He resigned from the ministry in April 2010 following allegations of improper use of ministerial allowances during an extramarital affair with Greens MLA Adele Carles, the Member for Fremantle.

He was educated at Busselton Senior High School and later attained a Bachelor of Economics at University of Western Australia, where in 1986 he won the W.G.

In 1992, he became the director of Villa Carlotta Group, which provided bus tours in the Busselton region, and also became involved with the Cape Naturaliste Tourism Association.

Some controversy arose over his preselection as he was chosen over the sitting member, Bernie Masters, who blamed then-deputy leader Dan Sullivan for the decision, quit the party and ran for the seat as an independent.

[7][8][9] However, Buswell was being investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission over allegations that he had met former Liberal powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne, who was working as a lobbyist in conjunction with former premier Brian Burke, in a carpark to discuss the Canal Rocks development at Smiths Beach in Yallingup while he was still mayor of Busselton.

[11] On 28 November 2007, just after the 2007 federal election which saw a new Labor government under Kevin Rudd come into power, rumours of a push within the Liberal Party to install Buswell as state leader were reported in the media.

After a spill motion carried, Omodei did not contest the ensuing leadership vote, and Buswell defeated Shadow Minister for Police and Justice Rob Johnson to become the new leader.

[20] As well as these incidents, Buswell has been accused by retiring Liberal MLA for Carine, Katie Hodson-Thomas, of making sexist remarks to her.

"[24] Buswell faced a fresh crisis when it was revealed in a Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) report on 10 June 2008 that a motion moved in Parliament by his staunchest backer, Shadow Minister for Road Safety John McGrath, had been provided to him by lobbyists Brian Burke and Julian Grill.

[29] On 24 April 2010, Greens MP Adele Carles publicly stated that Buswell and herself had been engaged in an affair that lasted several months.

[30] Buswell himself gave a public statement on 26 April confirming this and that he had used a ministerial car and a government credit card to pay for accommodation for himself and Carles.

In January 2008, allegations arose of an incident the previous year where Buswell had snapped the elastic bra strap of a Labor staffer.

[37] In April 2008, it was alleged that Buswell had "sniffed the chair of a Liberal staffer, writhing in mock sexual pleasure", which he denied, and then subsequently admitted to, apologising once more.

[34] In December 2010, Buswell took up the position of Housing and Transport Minister; three months later it was revealed that he had committed nine speeding offences in the previous three years.

[37] Buswell launched a defamation case against her; this was subsequently settled out of court with Carles issuing written apologies to the parties involved.

From an independent eyewitness report to police on the night, it was indicated that Buswell was suffering from impaired coordination whilst driving and after returning to his Subiaco home.