Back to homepage

Browsing: NEWMAN, Jocelyn Margaret (1937– 2018)
Senator for Tasmania, 1986–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia)

NEWMAN, Jocelyn Margaret (1937– 2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1986–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

NEWMAN, Jocelyn Margaret (1937– 2018)
Senator for Tasmania, 1986–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Jocelyn Margaret Mullett (later Newman), was born in Melbourne on 8 July 1937, the eldest of three surviving children of Lyndhurst Mullett, solicitor, and his wife Margaret, née Maughan, a comptometrist. She was educated at Mont Albert Central School and Presbyterian Ladies’ College. At the University of Melbourne she was active in student politics, co-edited the student newspaper, Farrago, was elected ‘Miss University’ in

Read Full Article
COLLARD, Stanley James (1936–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1975–87 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)</span>

COLLARD, Stanley James (1936– )
Senator for Queensland, 1975–87 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)

Immediately before entering the Commonwealth Parliament, Stan Collard was a locomotive engine driver hauling six-header diesel coal trains, two kilometres long and 10 000 tonnes gross weight, from central Queensland to export facilities near Sarina. Earlier in his career with Queensland Railways, in the early 1960s, he had been based at Cloncurry, where he became secretary of the local branches of the Australian Federated

Read Full Article
BOURNE, Victoria Worrall (1954–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1990–2002 (Australian Democrats)</span>

BOURNE, Victoria Worrall (1954– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1990–2002 (Australian Democrats)

In 1973 when the Commonwealth Parliament amended the Electoral Act 1918 to lower the minimum voting age to eighteen, Vicki Bourne was a nineteen-year-old student. Inspired by the opportunity to vote, she looked at the environmental policies of each of the major political parties, rejecting the major parties in favour of the Australia Party. In 1977, when the Australia Party was merging with the

Read Full Article
VALLENTINE, Josephine (1946–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1985–92 (Nuclear Disarmament Party; Independent; Greens WA)</span>

VALLENTINE, Josephine (1946– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1985–92 (Nuclear Disarmament Party; Independent; Greens WA)

Josephine (Jo) Vallentine was born on 30 May 1946 in the wheatbelt town of Beverley, east of Perth, one of five children of Oswald Robert Vallentine, a farmer, and his wife Sylvia Cyclone, née Miles. Jo attributed her desire to make a difference in the world to several influences. She regarded both her grandfathers as ‘the types to make things happen’ and was impressed

Read Full Article
TOWNLEY, Michael (1934–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1971–87 (Independent; Liberal; Independent)</span>

TOWNLEY, Michael (1934– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1971–87 (Independent; Liberal; Independent)

Michael (Mike) Townley was born on 4 November 1934 at Hobart, the third of four children of Reginald Colin (Rex) Townley and his wife Irene Winifred, née Jones. His father represented the Hobart electorate of Denison in the Tasmanian House of Assembly between 1946 and 1965, first as an Independent and later as a Liberal; he was Leader of the Opposition from 1950 to

Read Full Article
HALL, Raymond Steele (1928–2024)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1974–77 (Liberal Movement, Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

HALL, Raymond Steele (1928–2024)
Senator for South Australia, 1974–77 (Liberal Movement, Liberal Party of Australia)

Steele Hall is the only Australian to serve as premier of a state as well as the member of three legislatures. His parliamentary career exceeded thirty-three years; for over twenty of those years he sat on opposition or cross-benches. Raymond Steele Hall was born in Balaklava, South Australia, on 30 November 1928, to Sidney, a farmer, and Florence, née Fisher. He attended Owen Primary

Read Full Article
SHEIL, Glenister (1929–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1974–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party); 1984–90 (National Party of Australia)</span>

SHEIL, Glenister (1929–2008)
Senator for Queensland, 1974–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party); 1984–90 (National Party of Australia)

Glenister (Glen) Sheil is remembered in Australian political history as the shortest-serving federal minister, although his appointment as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs was never gazetted. Sworn in as a member of the Executive Council on 20 December 1977, his appointment was terminated by Prime Minister Malcom Fraser two days later. Responding to a phone call from a journalist, and in a subsequent radio interview,

Read Full Article
KILGARIFF, Bernard Francis (1923–2010)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Northern Territory, 1975–87 (Country Liberal Party)</span>

