Party Leader, citing the party's need for "generational renewal". Truss was elected leader of the federal National Party of Australia on 3 December 2007.

In 2008, Coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull appointed Truss as Shadow Minister for Trade, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. He retained that portfolio after Tony Abbott became Coalition leader in late 2009. Following the 2010 election, Truss became Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

Deputy Prime Minister

Truss retained his seat in the 2013 Federal election, in which the Coalition was elected to a strong majority government. On 18 September, Truss was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, per a longstanding agreement between the Liberals and Nationals. The leader of the Nationals has ranked second in all but two non-Labor governments since the Coalition was first formed in 1923.

On 11 February 2016 Truss announced his decision to retire from politics at the 2016 federal election and immediately stood aside as Leader of The Nationals. Barnaby Joyce was elected as Leader and was sworn as the Deputy Prime Minister. Truss also resigned from the Turnbull Ministry.

Truss's leadership of the Nationals was considered steady, albeit rarely visible. He lifted the party's representation in the House of Representatives from ten seats in 2007 to 15 seats in 2013.

Honours and awards

On 1 January 2001 Warren Truss was awarded the Centenary Medal for 'service as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry'.

In 2014, the South Burnett Regional Council named their Kingaroy Chambers the 'Warren Truss Chamber' in recognition of Truss's time as Mayor of the former Kingaroy Shire.

Popular References

In the American television series "Lost (TV series)," Warren Truss was briefly referenced as having been assaulted in a bar fight by main character James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), though the conflict and Truss himself are never onscreen. Truss's use as a generic Australian politician was not meant to reflect the real Hon. Warren Truss. [1]