Gary Nairn
Gary Roy Nairn (b. 3 January 1951) was an Australian politician.
Nairn was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was educated at the University of New South Wales. He was a surveyor in private practice and managing director of a surveying and mapping consultancy before entering politics. He moved to the Northern Territory where he lived for many years.[1] He was President of the Country Liberal Party between 1990 and 1994, during which time the CLP won two elections with an increased vote.[2]
Nairn returned to New South Wales and in March 1996 was elected a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Eden-Monaro. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in October 2004. In January 2006 he was promoted to the front bench as Special Minister of State which includes responsibilities with Ministerial and Parliamentary Services, the Australian Government Information Management Office, Australian Electoral Commission, Defence Housing Authority and Film Australia.[1]
In the 2007 Federal Election, Nairn lost his seat to Labor candidate Mike Kelly. Nairn was one of five other Coalition front-benchers to lose their seats at the election. The loss of the Division of Eden-Monaro by the Liberal Party to the Labor Party continues the trend of the seat being won by every party to form Government since 1972.
Nairn's electorate of Eden-Monaro is the birthplace of the woodchipping industry in Australia. Last year one million tonnes of native forest was chipped and exported, mostly to Japan, much of it to Nippon Paper Industries which is the largest paper manufacturing company in Japan.[citation needed] Nairn has announced cash grants of millions of dollars to the wood chipping industry in recent years through Forest Industry Structural Adjustment Package grants.[citation needed] In his first speech to Parliament in 1996 he argued for increased wood chipping.[3] There is opposition to wood chipping in his electorate and a forest campaigner, Harriett Swift, was brought before the Parliamentary Privileges Committee and reprimanded in relation to her alleged actions in issuing hoax faxes in his name on 1 April 2005 and 1 April 2006.[4][5]
In September 2007, Mr Nairn's Chief of Staff, Dr Peter Phelps, heckled at a forum on the Iraq War called by the Labor Party candidate for Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly, in Queanbeyan, New South Wales. At the meeting Dr Phelps claimed that Mike Kelly was a hypocrite as a former soldier running for the ALP when they are opposed to the war in Iraq. Dr Phelps stated at the meeting that he thought Mr Kelly was using the Nuremberg Defence, and compared it to the kind of defence used by guards at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. [6] Mr Nairn did not agree with his staffer's sentiments.[7] He was defeated in the 2007 election by Labor's Mike Kelly.
References
- ^ a b "Biography for Nairn, the Hon. Gary Roy". ParlInfo Web. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ "Eden-Monaro(Key Seat)". Australia Votes 2007. ABC. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ "The Hon Gary Nairn MP, Member for Eden-Monaro (NSW): First Speech To Parliament". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 2 May 1996. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
The town has had the stuffing knocked out of it as one political decision after another cut deeper and deeper. Political decisions were made about the timber industry which became more and more puzzling and nonsensical each time — political decisions that have now resulted in good, hardworking Australians being out of work and walking around town scratching their heads. They are scratching their heads because they want to work. They see tonnes and tonnes of wood lying on the ground, but they are not allowed to pick the wood up. They want to work at the woodchipping mill, but the mill is not allowed to take this discarded timber. The mill has overseas customers who want to buy those extra woodchips, but the mill is not allowed to sell it — and all of this without one single extra tree being saved. With a huge foreign debt, how silly were we? The people of Eden-Monaro, and Eden in particular, realised how silly it was. The polling booth in Eden on 2 March showed a 17.6 per cent swing to me. I could relate similar stories from other towns such as Bega, Bombala and Delegate. Many other parts of this diverse electorate were much the same, although timber was not necessarily involved.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Report on allegations of documents fraudulently and inaccurately written and issued in a member's name" (pdf 50 pages). House of Representatives: Standing Committee of Priveleges. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. May 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ "April fools day". Chipstop. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ Bradford, Gillian (2007-09-17). "Govt puts up fight in Parliament". Radio National: PM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
And we've just learnt today that a heckler in the crowd is Peter Phelps, the Chief of Staff to the Special Minister of State, Gary Nairn, who also happens to be the local member for Eden-Monaro. This is some of the exchange from that meeting: PETER PHELPS: And you took part in it willingly because you weren't sent over there, you volunteered, didn't you? MIKE KELLY: No, I was a soldier, and I did what I was ordered to do. PETER PHELPS: Oh, like the guards at Belsen perhaps? Are you using the Nuremberg Defence? No, no, come on. MIKE KELLY: No, no, no that's fine. PETER PHELPS: He is a military lawyer who knows full well… MIKE KELLY: Let him speak. PETER PHELPS: He knows full well… MIKE KELLY: Yep. PETER PHELPS: You know full well, don't you, that you can lawfully disobey an immoral order.GILLIAN BRADFORD: Mr Phelps put out a statement saying he attended the meeting in a private capacity as a local of Queanbeyan. Still, it's hardly the usual behaviours of a minister's chief of staff.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "The Hon Gary Nairn MP, Member for Eden-Monaro (NSW): Questions Without Notice" (PDF). Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 19 September 2007 .
in response to a question from Ms GILLARD (Page 69) "Does the minister believe the words that were used are acceptable to be used by anyone in any circumstances, public or private? Given that the words were said by the minister's chief of staff, does he endorse them; and, if he does not endorse them, what will he do about it?" ... (Page 70) Mr NAIRN—As I said in my earlier answer, I was not in attendance at that particular forum. My chief of staff did not attend that forum at any direction from me. He was not at that forum as my chief of staff. He attended as a citizen of Queanbeyan who had received an invitation to attend the forum. I cannot particularly comment on whether or not those words were said, because I was not there. However, clearly I would not agree with any comments that might compare the work of Australian soldiers with the work of those in Nazi Germany.
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