Philip Ruddock

The Honourable Philip Ruddock MP
Father of the Australian Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 September 1998
Preceded by	Ian Sinclair
Father of the Australian House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 September 1998
Preceded by	Ian Sinclair
Special Envoy to the Prime Minister for Human Rights Designate
Taking office TBA
Nominated by	Malcolm Turnbull
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull
Succeeding	Office established
Special Envoy to the Prime Minister for Citizenship and Community Engagement Outgoing
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 May 2015
Nominated by	Tony Abbott
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	TBA
Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives
In office 18 September 2013 – 13 February 2015
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott
Preceded by	Chris Hayes
Succeeded by	Scott Buchholz
Attorney-General of Australia
In office 7 October 2003 – 3 December 2007
Prime Minister	John Howard
Preceded by	Daryl Williams
Succeeded by	Robert McClelland
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
In office 11 March 1996 – 7 October 2003
Prime Minister	John Howard
Preceded by	Nick Bolkus
Succeeded by	Amanda Vanstone
Member of the Australian Parliament for Berowra
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 March 1993
Preceded by	Harry Edwards
Majority	19.07% (2013)[1]
Member of the Australian Parliament for Dundas
In office 10 December 1977 – 13 March 1993
Preceded by	Seat Created
Succeeded by	Seat Abolished
Member of the Australian Parliament for Parramatta
In office 22 September 1973 – 10 December 1977
Preceded by	Nigel Bowen
Succeeded by	John Brown
Personal details
Born	12 March 1943 Canberra, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Heather Ruddock (m. 1970)
Children	Kirstie Ruddock Caitlin Ruddock
Parents	Maxwell Ruddock Emmie Chappell
Residence	Pennant Hills, New South Wales
Education	Barker College
Alma mater	Sydney Law School University of Sydney
Occupation	Solicitor diplomat
Profession	Lawyer Politician
Religion	Anglican
Website	Official website

Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943) is an Australian politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia. First elected in a 1973 by-election, he is the only Member of Parliament from the period of the Whitlam government (1972–75) and the Fraser government (1975–83) still serving. He has been the Father of the House of Representatives since 1998. He is the second longest-serving parliamentarian in the history of the Australian Parliament (only Billy Hughes served longer).^[2] Ruddock served continuously in federal cabinet during the Howard Government, as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs from 1996 to 2003, and then Attorney-General from 2003 to 2007.

Early life and education

Ruddock was born in Canberra and was the son of Emmie (née Chappell) and Maxwell "Max" Ruddock, a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1962 and 1976. He was educated at Barker College in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby before entering University of Sydney, after which he practised as a solicitor. He was articled to the firm Berne, Murray and Tout and was promoted to partner.

Political career

Early career; Member of Parliament & First term in Government 1973–2007

On 22 September 1973, Ruddock was elected to the House of Representatives at a by-election for the seat of Parramatta. He narrowly held it at the 1974 general election, but was returned with a large swing in 1975. A redistribution ahead of the 1977 election, however, erased Ruddock's majority and turned it into a notional Labor seat. Ruddock shifted to the new, comfortably safe Liberal seat of Dundas, which included most of the Liberal-friendly areas of his old seat. He held it without serious difficulty until its abolition in 1993. Ruddock then transferred to the equally safe seat of Berowra, a seat he holds to the present day.

Shadow Minister (1983–1996)

Ruddock was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from 1983 to 1985 and from 1989 to 1996. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was an active member of the parliamentary group of Amnesty International. In 2000, Ruddock was disavowed by Amnesty International due to the treatment of refugees by the Howard Government and asked not to wear his Amnesty International badge whilst performing ministerial duties.^[3]

In August 1988, while Ruddock was still a backbencher, the Leader of the Opposition, John Howard, commented that he believed the rate of Asian immigration was too high. The Hawke Labor government sought to embarrass Howard and introduced a bill to Parliament to ensure that immigration did not discriminate on the basis of race. Ruddock along with fellow Liberals Steele Hall and Ian Macphee crossed the floor to support the Labor motion.^[4][5] In 1989, following Andrew Peacock's ascension to the leadership, Ruddock became Shadow Minister for Immigration and proposed a settlement scheme for Australia's far north.^[6]

Cabinet Minister, Second term in Government (1996–2007)

Minister for Immigration

Following the Coalition's rise to government at the 1996 election, Ruddock was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. In this role, he administered the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and presided over the Howard government's policies on asylum seekers. During his time in office, the previous Keating Labor Government's practice of mandatory detention of asylum seekers was continued and extended. In October 1999, the Australian government introduced Temporary Protection Visas for persons who applied for refugee status after making an unauthorised arrival in Australia, and was the main type of visa issued to refugees when released from Australian immigration detention facilities. Many Afghan and Iraqi refugees who are not Australian citizens were affected by this policy.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs

In 2001 Ruddock was also appointed to the role of Minister for Indigenous Affairs. By 2001 he had become a high-profile figure enjoying considerable support within the Liberal Party, while being strongly opposed by left-wing activists and some human rights advocates. His "Pacific Solution" – which prevented asylum seekers receiving legal access – was condemned by Human Rights Watch as contravening international law, as being a human rights violation: Oxfam and the UNHCR (United Nations refugee agency) agreed with this viewpoint.^[7] At one point he was one of the few senior ministers (besides the prime minister) to have needed personal security details.

