James Bidgood (Australian politician)

James Bidgood
Bidgood in 2008
Member of the Australian Parliament for Dawson
In office 24 November 2007 – 19 July 2010
Preceded by	De-Anne Kelly
Succeeded by	George Christensen
Personal details
Born	(1959-05-25) 25 May 1959 (age 58) London, United Kingdom
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Other political affiliations	Labour Party (UK) (before 1991)

James Mark Bidgood (born 25 May 1959) is an Australian former Labor politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Dawson, in north Queensland, from 2007 to 2010. He was elected at the November 2007 federal election, defeating the sitting Nationals member, De-Anne Kelly, in a major upset. He gained one of the biggest swings in the election, winning Dawson for Labor on a swing of over 13 percent; Kelly had gone into the election with a seemingly safe majority of 10 percent. He was only the second Labor member ever to win it, and the first since 1974. He retired in 2010 due to ill health.

Bidgood was born in the United Kingdom and grew up in the East End of London. He has an Open University honours degree in social science majoring in politics and economics. He was a member of the British Labour Party before coming to Australia as a backpacker in 1991 and settling in Mackay. Before his election he was a Councillor on the Mackay City Council and was Financial Director of Caneland Medical Centre in Mackay. When he attended his first Caucus meeting in Canberra on 29 November 2007, it was first the time he had ever been to the national capital.

On 13 November 2008, Bidgood was forced to clarify his comments in the House of Representatives after stating, earlier that day in an interview, that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was indiscreet in his handling of a telephone conversation between himself and U.S. President George W. Bush.

On 3 December 2008, Bidgood was forced to publicly apologise after taking and selling photographs of protester Marat Aminov, who had been threatening to set himself on fire outside Parliament House, Canberra. Aminov's multiple protest efforts had been aimed at securing aged-parent visas for his mother and father. Bidgood sold photographs to News Ltd newspapers, with instructions to send the proceeds to a charity. Kevin Rudd described Bidgood's actions as "deeply offensive".