February 01, 2013
House Members Retiring at the 2013 Election
As at the 1st of February 2013, there are twelve members of the House who have announced they will not contest the 2013 election. Of the 12, 11 are retiring, one has lost party endorsement. There are seven Coalition members departing and five Labor members.
More members may yet announce their intention to retire, especially given we know the date of the election.
Below are profiles of the 12 members who to date we know will be departing the House.
Retiring MPs
GILM_LIB_GashJoanna Gash
Liberal Party
Gilmore
69 year-old Gash was born in the Netherlands, migrating to Australia with her parents when she was just six. Before her election to the House of Representatives in 1996, Gash was a local businesswoman working in the tourism and hospitality industry, serving on Wingecarribee Council and part-owner of Ranleigh House guest house in Robertson. She has been an enormously popular local member through her diligent constituency work. After announcing her decision to retire, Gash decided to run for Mayor of Shoalhaven at the September 2012 NSW local government elections and was elected in a landslide.
BEND_ALP_GibbonsSteve Gibbons
Australian Labor Party
Bendigo
64 year-old Gibbons is a former union official and research officer for then Victorian Opposition Leader John Brumby. He worked as a part-time electorate officer before his election to Parliament in 1998 and previously served on Bendigo Hospital’s Board of Directors for 10 years. Gibbons originally began his working life as a motor mechanic apprentice, later working as a storeman in the automotive parts industry. He also spent 15 years as a semi-professional musician playing in and around Bendigo and regional Victoria, playing bass in a blues band called MI-5. He has a hobby of collecting and restoring classic British cars and motorcycles. Gibbons was first elected in 1998 after Labor recovered from its thrashing in 1996.
NEWC_ALP_GriersonSharon Grierson
Australian Labor Party
Newcastle
Aged 62, Grierson has lived in Newcastle all her life, completing her secondary education at Newcastle Girls High School and teacher training at the Newcastle Teachers’ College. For the ten years before her election to Parliament in 2001, she worked as principal at several Newcastle schools, and has undertaken tertiary studies in Arts and Law.
SCUL_ALP_JenkinsHarry Jenkins
Australian Labor Party
Scullin
Aged 61, Jenkins was elected to succeed his father at a February 1986 by-election. A former public servant, Jenkins served on Whittlesea Shire Council 1979-86, including a term as Shire President. He served as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees 1993-96, and following the election of the Rudd government, followed in his father’s footsteps to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. He continued in the roll of Speaker after the 2010 election before resigning at the end of 2011, a move that permitted the controversial appointment of Peter Slipper as Speaker.
CAPR_ALP_LivermoreKirsten Livermore
Australian Labor Party
Capricornia
Aged 43, educated in Mackay, Livermore moved to Brisbane to study commerce and law. A former regional organiser for the Commonwealth Public Sector Union, she later went on to work as a solicitor on union compensation cases. Before her election to parliament in 1998, Livermore worked for the Central Queensland Community Legal Service, also serving on the management committee of the Rockhampton Women’s Shelter.
BART_ALP_McClellandRobert McClelland
Australian Labor Party
Barton
Aged 55, McClelland comes from a family steeped in the traditions of the NSW Labor Party. His grandfather served in the NSW Parliament and was an MP in the Lang government sacked by Governor Game in 1932, while his father Doug was sacked along with the rest of the Whitlam Cabinet by Sir John Kerr in 1975. Robert McClelland was first elected for Barton in 1996 following Gary Punch’s decision to retire on the same day the election was called. McClelland worked as a solicitor before his election to Parliament and served as Shadow Attorney-General from 1998 until December 2003, when new leader Mark Latham created the portfolio of Homeland Security. McClelland turned out to be the critical vote that switched sides and supported Mark Latham in the December 2003 leadership contest, delivering Latham a two seat majority. McClelland was appointed Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs following Rudd’s election to the Labor leadership, but became Attorney-General on the formation of the Rudd government after the 2007 election. He served as Attorney General until December 2011 when Julia Gillard demoted him to Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Emergency Services. McClelland was dropped from the Ministry in March 2012 after Kevin Rudd’s failed challenge for the Labor leadership.