KILGARIFF, Bernard Francis (1923–2010)
Senator for Northern Territory, 1975–87 (Country Liberal Party)

The Kilgariff family, proudly of Irish Catholic background and followers of the building trade, were pioneers of Central Australia. Bernard Francis (Bern) Kilgariff was born at Mile End, Adelaide, on 30 September 1923, the oldest of three surviving children born to Steve Kilgariff and his wife Mary, née Egar. Steve’s brother, Joe, took his family from Adelaide to Alice Springs in 1927 to take

Read Full Article
CUMMING THOM, Alan Ritchie (1928–2007)<br /><span class=subheader>Clerk of the Senate, 1982–88</span>

CUMMING THOM, Alan Ritchie (1928–2007)
Clerk of the Senate, 1982–88

Alan Cumming Thom’s term of service as Clerk of the Senate was relatively brief, but it coincided with momentous events in the history of the institution, and he was called on to advise senators on unprecedented issues.[1] Alan Ritchie Cumming Thom was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 15 February 1928, the youngest of two sons of William Cumming Thom and his wife Helen Allan,

Read Full Article
MARGETTS, Diane Elizabeth (1955–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1993–99, (Greens WA)</span>

MARGETTS, Diane Elizabeth (1955– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1993–99, (Greens WA)

Dee Margetts was a senator for one term between 1993 and 1999 during which she shared the balance of power in the Senate with other minor party and independent senators. The way she dealt with this situation was influenced heavily by her previous activities and experience as an environmental and peace activist. Diane Elizabeth (Dee) Margetts was born on 5 March 1955 in Fremantle,

Read Full Article
CHAMARETTE, Christabel Marguerite Alain (1948–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1992–96, (Greens WA)</span>

CHAMARETTE, Christabel Marguerite Alain (1948– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1992–96, (Greens WA)

Christabel Chamarette represented Western Australia as a senator from 1992 to 1996. Her term, although short, was made noteworthy by the fact that between 1993 and 1996 she shared the balance of power with other minor party and independent senators, including her Greens (WA) colleague Dee Margetts. Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette was born on 1 May 1948 at Hyderabad, India, the daughter of Arthur

Read Full Article
CRANE, Arthur Winston (1941–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1990–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)</span>

CRANE, Arthur Winston (1941– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1990–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)

Arthur Winston Crane (known as Winston) was born in Perth on 21 August 1941, one of seven children of farmer Arthur Crane and his wife Lavina, née Longman, from Bindi Bindi in the wheat belt north of Perth. Winston Crane’s uncle, Albert (Bert) Crane was a longstanding Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the constituency of Moore for the National Country Party

Read Full Article
PANIZZA, John Horace (1931–1997)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1987–97 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)

PANIZZA, John Horace (1931–1997)
Senator for Western Australia, 1987–97 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)

John Horace Panizza was born on 23 March 1931 at Southern Cross, Western Australia, the eldest child of Bortolo (Robert) Panizza, a farmer, and his wife Caterina Cristina, née Della Bona. Born in Italy, Panizza’s parents came to Australia in 1921. Robert Panizza initially cut sugar cane in Ingham, Queensland, from where he went on to work in the mines near Broken Hill and

Read Full Article
JENKINS, Jean Alice (1938–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1987–90 (Australian Democrats)</span>

JENKINS, Jean Alice (1938– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1987–90 (Australian Democrats)

Jean Jenkins was born Jean Alice Elliott on 16 March 1938 in Bristol, England, to Ernest Elliott and his wife Alice Elizabeth, née Jones. She was brought up by adoptive parents Daniel and Blanche Jones in Swansea, Wales. Jean attended Swansea Girls High School and completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in languages at the University of Reading, majoring in Italian, French and German.

Read Full Article
BEAHAN, Michael Eamon (1937–2022)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BEAHAN, Michael Eamon (1937–2022)
Senator for Western Australia, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Michael Beahan, electrician, teacher, and state secretary of the ALP in Western Australia (1981–87), rose to be the nineteenth President of the Senate, holding that post from 1 February 1994 to 20 August 1996, before his formidable parliamentary career was cut short by pre-selection party politics. Michael Eamon Beahan was born on 21 January 1937 in London, England, the son of Irish autoelectrician Francis

Read Full Article
McKIERNAN, James Philip (1944–2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1985–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McKIERNAN, James Philip (1944–2018)
Senator for Western Australia, 1985–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

James Philip (Jim) McKiernan, the third of eight children of James and Mary (Maisie) McKiernan, was born on 11 October 1944 in Cavan, Ireland. From the age of six he attended De La Salle College run by the Christian Brothers but left at the age of twelve, blaming brutal and humiliating treatment that he had received at the hands of one of the brothers.

