Brendan Smyth

Brendan Michael Smyth (born 27 July 1959) is an Australian former politician, who was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Brindabella for the Liberal Party from 1998 until 2016. From 2002 to 2006 Smyth was the ACT Leader of the Opposition and served briefly as the Deputy Chief Minister during 2000 and 2001. He has held the ACT portfolios Urban Services, Business, Tourism and the Arts, and Police and Emergency Services.

Prior to his election to the ACT Legislative Assembly he served briefly as the Member for Canberra in the Australian House of Representatives, also representing the Liberals.

At the Australian federal election on 2 March 1996, Smyth contested the new federal House of Representatives seat of Namadgi, essentially the southern portion of his old seat, even though it had been drawn with a notional Labor majority of 10.9 percent. He was defeated by Labor's Annette Ellis. , he is the last non-Labor member to represent an ACT-based seat.

He subsequently shifted to territory politics, winning election to the Legislative Assembly in the 1998 election representing the Tuggeranong-based multimember electorate of Brindabella. He was the Opposition Leader for the ACT Liberal Party in the 2004 ACT elections, but lost the election.