Kevin Andrews (politician)

Andrews was born on 9 November 1955 in Sale, Victoria, the son of Roy Gebhardt Andrews and Sheila Rosina O'Connor.[2] He was educated at the Rosedale Primary School, St Patrick's College, Sale and the University of Melbourne, where he resided at Newman College and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1979 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1980.[2] At university, he was President of the Newman College Students' Club and the National Association of Australian University Colleges. He later completed a Master of Laws degree at Monash University in 1986.[2]

Andrews was a racing commentator In the 1970s and 80s, calling various sporting events including athletics, cycling and motor sports, and writing for a number of publications, including Australian Auto Action. He was also secretary of the Melbourne University Athletics Club, and a director of the Victorian Amateur Athletics Association. At Melbourne University, he trained with the legendary coach, Franz Stampfl.

After graduation, he worked for the Law Institute of Victoria from 1980 to 1983, as a research solicitor and co-ordinator of Continuing Legal Education.[2] From 1983 to 1985, he served as associate to Sir James Gobbo, Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and subsequently the Governor of Victoria. He practised as a barrister from 1985 until his election to Parliament in 1991.[8]

While practising law he specialised in health law and bioethics and was involved with the St Vincent's Bioethics Centre, the Mercy Hospital for Women, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Lincoln School of Health Sciences.[9] He was also a board member of Caritas Christi Hospice.[9]

Andrews early in his career

Andrews was elected to the House of Representatives for the Liberal Party at the 1991 Menzies by-election in Victoria. Andrews has never lived in his electorate but rather in neighbouring Jagajaga.[10]

Andrews was a member of the Lyons Forum, a socially conservative Christian group within the Coalition that was disbanded in the mid-1990s. Andrews served as the Forum Secretary and is credited with suggesting the name for the group.[11][12] Andrews was shadow minister for schools but was removed from the position when Alexander Downer replaced Dr John Hewson as Liberal leader in May 1994.[13]

As a backbencher, Andrews chaired the House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. He presented a private member's bill, the Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996, which was passed in 1997 and overrode the Northern Territory's legislation, the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995, that legalised euthanasia in the Territory.

Andrews called for an end to trials of the RU-486 drug and voted against a bill in 2006 that took away the Health Minister's power to veto applications to allow the drug to be used.[14]

In taking a stance against stem cell research in 2002, he stated that it was the "first time" that "human beings can be treated as a commodity".[15] He also took a stance against stem cell research during a debate in 2006, which resulted in the overturning of a previous ban on the research.[16]

Andrews in 2005

After the Coalition's third victory in 2001, Andrews was brought into the outer ministry as Minister for Ageing, a portfolio in which he served from 26 November 2001 to 7 October 2003.[2] He was subsequently appointed to Cabinet as the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and was responsible for introducing the Howard Government's major changes to industrial relations law in 2005, commonly known as WorkChoices, which introduced a national system of workplace relations in Australia. In a reshuffle in early 2007, Andrews was made Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, a position which he held until the swearing-in of the First Rudd Ministry on 3 December 2007, following the defeat of the Howard Government in the 2007 election.

During 2008 and 2009, he served as Chairman of the Coalition's Policy Review Committee, reviewing and developing the Opposition's policies, until he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet (to the position of Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) in December 2009 by the newly elected Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. He was also appointed Deputy Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee.

In November 2009, Andrews declared his candidacy against Malcolm Turnbull in a vote for a leadership spill, in opposition to Turnbull's support for the government's emissions trading scheme. He had declared himself a climate change sceptic, saying that 'the jury is still out' on human contributions to global warming.[17] However, the partyroom voted down a leadership spill 41 votes to 35 and Andrews' challenge consequently did not eventuate.[18] After continued leadership speculation, a second party room meeting was held, at which point the leadership was declared vacant. Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey, and Malcolm Turnbull all stood for the leadership, and Tony Abbott was ultimately successful. Following his election as Leader, Abbott promoted Andrews to the Shadow Cabinet as Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services.

In the 2010 federal election, Andrews was re-elected to the seat of Menzies with a 2.7-point swing against the Labor Party.[19] He was subsequently re-elected in 2013, 2016 and 2019, becoming the 'Father of the Parliament'.

Andrews chairs the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, the Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System, the Coalition Policy Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, and the Australia–China Parliamentary Friendship Group. He is also co-chair of the informal Parliamentary Friends of Hong Kong.

