Jason Costigan
Australian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jason Noel Costigan (born 13 June 1971) is an Australian radio commentator and former politician who was a Member of Parliament in the Queensland Legislative Assembly and leader of the North Queensland First party. Costigan was previously an independent politician and rugby league commentator. He was a member of the Liberal National Party (LNP) until being expelled from the party in February 2019. He had been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Whitsunday until 2020, first being elected in 2012 after defeating Jan Jarratt at that year's state election.[3]
Deb Frecklington
Jason Costigan | |
|---|---|
| Leader of North Queensland First | |
| Assumed office 18 November 2019[1] | |
| President | Richard Filewood |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Shadow Assistant Minister for North Queensland | |
| In office 10 May 2016 – 14 December 2017 | |
| Leader | Tim Nicholls Deb Frecklington |
| Preceded by | Andrew Cripps |
| Succeeded by | Dale Last |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Whitsunday | |
| In office 24 March 2012 – 6 October 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Jan Jarratt |
| Succeeded by | Amanda Camm |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 June 1971 Mackay, Queensland, Australia |
| Party | North Queensland First (since 2019) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Education | St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Mackay State High School[2] |
| Occupation | Rugby league commentator |
Broadcasting career
Costigan's broadcasting career began in northern Queensland in the late 1980s and he began calling rugby league in 1987 for regional television in Queensland.[4] He later joined New Zealand's SKY Network Television as their main NRL commentator and served in the role until the end of the 2010 season.[5][6]
Costigan has also worked as a media manager for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Bradford Bulls and was an advisor to the Central Queensland NRL bid. He left his role as project co-ordinator for the NRL bid team to spend more time with his family.[7]
Political career
Costigan worked as an adviser to the Sports Minister in the Howard Government and a media adviser to Senator Ian MacDonald.[8]
He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Whitsunday, having defeated Jan Jarratt at the 2012 state election.
Costigan was suspended from the LNP in January 2019 after a complaint alleged that he harassed a woman.[9] He denied the charges, but was formally expelled from the party by the executive on 1 February 2019.[10] In April 2020, the woman withdrew her complaint and offered an "unreserved apology" to Costigan.[11]
In September 2019, Costigan founded the North Queensland First party which aims for Northern Queensland statehood.[12]
He contested his Whitsunday seat in the 2020 Queensland state election as the sitting candidate but lost to Amanda Camm. He received 9.37% of the first preference votes.[13]