Ray Stevens

Raymond Alexander Stevens (born 1 February 1953) is an Australian politician, currently serving as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing Mermaid Beach for the Liberal National Party. He previously served as Manager of Opposition Business in the Legislative Assembly.

Early life Born in Townsville, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Economics from James Cook University and Macquarie University, and was admitted to the Australian Association of Accountants in 1974, being employed by Price Waterhouse in Sydney. He returned to the family station, "Doncaster" in Richmond, before moving to the Gold Coast in 1979, running local businesses in the area.

Political career Local government Stevens was a councillor on Albert Shire Council from 1988 to 1995, including a brief term as mayor beginning in 1994. After the amalgamation of Albert and Gold Coast City, he was elected mayor of the latter in 1995, serving until his defeat in 1997.

State parliament Stevens was elected to state parliament in 2006 as the member for Robina, succeeding former state Liberal leader Bob Quinn. At this time he was also appointed as the Shadow Minister for Public Works and Housing from 2006 to 2009, with a brief stint from 2007 to 2008 as the Shadow Minister for Information and Communication Technology.

In 2008, Stevens joined the new Liberal National Party with the rest of his party.

At a pre-polling booth on 21 January 2015, Stevens was filmed having a bizarre reaction to a journalist asking him questions about a $100 million sky rail project from Mudgeeraba to Springbrook. Stevens had previously stated he had approval from the Integrity Commissioner, but when the journalist asked Stevens for the Commissioner's advice to be released, Stevens refused to answer. When the journalist did not back down and asked how much he could make from the development, Mr Stevens then began to wave his hands and arms up and down in the journalist's face. "That Mermaid Ray really lost the plot, but without saying a word," Donovan said. "He started doing a dance and gyrating around — this is a Minister of the Crown, we're talking about, let me remind you."