Biography

Parliamentary service

• State: Elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Sturt, 13.2.1971.
• Federal: Elected to the House of Representatives for Farrer, New South Wales, 1984. Re-elected 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1998. Retired prior to general elections 2001.

Ministerial appointments

• Deputy Prime Minister from 11.3.1996 to 20.7.1999.
• Minister for Trade from 11.3.1996 to 20.7.1999.
• Cabinet Minister from 11.3.1996 to 20.7.1999.

Committee service

• House of Representatives Select: Aircraft Noise served from 28.2.1985 to 28.11.1985
• House of Representatives Standing: Transport Safety served from 28.2.1985 to 18.9.1985; Transport, Communications and Infrastructure served from 8.10.1987 to 19.2.1990; Community Affairs served from 24.3.1988 to 24.11.1988
• Joint Standing: New Parliament House served from 23.5.1989 to 19.2.1990

Conferences, delegations and visits

• Parliamentary delegation member to Turkey from April to May 1990.
• Parliamentary delegation member to Greece, May 1991.
• Attended official meetings in the Philippines and Singapore, April 1996.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia and Japan, May 1996.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, June 1996.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand, July 1996.
• Attended official meetings in Brunei and Vietnam, August 1996.
• Attended official meetings in China and Hong Kong from August to September 1996.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia and New Zealand, September 1996.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, October 1996.
• Attended official meetings in India, South Korea and the Philippines, November 1996.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore, December 1996.
• Attended official meetings in the Middle East and Mauritius, March 1997.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, April 1997.
• Attended official meetings in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, USA, Mexico and Brazil from May to June 1997.
• Attended official meetings in Zimbabwe and South Africa, July 1997.
• Attended official meetings in Japan from July to August 1997.
• Attended official meetings in China, Belgium, Italy and Spain, September 1997.
• Attended official meetings in Thailand and Malaysia, October 1997.
• Attended official meetings in the USA and Canada, November 1997.
• Delegate to the Australian Constitutional Convention, Canberra, February 1998.
• Attended official meetings in Italy, Switzerland, Poland and the Netherlands, May 1998.
• Attended official meetings in Malaysia and the Philippines, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, November 1998.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, December 1998.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore, Indonesia, India, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey from February to March 1999.
• Attended official meetings in South Korea, China, the USA, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Hungary, May 1999.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand, June 1999.
• Official observer to the referendum, East Timor from August to September 1999.
• Parliamentary delegation member to South Africa, November 1999.
• Delegate to the 1st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement-Australia/New Zealand Closer Economic Relations High Level Task Force, Indonesia, February 2000.
• Delegate to the 2nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement-Australia/New Zealand Closer Economic Relations High Level Task Force meeting, New Zealand, April 2000.
• Attended study tour in East Timor, May 2000.
• Delegate to the 3rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement-Australia/New Zealand Closer Economic Relations High Level Task Force meeting, Cambodia from July to August 2000.
• Attended study tour in East Timor, December 2000.
• Attended study tour in Thailand and Nepal from April to May 2001.
• Attended study tour in Russia and Thailand from May to June 2001.
• Parliamentary delegation member to East Timor from August to September 2001.

Parliamentary party positions

• National Party of Australia. Served: 01.12.1984 to 08.10.2001
• Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs from 9.9.1985 to 28.4.1987.
• Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs from 14.8.1987 to 11.4.1990.
• Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House from 12.5.1989 to 11.4.1990.
• Shadow Cabinet Minister from 12.5.1989 to 11.3.1996.
• Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources from 11.4.1990 to 7.4.1993.
• Shadow Minister for Trade from 7.4.1993 to 11.3.1996.
• National Party Spokesman on Veterans' Affairs from 30.4.1987 to 6.8.1987.
• Leader of the Federal Parliamentary National Party from 9.4.1990 to 1.7.1999.

Personal

• Born: 3.5.1946, Lockhart, Australia
• Died: 22.8.2019
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Married

State/Territory Government service

• Elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Sturt, 13.2.1971.
• Shadow Minister for Conservation and Water Resources from 2.11.1978 to 27.10.1981.
• Elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Murray, 1980. Resigned 18.10.1984 to contest the House of Representatives division of Farrer, New South Wales.
• National Party Whip from 1981 to 1984.
• Shadow Minister for Transport from 28.10.1981 to 7.4.1983.
• Shadow Minister for Water Resources and Forests from 8.4.1983 to 5.4.1984.
• Shadow Minister for Corrective Services from 6.4.1984 to 18.10.1984.

Military Service

• 2nd Lieutenant Army, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

Electorate

• Name: Farrer
• Location: Southern central New South Wales; it includes the centres of Albury, Balranald, Culcairn, Deniliquin, Finley, Jerilderie, Lockhart, Tumbarumba and Wentworth.
• Area: 91,781 Sq km
• Electors enrolled: 75,126 (at 3.10.1998)
• Industries: Dairying, beef cattle, timber, wool, wheat, cereals, rice, orchard and vine crops.
• Includes: Farrer includes the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Albury, and parts of Murray-Darling, Murrumbidgee and Wagga Wagga.

Honours

• Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, 26.1.2005.

Publications

• Seven days in East Timor, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW: 2000.
• Tim Fischer's outback heroes and communities that count, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW: 2002.
• Transcontinental train odyssey: the Ghan, the Khyber, the globe, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW: 2004.
• From Jesuits to jetsetters, bold Bhutan beckons: inhaling gross national happiness, CopyRight Publishing, Brisbane: 2009.
• Trains unlimited: in the 21st century, HarperCollins Publishers, Sydney: 2011.
• Holy See, unholy me: 1,000 days in Rome - tales from my time as Australian ambassador to the Vatican, ABC Books, Sydney: 2013.
• Maestro John Monash: Australia's greatest citizen general, Monash University Publishing, Clayton, Vic.: 2014.
• Steam Australia: locomotives that galvanised the nation, NLA Publishing, Canberra: 2018.