Biography

Parliamentary service

• Elected to the House of Representatives for Tangney, Western Australia, 1993. Re-elected 1996, 1998 and 2001. Retired prior to general elections 2004.

Ministerial appointments

• Attorney-General from 11.3.1996 to 7.10.2003.
• Minister for Justice from 11.3.1996 to 9.10.1997.
• Cabinet Minister from 9.10.1997 to 18.7.2004.
• Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 7.10.2003 to 18.7.2004.

Committee service

• House of Representatives Standing: Legal and Constitutional Affairs served from 12.5.1993 to 29.1.1996
• Joint Select: Certain Family Law Issues served from 26.5.1993 to 28.11.1995

Conferences, delegations and visits

• Attended official meetings in Malaysia, April 1996.
• Attended official meetings in Vietnam, August 1996.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand, September 1996.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, France, Switzerland and UK, June 1997.
• Delegate to the Australian Constitutional Convention, Canberra, February 1998.
• Delegate to the Commonwealth Law Ministers' Meeting, Trinidad and Tobago, May 1999.
• Attended official meetings in China and Thailand, July 1999.
• Attended official meetings in Germany, August 1999.
• Attended official meetings in Switzerland, September 1999.
• Attended official meetings in Thailand, May 2000.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore from May to June 2001.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, April 2002.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, Canada, UK, China from April to May 2002.
• Attended official meetings in the Caribbean and USA, November 2002.
• Attended official meetings in China, July 2003.
• Attended official meetings in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, August 2003.
• Attended official meetings in the UK, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands from September to October 2003.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand, May 2004.

Parliamentary party positions

• Liberal Party of Australia. Served: 13.03.1993 to 31.08.2004
• Shadow Attorney-General from 7.4.1993 to 26.5.1994.
• Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader of the Opposition on Constitutional Reform from 7.4.1993 to 26.5.1994.

Other positions

• Appointed Queen's Counsel from 1982.

Personal

• Born: 21.8.1942, East Fremantle, Australia
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Married

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• LLB(Hons) (University of Western Australia).
• AMusA (Australian Music Examinations Board).
• BCL(Hons) (University of Oxford).
• Rhodes Scholar 1965.
• Barrister and solicitor from 1968 to 1971.
• Counsel at the Asian Development Bank from 1971 to 1975.
• Barrister from 1975 to 1993.

Electorate

• Name: Tangney
• Location: southern Perth; it includes the suburbs of Applecross, Alfred Cove, Ardross, Attadale, Bateman, Booragoon, Brentwood, Bull Creek, Ferndale, Langford, Leeming, Lynwood, Melville, Mount Pleasant, Murdoch, Myaree, Parkwood, Riverton, Rossmoyne, Shelley, Willetton and Winthrop, and parts of Kardinya.
• Area: 70 Sq km
• Electors enrolled: 82,972 (at 10.11.2001)
• Industries: light industry, retail and service industries.
• Includes: Tangney includes the Western Australian Legislative Assembly electorate of Murdoch, and parts of Alfred Cove, Riverton, Thornlie and Willagee.

Honours

• Appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, 12.6.1989.