Read Full Article
EVANS, John Gordon (1928–2009)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1983–85 (Australian Democrats)</span>

EVANS, John Gordon (1928–2009)
Senator for Western Australia, 1983–85 (Australian Democrats)

Although Jack Evans served in the Senate for only two years, he was a founding member of the Australian Democrats before entering Parliament and remained a key figure in the party afterwards. He was described as ‘the consummate Democrat’. John Gordon (Jack) Evans was born at Southern Cross, a goldfields town in Western Australia, on 28 November 1928, the eldest of three sons of

Read Full Article
GILES, Patricia Jessie (1928–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1981–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

GILES, Patricia Jessie (1928–2017)
Senator for Western Australia, 1981–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Pat Giles was born Patricia Jessie White, daughter of Eustace Frederick White, car salesman, shop keeper and accountant, and his wife Marjorie Eva, née Norris, schoolteacher, on 16 November 1928 at Minlaton, South Australia. The family moved to Melbourne, but the marriage was ‘violent and unhappy’. Marjorie and Pat returned to Adelaide in 1931, shortly before Marjorie gave birth to her second daughter. Marjorie

Read Full Article
CRICHTON-BROWNE, Noel Ashley (1944–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1981–96 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)</span>

CRICHTON-BROWNE, Noel Ashley (1944– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1981–96 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent Liberal)

Noel Ashley Crichton-Browne, who was President of the Western Australian Liberal Party from 1975 to 1979, was elected to the Senate for a term beginning on 1 July 1981. He was reelected in 1983, 1984, and 1990, serving as a Liberal Party senator until 9 September 1995 and then as an Independent Liberal, before retiring upon the expiry of his final term on 30

Read Full Article
ROCHER, Allan Charles (1936–2016)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1978–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

ROCHER, Allan Charles (1936–2016)
Senator for Western Australia, 1978–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Allan Charles Rocher was one of a select band of federal parliamentarians who served in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Before election to the Senate in 1977 he was hardly known in Liberal Party circles, yet he was pre-selected ahead of some twenty-two candidates, and went on to win a Senate seat from the notoriously difficult third position on the party

Read Full Article
WALSH, Peter Alexander (1935–2015)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974–93 (Australian Labor Party)

WALSH, Peter Alexander (1935–2015)
Senator for Western Australia, 1974–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Peter Alexander Walsh was born on 11 March 1935 at Kellerberrin in the central wheat belt of Western Australia. He was the second son of Robert Walsh and his wife, Dorothy, née Ray, both of whom had come from Victoria in 1930 to lease and work a wheat and sheep farm at Doodlakine, also in the WA wheat belt. Peter completed his primary schooling

Read Full Article
McINTOSH, Gordon Douglas (1925–2019)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McINTOSH, Gordon Douglas (1925–2019)
Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Gordon Douglas McIntosh was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 29 May 1925, the son of Gordon McIntosh, ship’s stoker and swimming pool attendant, and his wife Dorothy Robson, née Douglas. Attending Drumoyne Primary School and Govan High School, he was apprenticed in 1940 as a fitter and turner, starting work in the Glasgow shipyards before serving as a mechanic with the Royal Air Force

Read Full Article
COLEMAN, Ruth Nancy (1931–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COLEMAN, Ruth Nancy (1931–2008)
Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Ruth Nancy Huckstep (later Coleman), was born on 27 September 1931 at Collie, a small coal mining town in the south-west of Western Australia. She was the second surviving child of Vincent Huckstep, railway ganger, and his wife Alice Beatrice, née Boulden. A child of the Great Depression, whose father moved from place to place in the course of his job, Ruth was educated

