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

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