Brian Mitchell

Biography

Brian Keith Mitchell is an Australian politician who was born in Coventry, United Kingdom, on 16 July 1967. He grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and attended Maddington Senior High School and Curtin University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English, Journalism, and Politics in 1989. Before entering politics, Mitchell worked in various jobs, including as a print journalist for the Fremantle Herald, publications officer for the ACT Council of Social Service, and adviser to the Federal Labor member for Chifley, Roger Price.

In 2007, Mitchell moved to Tasmania and worked as chief of staff for Tasmanian Labor member for Denison Duncan Kerr before running his own public relations and media consultancy firm from 2008 to 2016. Mitchell has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1988 and served as a member of Tasmanian Labor’s Administrative Committee and secretary of several policy branches.

Mitchell was elected to the House of Representatives in the Division of Lyons at the 2016 federal election, defeating the incumbent Liberal MP Eric Hutchinson. In December 2017, Mitchell was involved in a controversy during the parliamentary eligibility crisis when he tried to physically block an ABC cameraman and reportedly told reporter Matt Wordsworth to “go and do your research, maggot!”. Mitchell later apologized for his behavior.