Alan Cadman

The Honourable Alan Cadman OAM
Member of the Australian Parliament for Mitchell
In office 18 May 1974 – 17 October 2007
Preceded by	Alfred Ashley-Brown
Succeeded by	Alex Hawke
Personal details
Born	26 July 1937 Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Alma mater	University of New South Wales
Occupation	Orchardist

Alan Glyndwr Cadman, OAM (born 26 July 1937), Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from 18 May 1974 to 17 October 2007, representing the Division of Mitchell, New South Wales.

Biography

Cadman was born in Sydney and was educated at the University of New South Wales. He was an orchardist and company director before entering politics.

Despite his long tenure, Cadman was only considered for ministerial preferment twice. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Malcolm Fraser) 1981-83 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business 1997-98. In 1992 he was one of a group of Coalition members of parliament who founded the Lyons Forum, a conservative ginger group.^[1]

In 2003, Cadman was the unsuspecting target of a prank by comedy show CNNNN in which "rumours" were spread about his intentions to run against John Howard for the Prime Ministership.

On 16 June 2007, Cadman withdrew from the preselection contest, and later announced his current term would be his last.^[2] He was to later condemn the circumstances under which he lost preselection to Alex Hawke. The Australian newspaper wrote "One of parliament's longest-serving MPs has lashed out at the 'extreme' right wing of the Liberal Party, saying it is no longer concerned with values or policies and has become obsessed with power for its own sake. Mitchell MP Alan Cadman has broken his silence on the preselection battle in which he lost the party's endorsement for his safe northern Sydney seat, which he won from Labor in 1974, to the right wing's Alex Hawke, 29. Mr Cadman said his loss to Mr Hawke... was the result of relentless branch-stacking within the electorate."^[3]

At the time of his retirement Cadman was, by a matter of a few minutes, the second longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. Prime Minister John Howard was elected on the same day as Cadman, but took the swearing-in oath later. Philip Ruddock was the only serving member of the House who had served for a longer period of time.

References

1. Marion Maddox, God Under Howard: The Rise of the Religious Right in Australian Politics, Allen & Unwin, 2005, p.38.
2. Clennell, Andrew (18 June 2007). "Age does not worry him, says Lib hopeful". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 1 May 2011.
3. Maley, Paul; Salusinszky, Imre (24 September 2007). "Veteran Lib slams party's far Right". The Australian (News Limited). Retrieved 1 May 2011.

External links

• Alan Cadman's official site