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Browsing: date Contains Text 1981

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

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BAUME, Peter Erne (1935– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1974–91 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BAUME, Peter Erne (1935– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1974–91 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Peter Baume, who served for seventeen years in the Senate, was a small ‘l’ Liberal in the Deakinite tradition, representing the ameliorative and interventionist strand of the Liberal Party. Baume was sometimes at odds with his party’s public position and was prepared to cross the floor on issues of principle. He enjoyed distinguished careers in three separate areas of endeavour (medicine, politics and academia).

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BISHOP, Reginald (1913–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BISHOP, Reginald (1913–1999)
Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Reginald (Reg) Bishop was born in Adelaide on 4 February 1913, ninth of ten surviving children of Enoch John Bishop, bootmaker, and Minnie, née Martlow. Reg was very proud of his status as a ‘west ender’, a term associated with the working-class area of central Adelaide where he grew up. He left school in 1927, having obtained what was then termed the qualifying certificate.

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BJELKE-PETERSEN, Florence Isabel (1920–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–1993 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)</span>

BJELKE-PETERSEN, Florence Isabel (1920–2017)
Senator for Queensland, 1981–1993 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)

Florence Bjelke-Petersen was born Florence Isabel Gilmour, in Brisbane on 11 August 1920, eldest of two daughters of James Pollock Gilmour, an accountant and company secretary, and his wife Florence Mabel, née Low. Growing up in the Brisbane riverside suburb of New Farm, her childhood was a secure and happy one, embedded in a contented family life. Florence began her schooling at the New

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BONNER, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1971–83 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

BONNER, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)
Senator for Queensland, 1971–83 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Neville Thomas Bonner, born ‘under a lone palm tree’ on 28 March 1922, at Ukerebagh Island, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, was a stockman and Aboriginal activist who believed it was in the best interest of his people to work for the Aboriginal cause within the existing political institutions of Australian white society. He was the first Indigenous Australian to sit in federal Parliament.

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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,

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CARRICK, Sir John Leslie (1918–2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CARRICK, Sir John Leslie (1918–2018)
Senator for New South Wales, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Leslie Carrick was born in Sydney on 4 September 1918, the fourth of six children of Arthur James Carrick, a clerk, and his wife, Emily Ellen Jane, née Terry. During the Depression years Arthur lost his job in the Government Printing Office. In hindsight John Carrick believed that straitened circumstances made the family more close-knit. Evicted from ‘a large rambling house’ at Woollahra,

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CAVANAGH, James Luke (1913–1990)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CAVANAGH, James Luke (1913–1990)
Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Jim Cavanagh was the most militant, and possibly the most effective, trade union official in South Australia during the decade and a half after World War II. Moreover, he was one of the most talented and energetic members of Labor’s contingent in the Senate, during the 1960s and 1970s. As a trade union secretary and Opposition senator, Cavanagh was in his element, but during

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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

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CHILDS, Bruce Kenneth (1934–2023)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CHILDS, Bruce Kenneth (1934–2023)
Senator for New South Wales, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)

Within two years of entering the Senate in 1981, Bruce Childs was a co-convener of the left-wing of Labor’s federal parliamentary party and the ALP throughout Australia, retaining that role throughout the period of Hawke and Keating Labor governments. Acknowledged as a unifier by his left-wing colleagues, he was recognised by senators from all sides of politics for his courteous, patient and unpretentious manner,

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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

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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

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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

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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

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COLSTON, Malcolm Arthur (1938–2003)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1976–99 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)</span>

COLSTON, Malcolm Arthur (1938–2003)
Senator for Queensland, 1976–99 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)

Malcolm Arthur Colston was born in Brisbane on 5 April 1938, the eldest child of Douglas Thomas Colston, a carpenter, and his wife Myrtle Clorine Ruby, née Wenck, a primary school teacher before her marriage. Even in his childhood Malcolm was more interested in books than sport. An above average student, he attended Mitchelton State School, Brisbane State High School (1952–55) and then went

