A gay farmer turned reality TV star is among nine people selected to tackle the issue of HIV-AIDS in Queensland.
DAVID Graham left his Goondiwindi farm in 2006 to be a contestant on TV show Big Brother, where he revealed he was homosexual and that he'd been the victim of a hate bashing in Brisbane.
The former model has also been a Dancing with the Stars contestant, but has since returned to farming and dog training.
He will serve on a new government advisory panel, set up by Health Minister Lawrence Springborg to arrest the rate of HIV AIDS.
The committee, to be chaired by Cairns sexual health service director Darren Russell, will take charge of a $2.6 million budget formerly given to Queensland Association of Healthy Communities.
Supporters of the group continue to protest against its demise, but the minister argues it became too heavily involved in advocacy.
The group famously locked horns with the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) over safe-sex ads on bus shelters, which depicted a gay couple hugging.
Also on the committee are Brisbane sex worker advocate Candi Forrest, Queensland Positive People executive director Simon O'Connor and health specialists from Townsville, Toowoomba and Brisbane.
The committee will meet for the first time in the next fortnight.
The 2011 Kirby Institute Surveillance Report says Queensland's HIV diagnosis rate increased to 5.4 per 100,000 people in 2010, almost doubling from 2.8 in 2001.