Maurice Neil

Maurice Neil
Maurice Neil
Member of the Australian Parliament; for St George
	In office; 13 December 1975 – 18 October 1980
Preceded by	Bill Morrison
Succeeded by	Bill Morrison
Personal details
Born	29 May 1944; Manchester, England
Nationality	English Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Natasha Goulden
Children	David Neil, Eugénie Neil, Odette Neil
Occupation	Barrister

Maurice James Neil (born 29 May 1944) was an Australian politician, soldier and lawyer. Born in Manchester, England, he migrated to Australia at the age of 5. Neil attended the University of Sydney. He served in the military 1966–75, including voluntary time in Vietnam as a platoon commander in the Royal Australian Infantry.

Afterwards, he became a barrister, practising at the New South Wales Bar from 1971.[1] Neil became a Queen's Counsel in 1985.[1] He was the head of his previous floor and is currently the head of his floor at Sir Anthony Mason Chambers in Sydney. Maurice also served as a migration officer for New South Wales in London. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Australian War Memorial from 31 August 1976 to 30 June 1980 and a member of the council of trustees of the Australian War Memorial from 1 July 1980 to 30 June 1981. He also served on the NSW Council for the Ageing, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties and the Australian branch of the International Commission of Jurists.

Parliamentary career

In 1975, he was pre-selected as Liberal Party candidate for the Labor held federal seat of St. George, in Sydney's Southern suburbs, from a strong field of eleven candidates. In the subsequent federal election, in December 1975, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for St George, narrowly defeating Labor's Bill Morrison by 56 votes, after distribution of preferences.
In the 1977 federal election, despite an adverse electorate boundary redistribution, he withstood a challenge from the previous member for Grayndler, Tony Whitlam, to retain St. George with an increased majority of 2665 votes, after distribution of preferences.
Neil was defeated by Morrison in the 1980 election.[2]

References

"Barristers | Sir Anthony Mason Chambers". siranthonymason.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2008.

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Bill Morrison	Member for St George 1975 – 1980	Succeeded by Bill Morrison

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[:0-1] "Barristers | Sir Anthony Mason Chambers". siranthonymason.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

[Psephos-2] Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2008.