Brian Loughnane AO was Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2002 until February 2016. In that time he ran four national campaigns as Coalition Campaign Director.  

He is currently a business and political strategic advisor. Brian was previously State Director of the Victorian Division of the Liberal Party from 2000-2003. 

He commenced his business career with Shell Australia in 1982 and worked in the oil and gas industry for 15 years until the mid-1990’s.

Brian has extensive international political experience with major centre-right parties around the world and is currently Deputy  Chairman of the IDU - International Democratic Union.

POLITICAL WORK:

Bruce has spent the last 35 years working in politics and political commentary. After serving as legal adviser to NSW Attorney General, Frank Walker, in the Wran Government he went on to be Chief of Staff to Bob Carr for nine years in Opposition and Government. He left the Premier’s Office in 1997 to establish Hawker Britton which soon became Australia’s largest and most successful Government relations and campaign firm. In the ten years between 1998 and 2007 Hawker Britton won every State and Territory election campaign it managed for the Labor Party. Bruce also advised Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his successful 2007 federal election campaign and was the principal negotiator for Prime Minister Julia Gillard after the “hung” 2010 election. This negotiation led to Julia Gillard forming government with the support of the cross benches. Bruce also worked as Mr Rudd’s principal political adviser on his return to the Prime Ministership in 2013. He has worked on political campaigns in several countries including New Zealand, Greece, Myanmar and Timor Leste. He has also spent time in Britain and the United States observing election campaigns, beginning with the 1996 Presidential campaign.

MEDIA APPEARANCES:

As a result of Bruce’s role at the centre of Australian politics and political campaigning he has had a high media profile for the last 20 years.

TELEVISION:

Regular guest spots on Channel 7’s ‘Sunrise’ since 2006.

Weekly panellist on Sky TV’s PM Agenda since 2004. (Along with Grahame Morris, Bruce was the first commentator on Agenda and has continued in that role to date).

Regular panellist on ‘The Bolt Report’ for several years.

Weekly political commentator on Channel 10’s morning program for several years leading up to the 2013 Federal election.

Occasional guest on ABC TV’s ‘7.30’, ‘Lateline’, ‘Q and A’ and other ABC current affairs programs including ‘The Drum’ and news programs. 

Appearances on Channel 9’s ‘Today Show’, ‘Nine News’, ‘Seven News’, Channel 10’s ‘The Project’ and its late night news program.

Numerous appearances on election night panels in State and federal elections since 2004 for Sky TV, ABC and Channel 7.

Bruce covered the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia for Sky TV and then the last weeks of the 2016 Presidential election for Sky TV.

Bruce has been interviewed on numerous foreign television networks including the BBC, NZBC and CCTV.

RADIO:

Bruce was the first guest panellist on ABC radio’s ‘Spin Doctors’ and continued in that role until the program was discontinued several years later. He has been interviewed on numerous occasions on several ABC radio programs such as ‘AM’, ‘PM’, ‘The World Today’, talk shows in all states and news programs. He is also regularly interviewed on commercial radio programs.

NEWSPAPERS:

Bruce has written numerous opinion pieces on Australian and international politics for ‘The Australian’, ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’, the ‘Daily Telegraph’ and other leading newspapers.

BOOK:

In the week following the 2013 Federal election Bruce was approached by Melbourne University Press to publish his campaign diaries. The book, which Bruce produced in less than a month, was titled ‘The Rudd Rebellion – The Campaign to Save Labor’.

DOCUMENTARY:

In 2018 Bruce visited the United States with his son, Bill, to make a five episode documentary: ‘A Hard Road – Travels in Trump’s America’. It can be viewed on YouTube.