Read Full Article
CHANEY, Frederick Michael (1941–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CHANEY, Frederick Michael (1941– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Fred Chaney’s first speech to the Senate on 25 September 1974 was, for him, ‘a long awaited opportunity’, and he spoke with the assurance of one who had found his vocation. Chaney had visited Parliament many times as a schoolboy and as a law student with his father, Sir Frederick Chaney, who was the MHR for Perth from 1955 to 1969 and Minister for

Read Full Article
DURACK, Peter Drew (1926–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

DURACK, Peter Drew (1926–2008)
Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Peter Durack was described by his greatest adversary in the Senate, Gareth Evans, as ‘a man of genuinely Liberal reformist instincts’. Committed to the protection of individual rights through the limitation of executive power, and to preventing the erosion of the rights of the states by federal encroachment, as Attorney-General in the Fraser Government from 1977 to 1983, Durack oversaw a significant period of

Read Full Article
WITHERS, Reginald Greive (1924–2014)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1966, 1968–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WITHERS, Reginald Greive (1924–2014)
Senator for Western Australia, 1966, 1968–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

As Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Reg Withers was at the centre of events leading to the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, on 11 November 1975. Withers marshalled a slim majority of non-government senators to vote to defer the passage of appropriation legislation, and held them firm against doubts and growing turmoil during October and

Read Full Article
SYNON, Karen (1959–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1997–99 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SYNON, Karen (1959– )
Senator for Victoria, 1997–99 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Karen Margaret Synon was born in Moe, Victoria on 15 September 1959 and attended Whitehorse Girls’ College and Blackburn South High School before completing a Master of Business Administration at the University of Melbourne. Prior to embarking on a parliamentary career, Synon worked in a range of community development and education roles and in a senior management role in the Victorian public service. In

Read Full Article
SPINDLER, Siegfried Emil (1932–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1990–96 (Australian Democrats)</span>

SPINDLER, Siegfried Emil (1932–2008)
Senator for Victoria, 1990–96 (Australian Democrats)

Siegfried Emil (Sid) Spindler, businessman, lawyer and philanthropist, was born on 9 July 1932 at Lodz, Poland. He was the son of Oskar Karl Spindler, business manager, and Gertrud Alma Spindler, née Bernewitz. Sid Spindler’s life was shaped by his experiences in occupied Poland during World War II. The Spindler family were Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans who held Polish citizenship and lived within a multicultural

Read Full Article
POWELL, Janet Frances (1942–2013)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1986–93 (Australian Democrats, Independent)</span>

POWELL, Janet Frances (1942–2013)
Senator for Victoria, 1986–93 (Australian Democrats, Independent)

Janet Frances McDonald (later Powell), was born in Nhill, Victoria, on 29 September 1942, the second of three children of Colin George McDonald and his wife Frances May, née Kilpatrick. Her parents were wheat and sheep farmers at the small town of Propodollah in north-western Victoria. Janet attended the local primary school until it closed, then continued her education at Nhill Primary School, Queen’s

Read Full Article
SHORT, James Robert (1936–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1985–97 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SHORT, James Robert (1936– )
Senator for Victoria, 1985–97 (Liberal Party of Australia)

James (Jim) Robert Short was born on 7 December 1936 at Shepparton, Victoria, the youngest of three children of George Short, a surveyor with the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, and his wife, Elsie, née Hearn. At the outbreak of World War II the family moved to Wangaratta when George Short was seconded to head the local branch of the wartime Manpower Directorate.

Read Full Article
COONEY, Bernard Cornelius (1934– 2019)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1985–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COONEY, Bernard Cornelius (1934– 2019)
Senator for Victoria, 1985–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

Bernard (Barney) Cornelius Cooney was born on July 11, 1934 at Currie, King Island, Tasmania, the third of four children of Bernard Pius Cooney and his wife Constance (Corrie) Eva, née Curtain. Most of Cooney’s mainly Irish forebears had lived in Tasmania for several generations, one back to the 1820s. There was the frequent Tasmanian background of both convict and west coast mining heritage

Read Full Article
ZAKHAROV, Alice Olive (1929–1995)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1983–95 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ZAKHAROV, Alice Olive (1929–1995)
Senator for Victoria, 1983–95 (Australian Labor Party)

Throughout her life Olive Zakharov was a grassroots campaigner for human rights and social justice. She eschewed personal publicity and political advancement in favour of promoting the causes and issues that she believed in. Born in Kew, Melbourne, on 19 March 1929, Alice Olive Hay was the youngest of four daughters of Robert and Alice Anderson Hay, née Dobie. Scottish-born Robert Hay was a