PEAR_LIB_MoylanJudi Moylan
Liberal Party
Pearce
Aged 69, Moylan is a former self-employed real estate agent and former President of the Midlands and District Chamber of Commerce. Elected in 1993 following the retirement of Fred Chaney, she was the Minister for Family Services who proved unable to sell the government’s policy of requiring nursing homes to charge an accommodation bond, resulting in her being shifted to Women’s Affairs. Of course, the problem turned out to be the policy rather than the Minister, the idea of compulsory nursing home bonds eventually dropped, as was Moylan from the Ministry after the 1998 election. One of the few Liberals who voiced concern at the treatment of asylum seekers in the lead-up to the 2001 election, Moylan continued to be on the outer in the party for her opposition to a tougher stand on asylum seeker issues.
HINK_LNP_NevillePaul Neville
Liberal National Party
Hinkler
Aged 73, Neville has been a member of the National Party since he was 18 and served as State President of the Young Nationals, 1969-70. He was Manager of the Bundaberg District Tourism and Development Board for 12 years before his election to Parliament in 1993, winning the seat from Labor. Neville has to take personal credit for continuing to hold this seat for the Coalition, having fought off several vigorous challenges and having to re-build his majority after each redistribution has sliced into his hard won support.
HUME_LIB_SchultzAlby Schultz
Liberal Party
Hume
74 year-old Schultz previously held the local state seat of Burrinjuck from 1988 until resigning to contest and win Hume at the 1998 election. Schultz spent 32 years in the meat industry, rising from the blood and gore of the floor to become manager of an export abattoir. Among his claims to fame, Schultz is the former holder of the Victorian record for dressing lambs. Schultz has lived in Cootamundra since 1976, serving on the local council 1984-91. His nomination for Hume in 1998 solved a number of problems for the state Liberal Party. Following a state redistribution, Cootamundra having been moved into National Party Leader Ian Armstrong’s seat of Lachlan, and with Schultz determined to contest that seat instead of Burrinjuck, there was potential for a major Coalition dispute. John Sharp’s decision not to contest Hume provided an opening for Schultz, his wife Gloria then contesting Burrinjuck unsuccessfully. A redistribution before the 2001 election moved Cootamundra into Riverina, but this time Schultz chose not to change seat, staying on and winning Hume, even staring down an attempt by John Fahey to change seat. Schultz has a long-standing and often expressed dislike of the National Party, and was once unkind enough to suggest that he had ‘slaughtered better animals’ than Barnaby Joyce.
BARK_LIB_SeckerPatrick Secker
Liberal Party
Barker
57 year-old Secker was the youngest child from a Catholic family of eight, and joined the Liberal Party aged just 16. He went on to serve as State President of the Young Liberal Movement 1985-87, and has served on the Party’s National Executive. With qualifications in politics and economics, Secker combined his political involvements with running the family farm before being elected to Parliament in 1996. He also spent a decade in local government around Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills. Secker overcame a strong challenge to his endorsement ahead of the 2004 election but couldn’t withstand a challenge for the 2013 election.
FAIR_LNP_SomlyayAlex Somlyay
Liberal National Party
Fairfax
Aged 67, Somlyay was one of the bolters at the 1990 Federal election, ruining the House of Representatives plans of Shadow Finance Minister, former Treasury head and National Party Senator, John Stone. Born in Budapest but proudly married to a fifth generation Queenslander, Somlyay was an economist with various Commonwealth Departments between 1963 and 1975, before working on the staffs of several ministers 1975-80. He left the public service and moved to the Sunshine Coast, where he was a self-employed business and economics consultant before entering Parliament.
MOOR_LIB_WasherMal Washer
Liberal Party
Moore
68 year-old Washer is a former general practitioner, and like many doctors, his career has moved on beyond spending hours staring down patient’s throats. Washer spent his years before parliament running companies, including a local medical centre, his avocado farm and a local winery. First elected in 1998, Washer has had some impact on several health debates that have come before the parliament for conscience votes. He strongly opposed Tony Abbott’s idea of making it a requirement for doctors to give parents access to their 14 to 16 year-old children’s medical records, and he was also prominent in the RU486 debate, arguing in favour of removing the Health Ministers veto right over the drug.
Posted by Antony Green on February 01, 2013 at 05:43 PM in Federal Politics and Governments | Permalink