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Research dossier · People & Ideas

Matt Foley (politician)

Australian politician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ6788649 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Hon. Matthew Joseph Foley (born 24 January 1951) is a former Australian politician.

Early life

Before entering politics, Foley was a barrister and social worker, and sub-dean of the Social Work Faculty at Queensland University 1981–1983. Foley was chairperson of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (1983–1986), president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (1985–1987), a member of the Criminal Law Sub-Committee of the Bar Association of Queensland and of the National Consumer Affairs Advisory Council (1988–1989) and National President of the Labor Lawyers Association (1989).

Political career

In 1989, Foley was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the Labor member for Yeronga. From 1992 onward, Foley served as Attorney-General of Queensland and Minister for the Arts, among other roles, in the Wayne Goss Government.

In opposition from 1996 to 1998, Foley was Shadow Attorney-General.

When Labor won government under Peter Beattie in 1998, Foley was appointed Minister for the Arts, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice. At the 2001 election, his seat was abolished and he successfully contested Yeerongpilly. Judge Roslyn Atkinson has credited Foley, in his role as Queensland Attorney-General, with making the Bench more inclusive and representative of wider society, and specifically appointing more women to the Bench.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Matt Foley (politician)” as australian politician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Matt, Foley and politician.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1951, 1981, 1983, 1986—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1951-01-24. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Matt, Foley and politician providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Matt Foley (politician)”, the useful work is to connect “australian politician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6788649. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 1981, 1983 and 1986.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Matt Foley (politician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Matt Foley (politician) primary sources, Matt Foley (politician) archive and Matt research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Matt Foley (politician)”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Matt Foley (politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.