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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

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DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002)
Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Gordon Sinclair Davidson, farmer and grazier, and prominent Presbyterian, was born at North Unley, Adelaide, on 17 January 1915. He was the first of two sons of Sinclair Davidson and his wife Elsie Eva, née McNeil, both native-born. Sinclair Davidson farmed Burnfoot, at Angas Plains, near Strathalbyn, South Australia, where many Scots had settled. Davidson, who saw his descent as ‘pure Scots’, was later

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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

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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

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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

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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,

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GEORGES, George (1920–2002)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–87 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)</span>

GEORGES, George (1920–2002)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–87 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)

George Georgouras was born in Darwin on 15 April 1920, the fourth of seven children of Athanasios Georgouras and his wife Panayiota, née Stergoulis. Athanasios came from Castellorizo, an isolated island off the southeast coast of Greece with a ‘difficult and tragic history’ of political troubles that led many of its inhabitants to flee to Australia. He immigrated to Australia in 1912 and started

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GIETZELT, Arthur Thomas (1920–2014)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1971–89 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

GIETZELT, Arthur Thomas (1920–2014)
Senator for New South Wales, 1971–89 (Australian Labor Party)

Arthur Gietzelt was a senator for New South Wales from 1971 until his resignation on 27 February 1989. He was a member of the left faction of the Australian Labor Party with a reputation as a ‘legendary numbers man’ because of his success at organising votes within the New South Wales state branch and the federal parliamentary party. Arthur Thomas Gietzelt was born on

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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

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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

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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

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HAINES, Janine (1945–2004)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1977–78, 1981–90 (Australian Democrats)</span>

HAINES, Janine (1945–2004)
Senator for South Australia, 1977–78, 1981–90 (Australian Democrats)

Janine Carter, later Haines, was born in Tanunda, South Australia, on 8 May 1945, the eldest of three children. Her father, Francis Claude Carter, a policeman, was posted to various South Australian country towns and later joined the Commonwealth Public Service; her mother, Beryl Madge Carter, née Winton, became a primary school teacher during the 1950s. Janine was educated at six primary schools; the

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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

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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,

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JESSOP, Donald Scott (1927–2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

JESSOP, Donald Scott (1927–2018)
Senator for South Australia, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Donald Scott Jessop was born at Unley Park, South Australia, on 21 June 1927 to Lindsay Newton Rennie Jessop and his wife Margaret Ada, née Scott. The first of three sons, Donald attended Mitcham Primary School and Unley High School. Colour blindness prevented him from pursuing studies in his chosen fields, medicine or pharmacy. On the advice of the school’s vocational officer, Jessop decided

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JONES, Gerry Norman Francis (1932–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

JONES, Gerry Norman Francis (1932–2017)
Senator for Queensland, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Norman Francis (Gerry) Jones was born on 16 August 1932 at Roma, Queensland, the younger of two sons of William Norman Harcourt Jones, railway worker, and his wife Kathleen Alice, née Moore, a tailor. When he was growing up, his father insisted that he should be known as Gerry and later in life he formalised that name by deed-poll. He attended St Columba’s School,

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KEEFFE, James Bernard (1919–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

KEEFFE, James Bernard (1919–1988)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)

James Bernard Keeffe, champion of Indigenous Australians and the Deep North, was always proud of his Irish heritage. His great-grandfather had emigrated from County Tipperary in 1841 and settled in the Queanbeyan district of New South Wales. Jim’s father, also James Keeffe, moved to Sydney, and then to northern Queensland where he worked as a canecutter, coffee planter and tin miner. He married Augusta

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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

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KNIGHT, John William (1943–1981)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for the Australian Capital Territory, 1975–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

KNIGHT, John William (1943–1981)
Senator for the Australian Capital Territory, 1975–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John William Knight, public servant and diplomat, was one of the first two senators to represent the Australian Capital Territory. He was born on 20 November 1943 at Armidale, New South Wales, the only son of Jack Albert Knight, a grocer, then serving in the RAN, and later a merchant seaman, and his wife Myrane Ruth, née Porter, a dressmaker. Educated at Armidale Demonstration

