Noel Hicks

Noel Jeffrey Hicks (born 4 November 1940) is a former Australian politician.

Noel Hicks
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Riverina and Riverina-Darling
In office
18 October 1980  31 August 1998
Preceded byJohn FitzPatrick
Succeeded byKay Hull
Personal details
Born (1940-11-04) 4 November 1940
Adelaide, South Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyNational Party of Australia
OccupationDraughtsman

Early life and career

Born in Adelaide, he was a plumber and road design draughtsman. Having moved to Broken Hill, he was mayor of Broken Hill City Council 1974–75 and 1976–77.

Parliament of Australia

In 1980 he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the National Country member for Riverina, based on Broken Hill. He was the first non-Labor MP since Federation to represent Broken Hill in the Federal Parliament, but moved with his family to the larger town of Griffith the following year after committing to do so during the election campaign. At the Federal Election held in March 1983, despite defending a margin of only 0.5%, he retained the seat in the face of strong swings elsewhere to the eventual Hawke-Keating Labor Government.

Riverina was further enlarged in 1984, and renamed as the Division of Riverina-Darling. Hicks overcame another notional Labor majority, as well as former Country Party Member John Sullivan—now representing the Liberal Party—to win it. He was reelected from this seat in 1987 and 1990 against spirited Labor opposition.

Riverina-Darling was abolished in 1993, with Griffith and Wagga Wagga being combined in a recreated Riverina, while Broken Hill was transferred to the neighboring Division of Parkes. After declining a Liberal Party proposal to move to the Senate, Hicks opted to contest the new Riverina, now a safe conservative seat, despite some commentators' predictions that traditional Liberal voters in Wagga Wagga would hesitate to vote for a Nationals man from Griffith. However, he won the seat easily, relegating Liberal candidate future-Senator Bill Heffernan to third in the count behind the ALP candidate, former Wagga Wagga Mayor Pat Brassil.

He held this seat for two more terms until retiring in 1998.[1]

References

  1. Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
Civic offices
Preceded by
George Dial
Mayor of Broken Hill
1974–1975
Succeeded by
Raymond Sawyers
Preceded by
Raymond Sawyers
Mayor of Broken Hill
1976–1977
Succeeded by
Kevin Clarke
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
John FitzPatrick
Member for Riverina
1980–1984
Division abolished
New division Member for Riverina-Darling
1984–1993
Division abolished
New division Member for Riverina
1993–1998
Succeeded by
Kay Hull


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