Jason Costigan
Leader of North Queensland First
Assumed office
18 November 2019[1]
PresidentRichard Filewood
Preceded byPosition established
Shadow Assistant Minister for North Queensland
In office
10 May 2016 – 14 December 2017
LeaderTim Nicholls
Deb Frecklington
Preceded byAndrew Cripps
Succeeded byDale Last
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Whitsunday
In office
24 March 2012 – 6 October 2020
Preceded byJan Jarratt
Succeeded byAmanda Camm
Personal details
Born (1971-06-13) 13 June 1971
Mackay, Queensland, Australia
Political partyNorth Queensland First (since 2019)
Other political
affiliations
EducationSt Mary’s Catholic Primary School
Mackay State High School[2]
OccupationRugby league commentator

Jason Noel Costigan (born 13 June 1971) is a Radio Commentator and former Australian politician who was a Member of Parliament in the Queensland Legislative Assembly and leader of the North Queensland First party. Costigan was previously an independent politician and rugby league commentator. He was a member of the Liberal National Party (LNP) until being expelled from the party in February 2019. He had been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Whitsunday until 2020, first being elected in 2012 after defeating Jan Jarratt at that year's state election.[3]

Broadcasting career

Costigan's broadcasting career began in northern Queensland in the late 1980s and began calling rugby league in 1987 for regional television in Queensland.[4] He later joined New Zealand's SKY Network Television as their main NRL commentator and served in the role until the end of the 2010 season.[5][6]

Costigan has also worked as a media manager for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Bradford Bulls and was an advisor to the Central Queensland NRL bid. He left his role as project co-ordinator for the NRL bid team to spend more time with his family.[7]

Political career

Costigan worked as an adviser to the Sports Minister in the Howard Government and a media adviser to Senator Ian MacDonald.[8]

He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Whitsunday, having defeated Jan Jarratt at the 2012 state election.

Costigan was suspended from the LNP in January 2019 after a complaint alleged that he harassed a woman.[9] He denied the charges, but was formally expelled from the party by the executive on 1 February 2019.[10] In April 2020, the woman withdrew her complaint and offered an "unreserved apology" to Costigan.[11]

In September 2019, Costigan founded the North Queensland First party which aims for Northern Queensland statehood.[12]

He contested his Whitsunday seat in the 2020 Queensland state election as the sitting candidate but lost to Amanda Camm. He received 9.37% of the first preference votes.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Member Details – Jason Costigan". Parliament.qld.gov. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "Jason Costigan Maiden/Inaugural Speech" (PDF). 30 May 2012. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "Whitsunday - Queensland Votes 2012". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  4. ↑ Calling all the home shots Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine New Zealand Herald, 19 September 2008
  5. ↑ Sky TV gives Jason Costigan the flick pass Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine stuff.co.nz, 12 December 2010
  6. ↑ Jason Costigan hits out after Sky axing Archived 3 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine stuff.co.nz, 30 January 2011
  7. ↑ Family first for Costigan Central Telegraph, 22 January 2010
  8. ↑ "Mr Jason Costigan". Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Caldwell, Felicity (30 January 2019). "Maverick LNP backbencher Jason Costigan suspended from the party". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "LNP expels north Queensland MP Jason Costigan". ABC News. 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "Woman's complaint against expelled LNP Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan withdrawn, apology issued". ABC News. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  12. ↑ Barry, Derek (2 September 2019). "Jason Costigan sets up North Queensland First party". The North West Star. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Queensland (23 November 2020). "Electoral Commission of Queensland". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.


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