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LAJOVIC, Milivoj Emil (1921–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1975–85 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LAJOVIC, Milivoj Emil (1921–2008)
Senator for New South Wales, 1975–85 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Milivoj Emil (Misha) Lajovic was the first non-British post-second world war migrant to become a member of the Senate, and he was also the first federal parliamentarian of Slovenian origin.[1] Misha Lajovic was born at Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 23 July 1921. At the time of his birth Slovenia was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which came into existence in 1918

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LAUCKE, Sir Condor Louis (1914–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1967–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LAUCKE, Sir Condor Louis (1914–1993)
Senator for South Australia, 1967–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Condor Louis Laucke, wine maker, flour miller and company director, was born in Greenock, in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, on 9 November 1914, youngest of six children born to Friedrich and Anna Louise née Jungfer. Anna had been born at Neukirch near Greenock, and Friedrich arrived in Port Adelaide from Germany on 30 May 1895 on board the SS Gera. Condor, who was named

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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

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MacGIBBON, David John (1934– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1978–99 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MacGIBBON, David John (1934– )
Senator for Queensland, 1978–99 (Liberal Party of Australia)

David John MacGibbon was born on 13 May 1934 in Brisbane, Queensland, son of Frederick William MacGibbon, cane grower and accountant, and his wife Eva Nicholson, née Ewart. He was educated at Maryborough High School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Dental Science, winning the Carlisle C Bastian Prize and the Mary Moffatt Memorial Prize in 1956. MacGibbon

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MACKLIN, Michael John (1943– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–90 (Australian Democrats)</span>

MACKLIN, Michael John (1943– )
Senator for Queensland, 1981–90 (Australian Democrats)

Michael John Macklin was born on 25 February 1943 in Cricklewood, London, the youngest of four sons born to his Irish father, James Joseph Macklin, and English mother, Vera Alice, née Headley. In 1949 the Macklins migrated to Australia on the SS Ormonde as ‘Ten Pound Poms’ under an assisted passage scheme, and landed in Melbourne. Later that year, the family moved to Ayr,

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MARTYR, John Raymond (1932–2021)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1981–83 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MARTYR, John Raymond (1932–2021)
Senator for Western Australia, 1981–83 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Raymond Martyr, vigorous promoter of ‘pro-life’ policies and of self-reliance, was born in Melbourne on 25 May 1932, elder of two sons of Ernest John Martyr and Ellen Mary, née Goodwin. Ernest Martyr was variously a ‘bush worker’ and ‘dyer and cleaner’ served briefly in the AIF in 1918, and then in the Royal Australian Navy as a stoker and officer’s steward. Classified

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MASON, Colin Victor James (1926– 2020)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1978–87 (Australian Democrats)</span>

MASON, Colin Victor James (1926– 2020)
Senator for New South Wales, 1978–87 (Australian Democrats)

Colin Victor James Mason was elected as a senator for New South Wales in the 1977 federal election. Don Chipp was elected as a senator for Victoria in the same election. As the first Australian Democrats elected to the Senate, they signalled the arrival of a new centrist parliamentary party that would go on to become a highly influential minor party in federal politics.

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MAUNSELL, Charles Ronald (1922–2010)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)</span>

MAUNSELL, Charles Ronald (1922–2010)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

A stalwart of the Queensland division of the Australian (later National) Country Party, Charles Ronald (Ron) Maunsell, pilot, earthmoving contractor, grazier and fruit grower, came from pioneering stock, his great-grandparents, Samuel and Phoebe Maunsell, having immigrated to Australia from Ballybrood, County Limerick, in 1858. The only child of Charles George Maunsell and Evelyn Violet, née Evans, he was born in Cairns on 8 May