Read Full Article
SIDDONS, John Royston (1927–2016)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1981–83; 1985–87 (Australian Democrats; Independent; Unite Australia Party)</span>

SIDDONS, John Royston (1927–2016)
Senator for Victoria, 1981–83; 1985–87 (Australian Democrats; Independent; Unite Australia Party)

John Royston Siddons was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 5 October 1927, the middle child and only son of Royston and Agnes Emily Siddons, née Smith. Agnes was a schoolteacher and Royston an electrical engineer. In 1931 Royston bought a disused metal casting factory in Fitzroy, moving his operations to Clifton Hill in 1934. Initially making cabinet hardware, he later expanded into die-cast padlocks

Read Full Article
HAMER, David John (1923–2002)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1978–90 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

HAMER, David John (1923–2002)
Senator for Victoria, 1978–90 (Liberal Party of Australia)

David John Hamer, who served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, had a distinguished career as a naval officer before entering the Parliament in 1969. He was also an enthusiastic, fluent writer with two published books and numerous newspaper contributions and broadcasts. During his years in the Senate, and particularly his period as Deputy President and Chairman of Committees, he was

Read Full Article
EVANS, Gareth John (1944–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1978–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

EVANS, Gareth John (1944– )
Senator for Victoria, 1978–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Gareth John Evans, the elder child of tram driver Allan Oswald Evans and his wife Phyllis (Phyl), née LeBoeuf, formerly a store manager for Woolworths, was born at Kew, Melbourne, on 5 September 1944. Gareth grew up in Hawthorn, not far from the tram depot where his father worked, before the family moved to Surrey Hills in the 1950s. Evans maintained a life-long connection

Read Full Article
CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1978–86 (Australian Democrats)</span>

CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)
Senator for Victoria, 1978–86 (Australian Democrats)

Don Chipp’s Senate career almost never happened. Dropped from Malcolm Fraser’s Liberal Party ministry in December 1975, he turned this career blow into an opportunity to fight for the causes in which he believed. The result of Chipp’s personal and political upheaval was the creation of a third force in Australian politics, the Australian Democrats.[1] Donald Leslie Chipp was born in Melbourne on 21

Read Full Article
LEWIS, Austin William Russell (1932–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1976–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LEWIS, Austin William Russell (1932– )
Senator for Victoria, 1976–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Austin William Russell Lewis was born in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond on 5 December 1932, the only child of David Lewis, a fruiterer and case merchant, and his wife Dulcie Alexandrina, née Williams. Austin grew up during the Second World War, which had ‘a very deep influence’ on him and in his youth he became a ‘dedicated patriot’. His ‘great ambition in

Read Full Article
MISSEN, Alan Joseph (1925–1986)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1974–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MISSEN, Alan Joseph (1925–1986)
Senator for Victoria, 1974–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Alan Missen, law reformer and a champion of civil liberties at home and abroad, was an exemplary parliamentarian whose impact on political life was far out of proportion to his backbench status. Alan Joseph Missen was born in the Melbourne suburb of Kew on 22 July 1925, the only child of Clifford Athel Missen, a moulder, and (Ethel) Violet Maud Missen, née Bartley. Alan’s

Read Full Article
BUTTON, John Norman (1932–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1974–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BUTTON, John Norman (1932–2008)
Senator for Victoria, 1974–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Variously described as ‘the best prime minister we never had’, ‘a small man of quick wit, crafty calculation and intellectual provocation’, as having ‘an unenviable reputation as a minister with an undisciplined tongue, a politician prone to gaffes’, ‘the first person since Shirley Temple to build a whole career out of whimsy’ and ‘a rare phenomenon in Australian politics: a genuine intellectual, a wit,

Read Full Article
PRIMMER, Cyril Graham (1924–2003)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1971–85 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

PRIMMER, Cyril Graham (1924–2003)
Senator for Victoria, 1971–85 (Australian Labor Party)

Cyril Graham Primmer was born on 19 April 1924, at Warrnambool, Victoria, the eldest of eight children of James Primmer, a shearer, and his wife Annie Florence, née Duncan. The family lived at Mailors Flat, ten kilometres from Warrnambool. When Cyril was six his parents purchased a sheep and dairy farm at Kirkstall, a small town twenty kilometres west of Mailors Flat. Cyril received

