Neil Andrew

John Neil Andrew AO FTSE (born 7 June 1944) is a former Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2004, representing the Division of Wakefield for the Liberal Party. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2004.

Not to be confused with Andrew Neil.

The Honourable

Neil Andrew

AO FTSE
Andrew volunteering for the Liberal Party at the 2019 federal election
24th Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
In office
10 November 1998 – 31 August 2004
Preceded byIan Sinclair
Succeeded byDavid Hawker
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Wakefield
In office
5 March 1983 – 31 August 2004
Preceded byGeoffrey Giles
Succeeded byDavid Fawcett
Personal details
Born (1944-06-07) 7 June 1944
Waikerie, South Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
OccupationHorticulturalist

Early life

Andrew was born in Waikerie, South Australia, and was a horticulturalist before entering politics. He was a councillor in the District Council of Waikerie from 1976 to 1983.[1]

Politics

Andrew was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1983 federal election.[1] Having been for 15 years a little-known Liberal backbencher, he became Speaker of the House after the October 1998 elections.[2] He presided over the House during the special sitting in May 2001 to mark the centenary of the Parliament of Australia, which met in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, as did the first Parliament in 1901.[3] In 2003, he "named" Greens Senators Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle after they interjected during George W. Bush's speech to Parliament.[4]

Along with Leo McLeay and Bronwyn Bishop, Andrew was one of only three Speakers (as of 2014) to be subjected to a motion of no confidence. In all cases these motions were unsuccessful as they were votes determined on party lines.

Andrew previously represented a large swath of rural territory north of Adelaide. However, a redistribution ahead of the 2004 elections pushed his seat well to the south to take in heavily pro-Labor northern Adelaide suburbs that had previously been in the safe Labor seat of Bonython. Meanwhile, most of his former rural territory was redistributed to neighbouring Grey and Barker. Andrew held his old seat with a comfortably safe majority of 14 percent, but the reconfigured Wakefield had a Labor majority of just over one percent.[5] Prior to the new boundaries being announced, Andrew notified Prime Minister John Howard that he would not renominate for Wakefield in the upcoming election. He remained Speaker until David Hawker was elected to succeed him on 16 November.[6][7]

Honours

Andrew was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2008 Australia Day Honours list "for service to the Parliament of Australia through the advancement of parliamentary administration and reform, and to the community in the areas of agricultural research, development and education" particularly as Chair of the Crawford Fund in Australia.[8]

He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) in 2006.

References
  1. "The Hon Neil Andrew MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  2. Spencer, Stephen (9 November 1998). "Unknown Andrew to be new Speaker of the House". Australian Associated Press. Liberal Party MPs today chose a virtual unknown to replace Ian Sinclair as Speaker of the House of Representatives when parliament resumed tomorrow.
  3. Price, Matt (10 May 2001). "A speech night that went on and on ... - 100 Years of Parliament". The Australian.
  4. "Brown and Nettle ejected from Parliament". PM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 October 2003. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  5. Bowe, William (2007). "Seat du jour: Wakefield". The Poll Bludgger. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  6. "Libs name Wakefield candidate". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 February 2004.
  7. "David Hawker named as Speaker". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 November 2004.
  8. "Andrew, John Neil - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)". It's an Honour. Australian Government. 26 January 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Geoffrey Giles		 Member for Wakefield
1983–2004		 Succeeded by
David Fawcett
Preceded by
Ian Sinclair		 Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
1998–2004		 Succeeded by
David Hawker
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