Wyatt Roy

Roy was raised on a strawberry farm north of Brisbane. He has two older half-brothers and a younger sister.[3] Roy attended Matthew Flinders Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast, and studied at Melbourne's La Trobe University before returning to his home state to study political science and international relations at the University of Queensland, although he did not graduate.[1]

Prior to the election, there was speculation that the Liberal National Party did not want Roy endorsed as the candidate for Longman, because of his youth. However, both Liberal leader Tony Abbott and Nationals leader Warren Truss publicly endorsed Roy.[4][5]

Roy's campaign was not without incident. His electoral success may have been helped by a gaffe made by his Labor opponent and incumbent member, Jon Sullivan. In the closing week of the 2010 federal election campaign, Sullivan gained national media attention due to a blunder where he criticised the father of a seven-year-old child with a disability for waiting two years on a Queensland Health waiting list, responding to a question at a candidates' forum with a counter-question.[6] Sullivan apologised to the father at the first available opportunity[7] and dismissed the significance of the gaffe, in the days following his defeat.[8] A week earlier, one of Roy's campaign volunteers was involved in an incident, captured on video. The footage shows a member of Roy's campaign team hitting a Labor supporter in the face while campaigning. The LNP claimed the attack was provoked and brought about by the Labor campaign worker holding a giant L-plate sign next to a poster of Roy.[9]

Roy is a supporter of same-sex marriage in Australia[10] and supported a conscience vote on the issue in parliament.[11]

In 2015, Roy was appointed as Assistant Minister for Innovation, an outer ministry position assisting the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science.[12]

In the Australian federal election in 2016, Roy lost the seat of Longman to Labor MP Susan Lamb by a margin of 3%, with an 8.45% swing to Labor.[13]

In 2016, he visited a warzone in Iraq where he became caught up in a firefight between Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, earning criticism from among others Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.[14]

Roy later joined Afiniti, a global artificial intelligence company, as its Australian general manager. He is based in Sydney.[15]

• Baby of the House, an unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wyatt Roy.

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• Search or browse Hansard for Wyatt Roy at OpenAustralia.org