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Christopher John Crewther (born 6 August 1983) is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2016 to 2019 before being elected to the Victorian State Parliament in 2022, representing the division of Mornington.
At the 2016 federal election, Crewther was elected to the federal parliament for the inner regional/outer metropolitan seat of Dunkley, winning with a 1.43% margin, following the retirement of long-serving member Bruce Billson.
After a speech to parliament in late 2016, Crewther established the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Tourette syndrome as its founding chair.
Crewther was chair of the Australian Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Aid Sub-Committee, under the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT). He chaired the Sub-Committee's "Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia", tabling the sub-committee's interim report in August 2017, and the final report ("Hidden in Plain Sight") in December 2017, which led to Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018.
Crewther was named amongst Assent Compliance's Global Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders for 2018 and awarded a Freedom Award from Anti-Slavery Australia in October 2019.
Crewther was also Chair of the Australian Coalition Government's Policy Committee on Home Affairs and Legal Affairs, and Chair of the Australian Parliament's Ukraine-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group.
He was defeated by Labor candidate Peta Murphy at the 2019 federal election, having been disadvantaged by an electoral redistribution that made Dunkley notionally Labor, and a 1.7% two-party-preferred swing to Labor.
Crewther ran for Liberal Party preselection in Dunkley for the 2022 federal election, but was unsuccessful.
In his inaugural speech to the Victorian Parliament, Crewther spoke of his opposition to vaccine mandates, and advocated for the decriminalisation of drug use and a "HECS-based system for non-government schools".
In December 2022, Crewther was appointed as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Justice and Corrections, and Liberal Party Whip in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. In May 2023, Crewther voted against the successful motion to expel Moira Deeming from the Victorian parliamentary Liberal Party, and voted for her readmission in December 2024.
Crewther nominated to replace John Pesutto in a leadership election on 27 December 2024. He declared his nomination to his Liberal colleagues the morning of the vote. After beating Jess Wilson in the first round (receiving 20 votes compared to Jess Wilson’s 11 votes and Brad Battin’s 25 votes), he was beaten by Brad Battin 21-7 in the final round of voting.
Crewther has been a member of the Australian Government's Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group, a non-executive director of Zoe Support Australia and Global Voices, and a member of several other boards and committees.
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