Wayne Berry

Wayne Berry
Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly
In office
4 March 1989  18 February 1995
Serving with Collaery, Connolly, Duby, Follett, Grassby, Humphries, Jensen, Kaine, Kinloch, Maher, Moore, Nolan, Prowse, Stefaniak, Stevenson, Wood, Whalan
Preceded by new constituency
Succeeded by multi-member multiple constituencies
In office
18 February 1995  18 October 2008
Serving with McRae/Stanhope, Hird/Dunne, Stefaniak, Horodny/Rugendyke/Dundas/Porter
Preceded by multi-member single constituency
Succeeded by Meredith Hunter
Constituency Ginninderra
4th Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
In office
12 November 2001  18 October 2008
Preceded by Greg Cornwell
Succeeded by Shane Rattenbury
8th Opposition Leader of the Australian Capital Territory
In office
19 August 1997  20 February 1998
Preceded by Andrew Whitecross
Succeeded by Jon Stanhope
3rd Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
In office
18 June 1991  13 April 1994
Preceded by Bernard Collaery
Succeeded by David Lamont
Personal details
Born (1942-11-14) 14 November 1942
Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s) Rhonda Berry
Children Yvette Berry
Occupation Fire officer; union official

Wayne Bruce Berry (born 14 November 1942), former Australian politician, was a member of the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly from 1989 to 2008, representing the electorate of Ginninderra (from 1995–2008) for the Australian Labor Party.[1] Berry served as Deputy Chief Minister from 1991 to 1994, Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 1998 and Speaker of the Assembly from 2001 to 2008.

Early years and background

Berry was born in Sydney and educated in Taree, New South Wales.

Prior to entering politics, Berry was active in the union movement and a member of the Labor Party's left faction.[2] He served in the New South Wales Fire Service from 1963 until 1972 and the Australian Capital Territory Fire Brigade from 1972 until 1989. Berry is a Graduate Member of the Institute of Fire Engineers (UK), He was a member of the Federal Firefighters Union, serving as National President between 1986 and 1989.

Political career

Berry was elected the first Legislative Assembly, initially as a member in a multi-member single electorate covering the entire Australian Capital Territory (ACT) at the 1989 ACT general election and re-elected at the 1992 general election. Berry stood for the electorate of Ginninderra at the 1995 general election and was re-elected; and again at the 1998, 2001, and 2004 elections.

He was the first Minister for Community Services and Health in the Follett-led Labor government in a hung parliament. After a vote of no confidence was passed on Follett, Berry was forced to cross-benches. Surprisingly, Follett's deputy, Paul Whalan resigned from the Assembly in November 1990 and Berry became Follet's deputy. In 1991, when Follett succeeded Trevor Kaine as Chief Minister, Berry again assumed responsibilities as Minister for Health and became Deputy Chief Minister. The responsibilities of industrial relations and sport were added, and he held all three portfolios until the a ministerial reshuffle in 1994 when David Lamont replaced Berry in the ministry.

During his time in the Assembly, Berry campaigned strongly on pro-choice and abortion decriminilisation initiatives.[3] In the early years of the Assembly, pro-life activism was led by Paul Osborne and Dave Rugendyke. The Assembly legislated that a 72-hour "cooling-off" period was required before a woman who requested an abortion could access one. Additionally, "information" that must be provided to women considering abortions was significantly weighted in favour of the decision to continue with a pregnancy instead of having an abortion.[4] Berry eventually successfully lobbied for abortion to be decriminalised in 2002.[5]

He became leader of the ALP in 1997 and his leadership ended when he led the party to defeat at the 1998 election.

Berry went on to serve as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly between 2001 and 2008. As Speaker, in 2006, he met with the Australian Governor-General, Major General Michael Jeffery and urged him not to disallow the ACT's civil union legislation. Berry asked that the Commonwealth suggest amendments that the ACT Legislative Assembly could make so that the law was acceptable to the Federal Government. The Governor-General passed the request to the Commonwealth Government. Two hours later, the Commonwealth Attorney-General Philip Ruddock and Minister for Territories Jim Lloyd arrived at Government House and together with the Governor-General moved to disallow the ACT laws permitting civil unions.[6]

Berry retired from politics at the 2008 election.[7] His daughter Yvette was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly at the 2012 election.[8]

External links

References

  1. "Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly". ACT Legislative Assembly. 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  2. "Canberra contest heats up over abortion claims". Crikey. Private Media Pty Limited. 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  3. McLennan, David (2002-08-21). "ACT legalises abortion in close vote". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  4. Hunt, Josephine (2002-08-28). "Abortion legalised in the ACT". Green Left Weekly. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  5. "Law and Order". Abortion help. Marie Stopes International Australia. 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  6. Stafford, Annabel (2006-06-14). "Commonwealth quashes ACT in battle over civil union laws". The Age (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  7. "Labor battle for Ginninderra". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
  8. "Women rise in ACT Labor following election". Canberra Times. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
New title Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly
19891995
Served alongside: Collaery, Connolly, Duby, Follett, Grassby, Humphries, Jensen,
Kaine, Kinloch, Maher, Moore, Nolan, Prowse, Stefaniak, Stevenson, Wood, Whalan
Multi-member multiple constituencies
New title Member for Ginninderra in the ACT Legislative Assembly
19952008
Served alongside: McRae/Stanhope, Hird/Dunne, Stefaniak, Horodny/Rugendyke/Dundas/Porter
Succeeded by
Meredith Hunter
Political offices
Preceded by
Bernard Collaery
Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
1991 1994
Succeeded by
David Lamont
Preceded by
Greg Cornwell
Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
2001 2008
Succeeded by
Shane Rattenbury
Party political offices
Preceded by
Andrew Whitecross
Opposition Leader of the Australian Capital Territory
1997 1998
Succeeded by
Jon Stanhope
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.