Read Full Article
GUILFOYLE, Dame Margaret Georgina Constance (1926–2020)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

GUILFOYLE, Dame Margaret Georgina Constance (1926–2020)
Senator for Victoria, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Margaret Guilfoyle would have been an unusual candidate for any political party when she stood for election to the Senate in 1970. Decades before such arrangements became commonplace, flexible working hours allowed Guilfoyle to combine her career as an accountant with raising her three children. Her qualifications and experience later boosted Guilfoyle’s chances of obtaining a seat in Parliament, and gave her skills that

Read Full Article
GIBSON, Brian Francis (1936–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania,  1993–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

GIBSON, Brian Francis (1936–2017)
Senator for Tasmania, 1993–2002 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Brian Francis Gibson was born on 4 November 1936 at Ascot Vale, Melbourne, the eldest son of ten children of Kingsley Melbourne Gibson and his wife Agnes, née O’Donnell. He received his secondary education at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat. Kingsley Gibson worked for the Forests Commission Victoria and Brian followed his father into forestry, gaining a forestry scholarship to the University of Melbourne where

Read Full Article
BELL, Robert John (1950–2001)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania,  1990–96 (Australian Democrats)</span>

BELL, Robert John (1950–2001)
Senator for Tasmania, 1990–96 (Australian Democrats)

Most knowledge of Robert John Bell’s early life derives from his highly personal first speech to the Senate in May 1990. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 22 July 1950. His parents were based at Bronte Park, his father employed on hydro-electricity works. Soon the couple separated, Robert remaining with his mother, Frances Ellen. While she qualified as a schoolteacher, the boy lived

Read Full Article
DEVEREUX, John Robert (1946–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)</span>

DEVEREUX, John Robert (1946– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)

John Robert Devereux, union organiser, was born in Gormanston, Tasmania, on 8 February 1946, the second of seven children and only son of Albert Bernard and Floris Merle Devereux. His father was a truck and bus driver and labourer. Educated at St Mary’s Convent School, Gormanston, St Joseph’s School (1954–57) and R. M. Murray High School (1958–61), both at Queenstown, and at the Mt.

Read Full Article
SANDERS, Norman Karl (1932–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1985–90 (Australian Democrats)</span>

SANDERS, Norman Karl (1932– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1985–90 (Australian Democrats)

Norman Karl (Norm) Sanders was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, on 15 October 1932, elder child of Karl Wilhelm Sanders, a commercial artist born in Riga, Latvia, and his wife Mary Doris, née Schenck, teacher and journalist. His family later lived in Chicago before settling in Los Angeles, where Sanders attended Florence Nightingale Junior High School. He received little emotional support from his parents,

Read Full Article
DEVLIN, Arthur Ray (1926–1995)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1985–1990 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

DEVLIN, Arthur Ray (1926–1995)
Senator for Tasmania, 1985–1990 (Australian Labor Party)

Arthur Ray Devlin (known as Ray), miner, waterside worker and union organiser, was born on 17 March 1926, at Burnie, Tasmania, one of eight children of Llewellyn Max Devlin, a waterside worker, and his wife Sarah Ellen, née Holmyard. He was educated at Burnie State School, leaving at the age of fourteen, and giving his age as nineteen to work underground at the Electrolytic

Read Full Article
AULICH, Terrence Gordon (1945–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1985–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

AULICH, Terrence Gordon (1945– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1985–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Terrence (Terry) Gordon Aulich, teacher, politician, writer and lobbyist was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, on 5 October 1945, the eldest of four children of Tasmanians Gordon Joseph (Baron) Aulich, a linesman for the Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC), and his wife Beverley, née Gofton, assistant council clerk. He attended state schools at Scottsdale in north-eastern Tasmania, completing his secondary education at Scottsdale High

Read Full Article
COATES, John (1944–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COATES, John (1944– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)

John Coates’ long political career, first as a Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Denison (1972–75) and then as a Tasmanian senator (1981–96), mirrored the fortunes of federal Labor over three decades. John Coates was born in Melbourne on 23 March 1944, the son of Graeme Coates and his wife Catherine, née Croker. Both his parents were primary school teachers

