Peter Slipper

Peter Neil Slipper (born 14 February 1960), is an Australian politician belonging to the Liberal Party, and a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993.

Peter Slipper represents the Division of Fisher, Queensland. He previously represented the same Division for the National Party of Australia from 1984 to 1987. He was born in Ipswich, Queensland, and was educated at the University of Queensland. He was a lawyer, businessperson and farmer before entering politics.

Slipper was Government Whip 1997-1998, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration 1998-2004 and Acting Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister from 2002-2003.

In 2006, Slipper was the chairman for the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to determine whether Australia and New Zealand should merge into a single country or establish a political and economical union because they are so similar. The committee was organised by the Australian government.

Controversy

On 8 May, 2007, Peter Slipper was smoking cigarettes inside a Canberra bar, in violation of the ACT's strict anti-smoking laws. Another patron of the bar physically manhandled Slipper in front of stunned guests, ejecting him from the bar, and throwing him onto the ground outside.