Robin Gray (Australian politician)
AO | |
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37th Premier of Tasmania | |
In office 26 May 1982 – 29 June 1989 | |
Preceded by | Harry Holgate |
Succeeded by | Michael Field |
Constituency | Wilmot (1976–1984) Lyons (1984–1995) |
Leader of the Opposition in Tasmania | |
In office 29 June 1989 – 17 December 1991 | |
In office 1979 – 26 May 1982 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Liberal Party | 1 March 1940
Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Occupation | Agricultural consultant |
Robin Trevor Gray
Early life
Gray was born in
Political career
During 1976, the state leader of the Liberal Party, Max Bingham, convinced Gray to stand as a candidate in the state election for that year. Gray ended up out-polling three sitting Liberal members in Wilmot.[1] Bingham resigned as leader following his party's poor performance at the 1979 election, which resulted in a marked swing away from the Liberals. Gray was elected Deputy Leader under Geoff Pearsall, and when Pearsall resigned in 1981 for unexplained personal reasons, Gray took over the party's leadership.
The campaign on which Gray embarked, to build the Franklin Dam, aroused protests from environmentalists, led by
In 1983, the newly elected federal Labor government led by Bob Hawke intervened to prevent the building of the dam. However it was finally a High Court of Australia decision (Commonwealth v Tasmania)—despite the persistent clamour for states' rights in which even Joh Bjelke-Petersen was utilised[3]—which stopped the dam's construction. Tasmania was the recipient of $276 million in grants by way of compensation.[4]
Gray was elected to a second term in 1986. This marked the first time in 58 years that a non-Labor government had managed to win a second term in Tasmania.
In 1989, he became the centre of the debate over LGBT rights in Tasmania. Gray stated that homosexuals were not welcome in Tasmania.[5][6]
But after seven years in power, Gray's Liberals suffered a two-seat swing at the
A
Life after politics
From 1996 until his retirement on 5 May 2010, Gray was a director of Gunns.[9][10] His son, Ben Gray, was a co-founder of private equity firm BGH Capital.[11]
In 2020, he published a book "Proud to be Tasmanian" (co-authored with his former chief of staff Andrew Tilt).[12] In the book he attacked then party president (and subsequently Senator) Eric Abetz for moving to get rid of him as party leader.[13]
Gray was appointed an
Notes
- ^ a b Cockburn, Milton (26 July 1983). "Robin Gray: The drover's dog gets the glittering prize". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ Pink 2001, pp.71-88 for accounts of Grays involvement with the Organisation for Tasmanian Development, and the events just mentioned
- ^ Pink 2001, p.86 for photo
- ^ Pink 2001, p.87
- ^ Sainty, Lane. "This Is What A Non-Respectful LGBT Rights Debate Looks Like". BuzzFeed. Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Forrest, Ruth. "EXPUNGEMENT OF HISTORICAL OFFENCES BILL 2017". ruthforrest.com.au. Ruth Forrest MLC. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ Ward, Airlie: Minority Government, Stateline Tasmania (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 10 March 2006.
- ^ Report Royal Commission Rouse and others, The Age.
- ^ Gunns - Board Of Directors, Gunns Limited
- ^ "Gunns chairman 'under pressure to resign' - ABC News". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ Pyne, Ingrid (13 April 2018). "Masters of their own universe: crack team set to shake up private equity". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Gray, Robin (27 February 2020). Proud to be Tasmanian - Robin Gray & The Liberal Led Recovery. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ Bailey, Sue (27 February 2020). "Robin Gray's book accuses Senator Eric Abetz of working against him as leader". The Examiner. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ "The Honourable Robin Trevor Gray". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
References
- Pink, Kerry (2001) Through Hells Gates: A History of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour Fifth edition ISBN 0-646-36665-3
Further reading
- Gray, Robin (1982) National Press Club luncheon address. Premier of Tasmania spoke about Tasmania ; the dams and the future of Australia's smallest state. held at National Library of Australia - tape and transcript
- Lines, William J. (2006) Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage St. Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. ISBN 0-7022-3554-7
External links
- "Gray, Robin". Members of the Parliament of Tasmania. Retrieved 24 July 2022.