In July 2019, Howarth spoke to ABC Radio National in his newly appointed role as the Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services. Howarth announced he wanted to “put a positive spin on [homelessness]”. He incorrectly claimed that homelessness had reduced in the past 15 years, with the ABS showing that the rate of homelessness in Australia has risen from 47.6 people per 10,000 to 49.8 in 2016, and homelessness spiking in urban areas from 48 people per 10,000 to 63 between 2001 and 2016.

In August 2018, Howarth played a key role in the leadership spill which removed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull from his position.

In October 2018, Howarth’s mother, Denise, was granted access to the computer and e-mail address of his electoral office. She used this access to send anti-abortion material to at least one constituent. The communications sent from the electorate office falsely claimed that there will be no independent counselling before terminations and that staff would be obligated to “act against their conscience”.

At the 2013 federal election Howarth narrowly won the seat of Petrie with a 0.5% margin, defeating the sitting ALP member, Yvette D’Ath, who had held the seat since the 2007 federal election. He was reelected at the 2016 federal election, with a 1.6% margin. In line with other Liberal National Party candidates in Queensland, there was a significant swing in the 2019 election, increasing the margin to 8.4%.

In 2004, Howarth ran in the Queensland state election in the electoral district of Sandgate against the incumbent Labor MP Gordon Nuttall, however was unsuccessful.

He married his wife Louise in 1999, and they have three sons.

After leaving school, Howarth’s first job was working at Barry Bull’s Toombul Music. He worked at Sony Australia as a sales rep from 1993 to 2001. In 2002, Howarth joined his family’s pest control business, alongside his mother, father, and wife.

Luke Ronald Howarth (born 6 June 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2013 federal election, representing the Division of Petrie. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.

Howarth was born in Brisbane, Queensland in 1972, to Ron and Denise Howarth, and grew up in Bracken Ridge. Howarth has one sister.