Biography

Parliamentary service

• Elected to the House of Representatives for Denison, Tasmania, 1987. Re-elected 1990, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007. Retired prior to general elections 2010.

Parliamentary positions

• Member of the Speaker's Panel from 1.6.2006 to 17.10.2007.

Ministerial appointments

• Minister for Justice from 24.3.1993 to 11.3.1996.
• Attorney-General from 1.4.1993 to 27.4.1993.
• Cabinet Minister from 1.4.1993 to 27.4.1993.
• Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs from 3.12.2007 to 14.12.2009.

Committee service

• House of Representatives Select: Address in Reply served from 14.9.1987 to 15.9.1987
• House of Representatives Standing: Privileges served from 8.10.1987 to 19.2.1990; Legal and Constitutional Affairs served from 8.10.1987 to 8.2.1993; Selection served from 15.5.1990 to 8.2.1993; Aboriginal Affairs served as Chair from 16.5.1990 to 4.5.1992; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs served as Chair from 4.5.1992 to 8.2.1993; Family and Community Affairs served from 29.5.1996 to 17.11.1997; Legal and Constitutional Affairs served from 30.5.1996 to 3.8.2004; Environment, Recreation and the Arts served from 17.11.1997 to 31.8.1998; Privileges served from 19.10.1999 to 24.11.1999; Environment and Heritage served from 20.3.2002 to 17.10.2007; Legal and Constitutional Affairs served from 2.12.2004 to 17.10.2007; Industry, Science and Innovation served from 30.11.2009 to 19.7.2010; Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government served from 30.11.2009 to 19.7.2010
• Joint Select: Corporations Legislation served from 2.11.1988 to 13.4.1989
• Joint Standing: Migration served from 18.6.1996 to 17.11.1997; Treaties served from 26.11.2009 to 19.7.2010
• Joint Statutory: Public Accounts served from 16.5.1990 to 8.2.1993; Corporations and Securities served from 7.3.1991 to 8.2.1993; National Crime Authority served from 8.12.1998 to 8.10.2001; Australian Crime Commission served from 20.3.2002 to 8.12.2004; Australian Crime Commission served as Deputy Chair from 9.12.2004 to 17.10.2007; Intelligence and Security served from 9.12.2004 to 17.10.2007

Conferences, delegations and visits

• Parliamentary delegation member to New Zealand, July 1990.
• Parliamentary delegation member to the USSR, Mongolia and Japan from September to October 1990.
• Attended official meetings in the Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong, July 1993.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, December 1993.
• Attended official meetings in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France and the UK from November to December 1994.
• Attended official meetings in Egypt from April to May 1995.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore, June 1995.
• Delegate to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Japan, December 1997.
• Attended study tour in the USA, January 1999.
• Attended official meetings in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, July 1999.
• Parliamentary delegation member to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands from April to May 2000.
• Attended study tour in Greece, December 2000.
• Attended study tour in Vanuatu, April 2001.
• Attended study tour in Greece, June 2002.
• Attended study tour in Papua New Guinea, January 2003.
• Attended study tour in Austria, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Portugal, April 2003.
• Parliamentary delegation member to Ukraine and Bulgaria from June to July 2004.
• Parliamentary delegation member to Fiji from April to May 2006.
• Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, the USA from September to December 2006.
• Parliamentary delegation member to Brazil and Uruguay from June to July 2007.
• Attended official meetings in Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, February 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, March 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Vanuatu from March to April 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, April 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Samoa and New Zealand, June 2008.
• Attended official meetings in the Solomon Islands and Samoa, July 2008.
• Attended official meetings in China, September 2008.
• Attended official meetings in New Caledonia, November 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Palau and the Philippines, January 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, March 2009.
• Attended official meetings in the Solomon Islands, New Zealand, Niue and Tonga, May 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu and New Caledonia, July 2009.
• Attended official meetings in New Caledonia from July to August 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea from September to October 2009.
• Parliamentary delegation member to Indonesia, Brunei and Laos, April 2010.

Parliamentary party positions

• Australian Labor Party. Served: 11.07.1987 to 19.07.2010
• Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader of the Opposition on Multicultural Affairs from 20.3.1996 to 26.8.1997.
• Shadow Minister for Immigration from 20.3.1996 to 27.3.1997.
• Shadow Cabinet Minister from 20.3.1996 to 25.11.2001.
• Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration from 27.3.1997 to 26.8.1997.
• Shadow Minister for the Environment from 22.4.1997 to 20.10.1998.
• Shadow Minister for the Arts from 20.10.1998 to 5.9.2000.
• Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs from 20.10.1998 to 25.11.2001.
• Shadow Minister Assisting the Shadow Minister for Population from 5.9.2000 to 25.11.2001.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee (Tas.) from 1976 to 1980.
• Treasurer of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee (Tas.) from 1980 to 1982.
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee (Tas.) from 1993 to 1996.
• Vice-President of the Australian Labor Party (Tas.) from 1996 to 1997.
• Delegate to the Australian Labor Party National Conference from 1998.
• Member of the Australian Labor Party National Executive from 1998 to 2004.
• Member of the Australian Labor Party Administrative Committee (Tas.) from 1998 to 2002.

Other positions

• Chair of the Joint Commonwealth and State Governments Taskforce on Tasmanian Employment (TASPACT) from 1989 to 1992.
• Chair of the National Crime Authority Inter-Governmental Committee from 24.3.1993 to 11.3.1996.
• Adjunct Professor in the Law Faculty, Queensland University of Technology from 2007.

Personal

• Born: 26.2.1952, Hobart, Australia
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Partner

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA(SocWk) (Tasmanian College of Advanced Education).
• LLB (University of Tasmania).
• Barrister and social worker.
• Crown Counsel, Solicitor-General's Department, Tasmania.
• Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Papua New Guinea.
• Principal Solicitor, Aboriginal Legal Service Ltd, New South Wales.
• Legal Officer, Hobart Community Legal Service.
• Appointed Senior Counsel, June 2004.

Electorate

• Name: Denison
• Location: it includes the city of Hobart, and the centres of Austins Ferry, Claremont, Collinsvale, Glenorchy, Glenlusk, Mt Nelson, New Town, Sandy Bay and Taroona.
• Area: 221 Sq km
• Electors enrolled: 68,881 (at 24.11.2007)
• Industries: banking and retail, tertiary education, tourism, information technology, chocolate and confectionery, catamaran construction, beers, fruit juices, zinc, steel mesh and rods, hand tools, food and timber processing, heavy transport, wholesale trade, engineering works and port facilities at Hobart.
• Includes: Denison is co-extensive with the Tasmanian House of Assembly electorate of the same name.

Honours

• Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, 26.1.2025.

Publications

• Annotated Constitution of Papua New Guinea, UPNG Press, Port Moresby: 1985.
• Essays on the Constitution, PNG 10th Independence Committee, Port Moresby: 1985.
• Reinventing Socialism (editor), Pluto Press, Leichhardt, NSW: 1992.
• Elect the ambassador! Building democracy in a globalised world, Pluto Press, Leichhardt, NSW: 2001.