In the Abbott Government, Andrews served as Minister for Social Services from September 2013 to December 2014. He was then Minister for Defence from December 2014 to September 2015.[20]

On 14 September 2015, after Deputy Leader Julie Bishop announced she would support Malcolm Turnbull in challenge against Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party, Andrews announced he supported Abbott and would stand for the deputy leadership against Bishop. Julie Bishop retained the position of Deputy Liberal Leader with 70 votes to Andrews' 30.[4]

Andrews has been associated with or given speeches to many organisations over the years. His most significant non-Parliamentary speeches are published in the volume 'One People One Destiny'.

He was an adviser to the Board of Life Decisions International (LDI), an anti-abortion group. Andrews has described his role with LDI as an "honorary patronage".[43]

In 2007, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Andrews did not declare his wife's patronage of Life Decisions International's Board of Advisors on his entry in the Parliamentary Register of Pecuniary Interests.[44]

On 9 April 2003, Andrews made a speech to the Endeavour Forum,[45] a conservative Christian group founded to counter the feminist movement which opposes abortion, equal opportunity and affirmative action.[46]

Andrews has given several speeches over the years at the Family Council of Victoria, an organisation opposed to homosexuality,[47] sex-education, and anti-homophobia policies in public schools, which it claims is "pro-homosexual indoctrination" of students.[48] He is a vocal public opponent of same-sex marriage and publicly stated he would vote against any bill, regardless of the results of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.[49] He abstained from voting for the bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the Australian Parliament.

Andrews supports immigration as a way to slow population ageing in Australia.[50]

During an address to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, he said that "The level of net overseas migration is important as net inflows of migrants to Australia reduce the rate of population ageing because migrants are younger on average than the resident population. Just under 70% of the migrant intake are in the 15–44 age cohort, compared to 43% of the Australian population as a whole. Just 10% of the migrant intake are 45 or over, compared with 38% of the Australian population."[50]

In 2011, as a Liberal Shadow Cabinet frontbencher, Andrews published a critique of the Greens' policy agenda for Quadrant Magazine in which he wrote that the Australian Greens' "objective involves a radical transformation of the culture that underpins Western civilisation" and that their agenda would threaten the "Judeo-Christian/Enlightenment synthesis that upholds the individual" as well as "the economic system that has resulted in the creation of wealth and prosperity for the most people in human history."[51]

Andrews supported the move to make Australia a republic at the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998.[52]

Andrews was an Adjunct Lecturer in Politics and in Marriage Education in the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne.[9]

Andrews has long advocated the critical importance of Australia's reliance on natural resources. He is credited with suggesting the title of the Coalitions's then pro-national resources interest group, the 'Monash Forum'.

Andrews has served on many bodies in addition to serving in the Parliament since 1991, including the Marriage Education Programme Inc, the Australian Association of Marriage Education, the Newman College Council, the Institute for Social NeuroScience, and the Council of the National Archives.

Kevin Andrews is a keen cyclist, participating in many charitable rides, including the annual 'Pollie Pedal' and competing in Masters racing. His youngest son, Ben, rode as a professional cyclist in Australia, on the Asian circuit, and in the kermesse series in Europe. Andrews' most recent book, 'Great Rivalries', is the story of cycling and the history of Italy from 1860 - 1960.

Andrews has published a policy journal the 'Australian Polity', since 2008.

• Aldred, Ken; Andrews, Kevin; Filing, Paul (eds.)(1994), The Heart of Liberalism. The Albury Papers, Mitcham, Victoria. ISBN 0-646-21290-7
• Andrews, Kevin and Curtis, Michelle (1998) Changing Australia. The Federation Press, Annadale NSW ISBN 1 86287 278 3
• Andrews, Kevin (2014) Maybe 'I do' – Modern marriage and the pursuit of happiness. Connor Court, Ballarat ISBN 9781925138122
• Andrews, Kevin (2016) Joseph Lyons and the management of adversity. Connor Court, Brisbane ISBN 9781925501339
• Andrews, Kevin (2018) One People One Destiny. Threshold Publishing, Melbourne. ISBN 9780646975627
• Andrews, Kevin (2019) Great Rivalries - Cycling & the Story of Italy. Connor Court, Brisbane ISBN 9781925826456

• Official website
• Search or browse Hansard for Kevin Andrews at OpenAustralia.org