Read Full Article
HEARN, Jean Margaret (1921– 2017 )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, (1980–85) (Australian Labor Party)</span>

HEARN, Jean Margaret (1921– 2017 )
Senator for Tasmania, (1980–85) (Australian Labor Party)

Jean Margaret Button (later Hearn), was born in Launceston, Tasmania, on 30 March 1921. Jean was the eldest of four children of Elton Roy Button, a draper, and his English-born wife Emily Gertrude, née Barrow. The family lived at Smithton on the north-west coast. Jean attended the local primary school and then Methodist Ladies’ College (now Scotch Oakburn College), Launceston. On 28 September 1940,

Read Full Article
WALTERS, Mary Shirley (1925–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1975–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WALTERS, Mary Shirley (1925–2017)
Senator for Tasmania, 1975–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Mary Shirley Harrison (known as Shirley) was born in Sydney on 31 August 1925, the second of three daughters of Eric John and Mary Cook Harrison, née McCall. She and her two sisters grew up at the family home in the Sydney suburb of Rose Bay. Shirley had a comfortable childhood—her father was a successful businessman, managing a large textile factory, and in 1931

Read Full Article
ARCHER, Brian Roper (1929–2013)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1975–94 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

ARCHER, Brian Roper (1929–2013)
Senator for Tasmania, 1975–94 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Brian Roper Archer was born at Calder, North-West Tasmania on 21 August 1929, the youngest of four children of Clive Anton Archer and Ellen (Nellie) Archer, née Gilmour. Clive Archer, an artillery officer during WW1, had served at Gallipoli and in France and was awarded the Military Cross. Brian grew up at Calder on the family dairy farm, a sixteen hectare soldier settlement block

Read Full Article
GRIMES, Donald James (1937–2021)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

GRIMES, Donald James (1937–2021)
Senator for Tasmania, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Donald James (Don) Grimes was born in Albury, New South Wales, on 4 October 1937. He was the only son and eldest of two surviving children of Walter John Grimes, a fitter and turner with New South Wales Railways, and his wife Annie Mildred (Nancy), née O’Neill, who was a nurse before her marriage. Nancy Grimes died of bowel cancer when Don was in

Read Full Article
RAE, Peter Elliot (1934–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1968–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

RAE, Peter Elliot (1934– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1968–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Peter Rae’s eighteen-year Senate career was characterised by an independent spirit of inquiry and an energetic application to committee work. First elected in 1967 as the second candidate on Tasmania’s Liberal Party ticket, he commenced his term in the Senate on 1 July 1968 as the youngest senator in what was at that time a chamber of elders. He was re-elected in 1974, 1975,

Read Full Article
TATE, Michael Carter (1945–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1978–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

TATE, Michael Carter (1945– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1978–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Michael Carter Tate was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 6 July 1945, eldest child of William Arthur Tate and his wife Wilma Ellen, née Carter. His father was originally from Tasmania, and after eleven years in Western Australia and New South Wales, was transferred back to Tasmania as an accountant with the Caltex oil company, and the family settled in Hobart. Michael

Read Full Article
QUIRKE, John Andrew (1950–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1997–2000 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

QUIRKE, John Andrew (1950– )
Senator for South Australia, 1997–2000 (Australian Labor Party)

John Quirke resigned a seat that he had held for eight years in the South Australian Parliament to take up a casual vacancy in the Senate in September 1997. While he had little time to make his mark in federal Parliament before he was forced to resign due to ill health in 2000, he nonetheless made a solid contribution, particularly to the work of

Read Full Article
OLSEN, John Wayne (1945–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1990–92 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

OLSEN, John Wayne (1945– )
Senator for South Australia, 1990–92 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Wayne Olsen, Liberal Party Premier of South Australia 1996–2001, served two years in the Senate from 7 May 1990, when he filled a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Tony Messner. A colourful backgrounder in the Australian on 29 November 1996, the day after he became Premier of South Australia, argued that there was a defining moment in Olsen’s life when

Read Full Article
SCHACHT, Christopher Cleland (1946–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1987–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

SCHACHT, Christopher Cleland (1946– )
Senator for South Australia, 1987–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