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McAULIFFE, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1971–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McAULIFFE, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)
Senator for Queensland, 1971–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Ronald Edward McAuliffe, rugby league administrator and politician, was born in Brisbane on 25 July 1918. He was adopted by Edward McAuliffe, a railway fettler, and Margaret Ann, née Fogarty. The McAuliffes were a large family, living in a small workman’s cottage in Rainbow Street that backed on to the Sandgate to Shorncliffe railway line. Ron was educated at Sandgate’s Sacred Heart convent school

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McCLELLAND, Douglas (1926– ) <br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1962–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McCLELLAND, Douglas (1926– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1962–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Douglas McClelland was born on 5 August 1926, in Wentworthville, NSW, the son of Alfred McClelland, union organiser and farmer, and his wife Gertrude Amy, née Cooksley. Alfred was a NSW Labor MLA for the seats of Northern Tablelands (1920–27) and Dubbo (1930–32). Douglas was educated at Wentworthville Public School, Parramatta High School and the Metropolitan Business College, Parramatta. After leaving school he worked

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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

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McLAREN, Geoffrey Thomas (1921–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1971–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McLAREN, Geoffrey Thomas (1921–1992)
Senator for South Australia, 1971–83 (Australian Labor Party)

During his twelve years in the Senate, Geoff McLaren, an ‘old-fashioned’ Laborite, gained a reputation on both sides of politics as a very hard worker who took part in the Senate’s proceedings with great gusto. If not especially influential, he was never inconspicuous. Senator Watson once cited McLaren’s daily habit of reading the whole of the previous day’s Hansard, a practice, Watson considered, that

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MELZER, Jean Isabel (1926–2013)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1974–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MELZER, Jean Isabel (1926–2013)
Senator for Victoria, 1974–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Jean Isabel Melzer, the first woman in the Australian Labor Party to be elected to the Senate from Victoria, was born in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick, on 7 February 1926. She was the eldest of the three daughters of George Kenneth McLeod and Lilian Rosa, née Ford. Jean was educated at state schools at Ormond and Ormond East, Gardenvale Central School, and from

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MESSNER, Anthony John (1939–2024)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1975–90 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MESSNER, Anthony John (1939–2024)
Senator for South Australia, 1975–90 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Anthony John (Tony) Messner was born in East Melbourne on 24 September 1939, the only child of Colin Thomas Messner, bank officer, and Thelma Doreen Messner, née Virgo. Messner’s parents originally came from South Australia, but his father’s employment with the Bank of Adelaide resulted in the family moving between Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth during his early life. Tony Messner was educated at

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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

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MULVIHILL, James Anthony (1917–2000)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MULVIHILL, James Anthony (1917–2000)
Senator for New South Wales, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)

James Anthony (Tony) Mulvihill, railwayman, party official, and environmentalist, was born in North Ryde, Sydney, on 27 April 1917. He was the only child of James Bernard (Jim) Mulvihill and Agnes Ellen, née McNamara. His father, Jim, worked for most of his life at the gasworks at Mortlake, at that time a community with many Irish and English gas and railway workers. He was

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NEAL, Laurence William (1947– )<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1980–81 (National Country Party)</span>

NEAL, Laurence William (1947– )
Senator for Victoria, 1980–81 (National Country Party)

The question asked about Laurence William Neal, National Country Party (NCP) senator from Victoria, was how did ‘an academic at La Trobe University, a political scientist, a city dweller since the age of 18’ become ‘the representative of a party of farmers?’ Described by the Melbourne Age as ‘soft-spoken, pleasant, and super mild—more like a kindly young Anglican vicar’, Neal’s credentials were atypical of

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O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)
Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Justin Hilary O’Byrne was a World War II fighter pilot and prisoner of war, and President of the Senate during the 1975 constitutional crisis. He was born on 1 June 1912 in Launceston, Tasmania, the seventh of ten children. His father, Patrick Augustus O’Byrne, a wine and spirit merchant in Launceston, was the son of Irish migrants who had settled at Westbury. His mother,

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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

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PUPLICK, Christopher John Guelph (1948– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for NSW, 1978–1981, 1985–1990 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

