Career
He previously represented the Division of Corinella 1990-1993 and McMillan 1996-1998. He was a company director and self-employed retailer before entering politics. Broadbent was initially elected for the marginal Melbourne seat of Corinella, losing to Labor"s Alan Griffin in 1993.
He was defeated by Labor"s Christian Zahra in 1998.
In 2004, however, he contested McMillan again after a redistribution erased the Labor majority and made it notionally Liberal. He was reelected for the first time in his career in 2007, as the Coalition lost government.
Broadbent came to national prominence after siding with Liberal dissident Petro Georgiou and advocating better treatment of detainees. He has upheld his position of not charging long-term detainees for their detainment.
Broadbent has said that global warming is "an issue for Australia and an issue for the world." He is also an advocate for bike paths as a benefit to community health, transport and the environment.
Broadbent has expressed interest in improving funding for Landcare Australia.