Christopher Cleland Schacht was born on 6 December 1946 in Melbourne, the only child of Lloyd Christopher and Mary Cleland Schacht, née Timcke. In the early 1860s his great-grandfather, Heinrich Schacht, arrived in Brisbane from Schleswig-Holstein, a disputed border province between Prussia and Denmark; another descendant was Peter Shack, former Liberal MP for Tangney, WA. Chris Schacht grew up in Gippsland, Victoria, where the

Read Full Article
COULTER, John Richard (1930–2024)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1987–95 (Australian Democrats)</span>

COULTER, John Richard (1930–2024)
Senator for South Australia, 1987–95 (Australian Democrats)

John Richard Coulter was born in Perth, WA, on 3 December 1930, the elder of two children of English-born John Wolfe Stuckley Coulter, a clerk for the Vacuum Oil Company, and Constance Amelia Coulter, née Braddock, a nurse. Growing up in the then outer suburb of Nedlands, John walked each day through the bush to Nedlands Primary School. His mother wanted him to pursue

Read Full Article
VIGOR, David Bernard (1939–1998)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1985–87 (Australian Democrats; Unite Australia Party)</span>

VIGOR, David Bernard (1939–1998)
Senator for South Australia, 1985–87 (Australian Democrats; Unite Australia Party)

David Vigor was born on 24 June 1939 in Elbeuf, Normandy, in northern France. His English mother, Doris Marjorie Emma, née Hedges, and French father, Bernard Frederic Vigor, had married in June 1938, settling in France. Shortly after David’s birth mother and child caught the last ferry to England before the declaration of war. Bernard was taken prisoner but escaped to Marseilles in ‘free

Read Full Article
MAGUIRE, Graham Ross (1945–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1983–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MAGUIRE, Graham Ross (1945– )
Senator for South Australia, 1983–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Like a number of Labor members in federal Parliament between 1983 and 1996, Graham Maguire had the good fortune to experience elected politics entirely from the vantage point of government. He entered the Senate well-prepared and throughout his term his steadfast focus on policy issues, especially economic and electoral issues, marked him as a serious thinker who earned the respect of all sides. The

Read Full Article
CROWLEY, Rosemary Anne (1938–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1983–2002 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CROWLEY, Rosemary Anne (1938– )
Senator for South Australia, 1983–2002 (Australian Labor Party)

Rosemary Anne WIllis (later Crowley), was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 30 July 1938, the second of six children of Monica Mary Willis, née Redmond, and Everard Joseph Willis, an accountant. Her family, her Roman Catholic upbringing, and her primary and secondary education at Kilmaire Brigidine Convent in Hawthorn between 1943 and 1955, combined to instil in her a passion for social justice and

Read Full Article
FOREMAN, Dominic John (1933–2020)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

FOREMAN, Dominic John (1933–2020)
Senator for South Australia, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)

Dominic Foreman spent most of his early working life in the automobile industry, first as an assembly worker, then as a union official. Committed to the Labor Party’s ‘great goal of social equality’, he continued during his years in the Senate to defend the rights and conditions of low-paid workers, particularly those in manufacturing industries.[1] Dominic John Foreman was born in Clare, South Australia,

Read Full Article
TEAGUE, Baden Chapman (1944–  )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1978–96 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

TEAGUE, Baden Chapman (1944– )
Senator for South Australia, 1978–96 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Baden Chapman Teague was born on 18 September 1944 at the Ashford Hospital, Adelaide. A fifth-generation Australian, he was the second of three children of Colin Archibald Teague, a builder, and his wife Nita Kathleen, née Readett. While growing up in the suburbs of Glenelg and Somerton Park, Baden Teague was educated at local primary schools and at St Peter’s College, Adelaide, (1955–62), where

Read Full Article
ELSTOB, Ronald Charles (1924– 2023)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1978–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ELSTOB, Ronald Charles (1924– 2023)
Senator for South Australia, 1978–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Ronald Charles (Ron) Elstob was born on 29 November 1924 in Toowoomba, Queensland. His parents, Charles Henry Elstob, a labourer and shearer, and Ann Elstob, née Terbutt, the daughter of a grazier with substantial land holdings, were both from Narrabri, NSW, and had moved to Toowoomba from Augathella, Qld, around the time of Ronald’s birth. Ron, and his older sisters Vera and Rita, attended

Read Full Article

Search biographies by name