Background
Thompson was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, and was a radio journalist, as well as press secretary and chief of staff to several state and territory politicians in Queensland and the Northern Territory before entering politics.
Thompson was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, and was a radio journalist, as well as press secretary and chief of staff to several state and territory politicians in Queensland and the Northern Territory before entering politics.
Thompson finished third on the first count, behind Hanson and Labor"s Virginia Clarke.
Thompson was preselected for the new division of Blair for the 1998 election. Considerable press at the time focussed on the contest, as the redistribution creating the seat had split One Nation leader Pauline Hanson"s seat of Oxley in half. A Labor-friendly section around Brisbane remained in Oxley, while a more rural section became Blair.
Hanson opted to contest Blair, which contained most of her former base.
On the seventh count, Thompson pulled ahead of Clarke on National preferences. Thompson"s ousting of Hanson from Federal Parliament was to be his only claim to political fame.
Thompson led a proposal to construct a bypass east of the city of Ipswich, known as the Goodna Bypass and connecting Dinmore to the Logan Motorway, in preference to a six-lane upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway. In pursuit of the bypass, he encountered opposition from leaders within his own party including Queensland"s state Liberal leader Doctor Bruce Flegg and Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman.
After a set of feasibility studies and options reports, the federal government announced funding for the A$2.3 billion Goodna Bypass.
By July, the cost had increased to $2.8 billion. However, a redistribution pushed Blair further into Ipswich. Together with a strong swing in Queensland towards the Labor Party, this resulted in Thompson"s defeat by Labor candidate Shayne Neumann, with a two party preferred swing of 10.17%—significantly over the Queensland average swing of 7.53%.
Thompson became a senior adviser to state National leader Lawrence Springborg and temporarily vacated that position to contest the state Liberal presidency against Mal Brough and sitting Liberal Party president Gary Spence on a platform of merging the Liberal and National parties.
In 2009, he unsuccessfully endorsement from the newly merged Liberal National Party of Queensland to be the party"s candidate for the Division of Wright.
A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Blair from 1998 until 2007.