Graeme McDougall

Who is Graeme McDougall?

Graeme Robert McDougall is an Australian politician who was the Liberal Party of Australia member of the House of Representatives for the electorate of Griffith in Queensland from 2 March 1996 to 3 October 1998.

Born in New South Wales, McDougall was a small businessman and alderman for the Brisbane City Council. In the 1996 federal election, he stood as the Liberal candidate in Griffith. Although the retiring Labor MP, Ben Humphreys, had held it without serious difficulty since 1977, the recent redistribution had cut Labor's majority almost in half, to a somewhat marginal four percent. Additionally, Labor was very unpopular in Queensland. McDougall defeated Labor candidate Kevin Rudd on the eighth count, largely due to getting a large flow of National preferences on the seventh count. Labor was cut down to only two seats in the state, its worst showing there since 1975.

Rudd, who would later go on to become leader of the ALP and eventually Prime Minister, successfully re-contested Griffith in the 1998 election.