Mike Horan (politician)

**The Hon**
Mike Horan
AM
The Hon Mike Horan AM
Leader of the Opposition of Queensland; Leader of the Queensland National Party
	In office; 2 March 2001 – 4 February 2003
Deputy	Vaughan Johnson
Preceded by	Rob Borbidge
Succeeded by	Lawrence Springborg
Shadow Attorney-General; Shadow Minister for Justice
	In office; 30 September 2008 – 5 April 2009
Leader	Lawrence Springborg
Preceded by	Stuart Copeland
Succeeded by	Lawrence Springborg
Shadow Minister for Food Security and Agriculture
	In office; 12 August 2008 – 30 September 2008
Leader	Lawrence Springborg
Preceded by	New Position
Succeeded by	Ray Hopper
Shadow Minister for Fisheries
	In office; 8 March 2004 – 30 September 2008
Leader	Lawrence Springborg; Jeff Seeney
Preceded by	Position Vacated
Succeeded by	Ray Hopper
Shadow Minister for Primary Industries
	In office; 8 March 2004 – 12 August 2008
Leader	Lawrence Springborg; Jeff Seeney
Preceded by	Marc Rowell
Succeeded by	Position Vacant
Shadow Minister for State Development and Small Business
	In office; 9 February 2003 – 8 March 2004
Leader	Lawrence Springborg
Preceded by	Vaughan Johnson
Succeeded by	Howard Hobbs
Shadow Treasurer of Queensland
	In office; 2 March 2001 – 9 February 2003
Leader	Himself
Preceded by	David Watson
Succeeded by	Jeff Seeney
Shadow Minister for Police and Corrective Services of Queensland
	In office; 26 February 1999 – 2 March 2001
Leader	Rob Borbidge
Preceded by	Allan Grice
Succeeded by	Jeff Seeney
Shadow Minister for State Development, Trade and Rural Communities of Queensland
	In office; 2 July 1998 – 26 February 1999
Leader	Rob Borbidge
Preceded by	Peter Beattie
Succeeded by	Doug Slack
Deputy Leader of the; Queensland National Party
	In office; 17 February 1998 – 26 February 1999
Leader	Rob Borbidge
Preceded by	Kev Lingard
Succeeded by	Lawrence Springborg
Minister for Health of Queensland
	In office; 26 February 1996 – 26 June 1998
Premier	Rob Borbidge
Preceded by	Peter Beattie
Succeeded by	Wendy Edmond
Shadow Minister for Health
	In office; 5 November 1992 – 19 February 1996
Leader	Rob Borbidge
Preceded by	Di McCauley
Succeeded by	Wendy Edmond
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly; for Toowoomba South
	In office; 18 May 1991 – 24 March 2012
Preceded by	Clive Berghofer
Succeeded by	John McVeigh
Personal details
Born	Michael James Horan; 1 July 1944 (age 80); Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political party	Liberal National Party
Other political; affiliations	National Party
Spouse	Helen Horan
Relations	Tim Horan (son), Matthew Horan (son), Emma Campbell (Daughter)
Alma mater	University of Queensland
Occupation	General Manager, Farmer

Michael James Horan, AM (born 1 July 1944)^[1] is a former Australian politician who represented the seat of Toowoomba South in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 18 May 1991 to 24 March 2012. Originally he was a member of the National Party of Australia, but follow its merger he sat as a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland until his retirement.^[2]

Early life

Prior to entering parliament, Horan was employed as the General Manager of the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland and General Manager of the Toowoomba Greyhound Racing Club.^[1]

Political career

Horan entered politics at the 1991 Toowoomba South by-election.^[3] He replaced property developer and Toowoomba Mayor Clive Berghofer, who had previously held the seat for the National Party until the state's electoral laws were amended to prevent simultaneous service in state parliamentary and local government authority positions.^[4]

Government Minister (1996–98)

Horan served as Health Minister in the Borbidge Government 1996–98, and as Deputy Nationals leader between 1998 and 1999.^{[citation needed]}

Opposition Leader (2001–03)

Horan was made leader of the National Party and Opposition on 2 March 2001 until after Rob Borbidge's retirement from politics.^[1] He defeated his successor as deputy leader Lawrence Springborg by 6 votes to 5 with Borbidge not voting.^[5]^[6]

He was replaced as leader by Springborg on 4 February 2003 after he failed to gain ground on Peter Beattie.^[7]

Horan became the first leader of his party who did not become Premier since Ted Maher (served 1936-41 when the party was then called the Country Party).

Post Leadership (2003–12)

He became a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland in 2008 and served in the Queensland Parliament as Shadow Attorney-General, Shadow Minister for Justice and Racing, Shadow Minister for Open Government between 30 September 2008 and 5 April 2009.^[1] On 6 April 2009, he was appointed to the position of Opposition Whip.^[8]

Horan stood down at the 2012 state election.

Personal life

Horan captained the Australian Universities rugby union team, and played for the Parramatta Eels rugby league team in Sydney from 1968 to 1970, before moving to Gympie, Queensland to run a dairy farm.^[9]

Horan is married with two sons and a daughter.^[3] His son, Tim Horan, is a former Australian rugby union footballer.^[3]^[10]

Horan is of Irish descent from County Galway.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
^ Willacy, Mark (28 July 2008). "Liberals and Nationals merge Qld National Party leader Lawrence Springborg and Liberals leader Mark McArdle Liberals and Nationals merge". ABC.
^ ^a ^b ^c Franklin, Matthew (1 February 2003). "Horan reign tipped to end". The Courier-Mail.
^ Johnstone, Craig (25 July 2001). "ON with the SHOW". Courier Mail.
^ "Horan no comment on leadership". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
^ Horan to lead Qld National Party| ABC News
^ Horan announces Vote on Leadership| ABC News
^ O'Brien, Chris (6 April 2009). "Langbroek unveils Qld shadow cabinet". ABC News. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
^ Mayne, Stephen (22 July 2008). "Vic v's NSW, sporting MP's, UniTab, James Strong, ABC Learning". Retrieved 22 February 2010.
^ "Horan fills spot on new-look board". The Chronicle. 15 July 2009.

Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Clive Berghofer	Member for Toowoomba South 1991–2012	Succeeded by John McVeigh
Political offices
Preceded by Peter Beattie	Minister for Health 1996–1998	Succeeded by Wendy Edmond
Party political offices
Preceded by Rob Borbidge	Leader of the National Party in Queensland 2001–2003	Succeeded by Lawrence Springborg