PUPLICK, Christopher John Guelph (1948– )
Senator for NSW, 1978–1981, 1985–1990 (Liberal Party of Australia)

On 20 September 1978, Chris Puplick, then the youngest Australian senator since World War II, rose to make his first speech in the Senate, and declared that ‘There is no finer tradition in the history of mankind than the Liberal tradition’. As a believer ‘above all in the individual, in diversity, in tolerance, and in caring about my fellow creatures’, he ‘could be only

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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,

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ROBERTSON, Edward Albert (1929–1991)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Northern Territory, 1975–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ROBERTSON, Edward Albert (1929–1991)
Senator for Northern Territory, 1975–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Ted Robertson and Bernard Kilgariff were the first senators elected to the Australian Parliament to represent the Northern Territory. Born on 18 March 1929 in the port city of Albany, Western Australia, Edward Albert (Ted)Robertson was the only child of Scottish-born labourer Neil (Jock) Robertson and English-born Ethel Lucy Robertson, née Bamford. Ted’s parents separated before his birth and shortly afterwards his father left

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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

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RYAN, Susan Maree (1942–2020)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Australian Capital Territory, 1975–88 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

RYAN, Susan Maree (1942–2020)
Senator for Australian Capital Territory, 1975–88 (Australian Labor Party)

Susan Maree Ryan was born on 10 October 1942 at Camperdown, Sydney, the third of four children of Arthur Francis Aloysius Ryan, a clerk in the state public service, and his wife Florence Ena, née Hodson, who worked as a sales assistant. Growing up in Maroubra, Susan was educated at its Brigidine Convent, where she completed the Leaving Certificate. Although she was to move

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SCOTT, Douglas Barr (1920–2012)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1970, 1974–85 (Australian Country Party/National Country Party/National Party of Australia)</span>

SCOTT, Douglas Barr (1920–2012)
Senator for New South Wales, 1970, 1974–85 (Australian Country Party/National Country Party/National Party of Australia)

Douglas Barr Scott was born in the northern Adelaide suburb of Prospect on 12 May 1920 to James Barr Scott and his wife Clara Josephine, née White. At the time of his birth Scott’s maternal grandparents lived in Adelaide, but the family home was on their wheat and sheep property, ‘Glenview’, near Grenfell, New South Wales. As the property was relatively isolated, his early

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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,

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SIBRAA, Kerry Walter (1937– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1975–78, 1978–94 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

SIBRAA, Kerry Walter (1937– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1975–78, 1978–94 (Australian Labor Party)

Kerry Walter Sibraa was born in Sydney on 12 October 1937, the only son of teachers Edna May, née Williams, and Arthur Francis Sibraa. Kerry attended state primary schools at Condoblin, Ungarie, Shortland and Newcastle, following his father’s moves between schools as a teacher and headmaster. He began his secondary education at Newcastle Boys’ High School and then moved to North Sydney Boys’ High

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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

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SIM, John Peter (1917–2015) <br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1964–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SIM, John Peter (1917–2015)
Senator for Western Australia, 1964–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Peter Sim was born at Colac, Victoria, on 21 January 1917, one of twin sons born to John Percy Sim, farmer and grazier of Ondit, and his wife Grace Maria, formerly Plowman, born in Melbourne. Immigrants to Victoria from Scotland in the mid-19th century, the Sim family had been primary producers for many years, specialising in cattle and fat lambs. Peter, as he

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SULLIVAN, Kathryn Jean Martin (1942– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1974–84 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SULLIVAN, Kathryn Jean Martin (1942– )
Senator for Queensland, 1974–84 (Liberal Party of Australia)

In her youth Kathy Martin aspired to be a lawyer or a police officer. Despite her best efforts the inherent gender discrimination of the 1950s and 1960s proved insurmountable and she would move into the more ‘acceptable’ field of education. Only a few decades later, her entry into Australia’s federal Parliament proved to be the ultimate irony. Instead of practising or enforcing the law,

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