Influencers' Easter Breakfast

Christopher spent seventeen years establishing and working as a Senior Partner in an Accountancy and Financial Planning Practice. During this time he also lectured for groups as diverse as the University of Southern Queensland and the Department of Primary Industries speaking on topics such as Applied Economics and Off-Farm Investments. For sixteen years,Christopher presented a daily radio program for the ABC called “Money Tips” which was eventually syndicated on three Radio networks.

For twelve months Christopher was also the weekly Finance Editor/Presenter on a daily television program called “Queensland Today” which was shown statewide on the 7 Network. Christopher and his wife Glenys have been happily married for 34 years, and they are the parents of six children. In his early days Christopher was also an award winning Gospel music artist having recorded three albums and toured throughout Australia and overseas full time for eight years. Christopher is mentioned in the 5th Edition of the Who’s Who of Australian Rock. Christopher is also an audio engineer, with many production awards to his credit. 

In April 2003 Christopher won a by-election to become the Independent State Member for Maryborough in the Queensland Parliament. Maryborough had always been a tightly contested seat and the previous member had only held the seat by a margin of 0.5%. When the dust had settled Christopher had increased the winning margin to 7.2% effectively making it a safe Independent seat. When Christopher stood for reelection in February 2004 he won the seat with a margin of almost 18%.

In the September 2006 election, Christopher gained a massive 82.73% of the vote on a two party preferred basis. To go from a 0.5% to 33% margin in 3 and a half years was the biggest increase in winning margin in the history of the Queensland Parliament. Christopher’s win in the 2006 election was also the biggest win in Queensland in 32 years and the second highest win recorded in Parliamentary history, only bettered by Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen in 1974, by half a percent

At the 2012 State Election, (against all predictions), Christopher lost his seat by 152 votes, during the largest swing to a political party in the History of the Queensland Parliament.