Introduction
Murray Patrick Watt (born 20 January 1973) is an Australian Labor politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from March 2009 to March 2012 and has represented Queensland in the Australian Senate since being elected at the July 2016 election.
Background and career
Watt was educated at Brisbane State High School and in 1996 graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws. He was a solicitor (1997–2002) and judge's associate (1999–2000). He was a public servant in the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of State Development (2007–09) and chief of staff to Anna Bligh (2002–07; 2008). He had long been active in the Australian Labor Party, serving as President of Queensland Young Labor in 1998 and delegate to various state conferences. In 2009 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Everton, succeeding Rod Welford, who retired. He was defeated for re-election at the 2012 state election.
Watt is a senior associate with the Brisbane office of Maurice Blackburn.
Following announcement of the retirement of Senator Jan McLucas, in 2015 Watt was endorsed as a Labor Senate candidate for Queensland at the 2016 federal election and subsequently elected.