Richard Mulcahy (Australian politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Mulcahy is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2004, representing the electorate of Molonglo.

Mulcahy, a prominent figure in numerous industry associations before entering politics, was elected to the Legislative Assembly as a Liberal candidate at the 2004 election. He was immediately appointed Shadow Treasurer by then Liberal leader Brendan Smyth and was widely seen as a potential future Liberal leader. He made several widely publicised attempts to become leader over the next three years, but was only able to gain three votes in the seven-member party room.

These tensions reached a peak after the circulation of a report by Mulcahy's former employer, the Australian Hotels Association, which reported numerous financial irregularities. This resulted in him being stood down from the the Liberal front bench in early December 2007. Mulcahy repeatedly criticised the decision in the media afterwards, which resulted in his shock expulsion from the party room for disloyalty on December 10 he subsequently resigned the same day [1][2]. He has announced his intention to remain in the Assembly as an independent and recontest his seat as such at the 2008 election.