Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner KBE, DSO, JP (25 March 188228 March 1970) was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as Leader of the Country Party and its predecessors. Born in Tabulum in Northern New South Wales, Bruxner was educated at The Armidale School and started studies at University of Sydney but later dropped out to take up employment as a grazier and station agent in Tenterfield. After serving in the Citizen Military Forces from 1911, Bruxner enlisted into the Australian Light Horse upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Serving with distinction in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine, he was promoted as a Lieutenant Colonel and awarded the Distinguished Service Order.