Chris Hayes (politician)

Christopher Patrick Hayes (born 17 July 1955) is an Australian Labor Party politician who was elected to the Australian House of Representatives on 19 March 2005 in a by-election for the Division of Werriwa, New South Wales, succeeding former party leader Mark Latham.

Chris Hayes

MP
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Werriwa
In office
19 March 2005 – 21 August 2010
Preceded byMark Latham
Succeeded byLaurie Ferguson
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Fowler
Assumed office
21 August 2010
Preceded byJulia Irwin
Personal details
Born
Christopher Patrick Hayes

(1955-07-17) 17 July 1955
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Spouse(s)Bernadette
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationIndustrial officer

Hayes holds the position of Returning Officer for the Labor Caucus, in which he oversees elections, including the 2013 leadership spill/ballot in June. He released the official votes between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

Early life and education

Hayes was educated at De La Salle College, Revesby, and Sydney University. He has a Diploma in Labour Relations and Law. He was an industrial officer with the Public Service Professional Officers Association and then with the Australian Workers' Union from 1978 to 1995, then assistant national secretary of the Police Federation of Australia and New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. Since 1999 he has run his own business advising companies and unions on mediation issues.

Political career

At the 2005 Werriwa by-election Hayes polled 55.54 percent of the primary vote, a 2.90-point increase from the October 2004 election. This was seen as a good result for Labor, although the Liberal Party did not contest the by-election. At the 2010 federal election, he moved to the seat of Fowler following a redistribution to allow Laurie Ferguson, whose seat of Reid had been substantially changed, to contest Werriwa.

Hayes, a practising Roman Catholic, was one of the few Labor MPs to publicly oppose the legislation of same-sex marriage.[1] He voted to legalise same-sex marriage after the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey returned a majority for "Yes",[2] even though 63.66% of his electorate voted "No".

In October 2020, in the Federation Chamber of the Australian Parliament, while reading out a letter from his cousin who had suffered child abuse, Hayes grabbed at his heart and collapsed. Tanya Plibersek, a Labor colleague, who was sitting beside him, helped him into a chair, and Dr Mike Freelander, another Labor colleague, provided CPR. Hayes was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, and debate in the Chamber was suspended for the remainder of the day. Later, in the House of Representatives, Labor leader Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed their wishes for Hayes' speedy recovery.[3][4]

References
  1. Same-sex marriage vote: Chris Hayes seeks safeguards for religious freedoms The Australian October 3, 2017
  2. How did your MP vote on the marriage equality bill? 9News December 8, 2017
  3. Livingstone, Angus (29 October 2020). "'I've got a problem': Labor MP collapses while speaking in Parliament". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. "Labor MP in hospital after collapsing in Parliament during impassioned speech". ABC News. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Mark Latham		 Member for Werriwa
2005–2010		 Succeeded by
Laurie Ferguson
Preceded by
Julia Irwin		 Member for Fowler
2010–present		 Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.