Areas in Ruddock's portfolio and some of his decisions were highly controversial in Australian politics, and led to Amnesty International's public attempt to distance the organisation from him by asking him to remove his lapel badge.^[8] In 2003, Ruddock was accused by the Labor immigration spokesperson, Julia Gillard, of personally intervening to give a Filipino with a criminal record, Dante Tan, favourable treatment in exchange for donations to the Liberal Party.^[9] Ruddock denied that there was a connection between the donations and his actions, and noted that the donation had been properly declared.^[10] In 2004 an Australian Federal Police investigation cleared Ruddock of any wrongdoing, and a Senate inquiry, composed of a majority of Labor members, found that "there was no way to determine whether Mr Ruddock was influenced by money to grant visas."^[11]

Attorney-General

In 2003, Ruddock became Attorney-General in a cabinet reshuffle. On 27 May 2004, Ruddock introduced the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill to prevent any possible court rulings allowing same-sex marriages or civil unions.^[12]

In July 2007, he remarked that Australia needs to improve its legislation to deal with pro-terrorist literature and media. "People who may be susceptible to carrying out a terrorist act ought not to be instructed in how to do it, how to use household products to produce a bomb, or be encouraged to think about violent jihad and taking their own life", he said.^[13]

Opposition, 2007–2013

Following the Howard government's defeat at the November 2007 election, Ruddock did not seek a shadow cabinet role. He returned to the frontbench as Shadow Cabinet Secretary after Tony Abbott captured the Opposition leadership in December 2009. The Coalition was returned to government iin 2013.

Third term in government, 2013–present

Chief Government Whip (2013–2015)

Ruddock was named the Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives in the Abbott Government, which took office on 18 September 2013. Ruddock was replaced as Chief Government Whip by Queensland MP Scott Buchholz on 13 February 2015.^[14][15]

Special Envoy for Citizenship and Community Engagement (2015)

On 27 May 2015, Ruddock was appointed to the new office of Special Envoy for Citizenship and Community Engagement.^[16]

Retirement

On 8 February 2016, Ruddock announced that he would not contest the next federal election and was retiring from politics. On the same day, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced that Ruddock would be appointed Australia's first special envoy for human rights.^[17]

Personal life

Ruddock is married to Heather. They have two children, Kirstie and Caitlin ^[18]

References

1. "Berowra, NSW". Election 2013. Australian Electoral Commission. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
2. Will Glasgow, "Malcolm Turnbull intervenes to save the Festival of Philip Ruddock", AFR Weekend, 14 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015
3. Kirk, Alexandra (18 March 2000). "Ruddock stripped of amnesty International badge". AM: ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 14 February 2015.
4. "IMMIGRATION POLICY: Suspension of Standing and Sessional Orders". Parliament Hansard. 25 August 1988. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
5. "Howard turns dissent into democracy". The Age. 21 June 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
6. Ward, Ian (August 1990). "Australian Political Chronicle: July–December 1989". Australian Journal of Politics and History 36 (2): 235. ISSN 0004-9522.
7. Streatfield, D. (2011) A History of the World Since 9/11, Chapter 2., pp.70–73
8. "Ruddock stripped of Amnesty International badge". ABC News. 18 March 2000. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
9. Banham, Cynthia; Riley, Mark (27 June 2003). "Ruddock's friend accused of taking $220,000". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
10. Banham, Cynthia (18 September 2003). "Inquiry told of agent's 50% strike rate with Ruddock". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
11. Banham, Cynthia (1 April 2004). "Ruddock cleared amid obstruction claims". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
12. "Marriage Amendment Bill 2004". Parliament of Australia. 24 June 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
13. Ruddock, Philip (27 July 2007). "Toughen up on terrorism". Herald Sun. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
14. Uhlmann, Chris; Kirk, Alexandra; Glenday, James (13 February 2015). "Philip Ruddock sacked as chief government whip in wake of spill motion against Tony Abbott". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 13 February 2015.
15. Kenny, Mark (13 February 2015). "Coalition elder statesman Philip Ruddock axed as Chief Whip following Liberal Party spill attempt". The Age. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
16. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/philip-ruddock-appointed-special-envoy-for/6500016
17. "Ruddock retires, gets envoy role". Nine News. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
18. http://www.abc.net.au/austory/transcripts/s672095.htm

External links

• Australian Story transcript